Introduction
OCR technology, also known as optical character recognition (OCR), allows anyone to convert a paper or scanned document into an editable text file. It works by reducing the tedious and time-consuming tasks of manual data entry. In our article, we decided on the one hand, to tell you a little more about this subject. On the other hand, to list the most used API OCR tools and the ones you may not know yet.
How does OCR work?
Before an OCR system can deliver a usable and editable document, it goes through a number of steps. At the same way as scanning digitizes images or documents, OCR software collects and processes information from the same sources.
To process data, OCR first analyses the document structure. This is being done by separating the different components of the image (or document) such as tables, texts, photographs, etc. Then, by using machine learning processes, the system “studies” by examining black & white colors of the document, which will be interpreted as lines. These, in turn, will be converted into characters and then into words (i.e. text).
Once the conversion into text is completed, OCR compares the text with old data that has already been processed or predefined. This step allows the software to propose a meaning for the converted characters. After these assumptions, the OCR system will propose an editable content similar to the original document.
Why use OCR and not a scanner?
Skeptics of new technologies will tell you that their good old scanner can be just as good as an OCR scanner. The truth is they are uncomparable. Let’s consider what is the difference.
Let’s take the example of converting a contract emailed in PDF format. A scanner will only copy-paste your document to another format (often PNG or JPEG). Therefore, the scanner does not allow you to extract the relevant information from the contract, systematize it, and transfer it to a suitable and editable format.
In order to completely exploit the document and to extract all important information, you need OCR software that recognizes letters, words, and phrases. This will let you modify the terms of the contract or even sign it electronically. Scanners wouldn’t allow you to do this.
Our top 5 OCR software
Now that you have a better grasp of OCR, we’ve decided to list 5 OCR programs that you might find useful for your workflow.
1- Google vision OCR
Google vision is the OCR API developed by Google Cloud. This OCR uses a very powerful and pre-trained machine learning technology. Thanks to Google Vision, it is possible to assign labels to images, to read both printed and handwritten text. You can also detect and extract objects and faces while obtaining other information about them such as position on the image.
2- AWS Textract
Amazon Textract is the OCR software that automatically extracts data from scanned documents and converts it into text that can be modified. However, AWS Textract goes beyond simple OCR. Beyond reading and transcribing, it does more by identifying the content in forms and information stored in your tables.
3- OCR Space
Unlike some OCR software, OCR Space is fully online. The simplicity and speed of the platform have already attracted many of us. In addition, it has very clear and precise explanations on the same page that guide you throughout the process. Thus, you will have the opportunity to transform your file from a PDF or a URL in a simple, fast, and efficient way.
4- Azure API vision
Azure API vision is an OCR API developed by the Microsoft group. This OCR focuses mainly on images. It will convert a document from PNG or JPEG format to an editable one. Thus, you can find a classification card of your image with categories such as object, keywords, description, format, colors, etc. In addition, this OCR will allow you to identify and tag the content. For example, you can use the object-detection tool to locate an object in an image.
5- PDFelement 6
Like its competitors, this OCR software converts images or PDF documents into Word, Excel, HTML, or text documents proposing ten different languages. You can highlight text, add comments, modify images in a secure and flexible way. On the top of that, PDFelement 6 not only modifies scanned forms, but also exports scanned data to CSV text format.
OCR software you may not know about
After you have gone through the main OCR tools, we have decided to present 3 OCR software that are still unknown to some people. Specialized or not, they can be much more useful than it may seem from the first sight.
1- Taggun
This young company, founded in 2017, has developed its own OCR API. Just like Azure API, Taggun decided to specialize its OCR. Thus, whenever you need to transcribe your expense report, you can count on them. Their watchwords: accuracy and speed. With 52 languages in their database, they transcribe your receipt in less than 30 seconds.
2- Rossum
Specialist in OCR for receipts and invoices, Rossum has been putting artificial intelligence at the heart of its activity for several years now. Rossum’s entire strategy is based on connections and networks. Their objective is to make the computer think like a human.
Where a traditional OCR software transcribes an invoice to another format, Rossum, being the high-level OCR, restructures invoices. And then, with machine learning, explores your document to make hypotheses about content.
Moreover, unlike competitors, who separate the structure from content, Rossum OCR wholly restructures documents, rebuilding them while keeping form and content, without changing the original format.
3- Mobile OCR
This company, founded in 2012, developed its own optimized OCR on both smartphone and server making acquisition with smartphones the main strength. OCR Mobile can extract information from receipts, invoices (bills), passports, car license, or a bank account number, for example. All these documents can of course be photographed with a smartphone.
Final words
As you can see, the OCR industry is very large. You can either found some general OCR such as AWS Textract or some specialized OCR like Rossum. These two companies are selling the same OCR software but not for the same purpose. At Young App, we noticed that it can be quite difficult to figure out which OCR to choose for which issue.
That is the reason why we have created an API platform. A user-friendly interface, where developers can choose different APIs and create an entire workflow using OCR & AI technologies. If you are not a developer, no worries, our experts will advise you on how to setup API workflows and OCR solutions.
