Hydra AI: Accurately extract text from any image

In this article, we’ll briefly go over the definition and use cases of OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and learn how to leverage state of the art solutions in order to extract basically any text from an image file.

Introduction

OCR is a popular technology that converts any kind of text or information stored in digital documents/images into machine-readable data.

Over the years, OCR tools have been extensively used to extract text from images, data from PDF documents, convert PDF to Excel, extract text from PDF files, and more.

Modern OCR software leverage Machine Learning capabilities to achieve even more advanced levels of recognition such as identifying multiple languages, reading handwritten text & writing styles, and more!

Use cases

Initially, OCR was conceptualized as a tool converting physical documents or scans into machine-readable formats that can then be edited on word processors like Word.
Lately, you can find a multitude of use cases, like:

• Data entry automation
• Bar-code scanning
• Driver’s license & number plate recognition for identification
• Passport verification for travel identification
• Text-to-speech services
• Social media monitoring
• Multi-language translation services