If you’ve never heard of an OCR program, you’re not alone. Yet, you’ve more than likely used an OCR service at work before.
OCR software converts printed paper documents into machine-readable text documents. Sound familiar? It’s like a scanner. But, what else can do ORC program do? To learn all about OCR technology and its uses, keep reading this article.
All About an OCR Program
OCR means Optical Character Recognition. OCR programs work by recognizing text inside images like scanned documents and photos. It automates data capture and is a convenient way to digitize data in editable formats. Once you scan a document using an OCR program, you can edit the document’s text with a word processor. You’re probably familiar with using Microsoft Word and Google Docs.
People use OCR programs for many things such as:
- Data entry automation
- Indexing documents for search engines
- Pattern recognition
- Automatic number plate recognition
- Text-to-speech services
- Assisting the blind and visually impaired
For example, OCR programs were crucial in digitizing history newspapers and texts. Almost all companies use an OCR program to help their business ease and automate tasks. But, some industries rely on this technology more than others.
Top Business Sectors
The banking sector uses OCR technology. Aside from the features mentioned, you can use an OCR program with facial recognition software. Thus, it provides two-layer security at ATMs.
The travel sector also uses OCR features. Airports use it for security and data storage during the check-in process. It’s a much efficient way to book flights and hotels online using this technology too.
OCR programs assist the government and the legal sector with documents. The government integrated an OCR program with the voter registration system. This makes it easier to register to vote. The healthcare sector uses OCR software to store and track patient information. It gives doctors instant access to patients’ medical history.
Tesseract OCR
Tesseract is an open-source OCR program. Open-source refers to software for which the creator made the original source code freely available. Thus, anyone can use, redistribute or modify the software. Hewlett-Packard developed the software in the 1980s. It became open source in 2005. Since 2006, Google has been developing and sponsoring it.
A program like the Tesseract NET runs great for backend use and completing more complicated OCR tasks. It’s one of the best OCR software programs available. For C++ programmers, Tessercat OCR has support for unicode. It also can recognize more than 100 languages. You can train it to recognize other languages too.
Additionally, you can get paid versions of OCR software. A paid version will have extra features to help more elaborate business needs.
Start using an OCR Service
Now you have the answer to the question, “What is OCR software?” Even though you may not have been familiar with this technology, you can see how extensively businesses use it.
An OCR program makes collecting and sorting data easier with reduced human errors. That’s why professionals consider it a hidden technology.