Why are the prices of OCR applications so different?

OCR software ranges in price from freeware all the way up to tens of thousands of dollars. What explains the difference between these applications? Here’s the breakdown:

OCR Freeware uses the SimpleOCR or Tesseract engines and provide limited scanning and output format capabilities. Recognition quality is generally poor except for the highest quality document images.
PDF OCR Converters provide good quality OCR engines like ABBYY, IRIS and OmniPage, but limit the output to searchable PDF files. These cost less than $100.
Standard OCR applications range from $100-$200 and provide full OCR capabilities including converting scans to Word, Excel, HTML and other editable formats.
Corporate OCR applications add advanced features like automated hotfolder processing, concurrent licensing and other features useful for business applications. Pricing for these is $200-$500.
OCR Servers provide scalable, enterprise OCR services for processing very high volumes of documents or providing OCR capabilities to users throughout the organization. Prices start around $1,500 and go up based on processing volume.
Enterprise Data Capture and Forms Processing applications are used to capture structured data from complex documents like healthcare claim forms and invoices that include things like tables, handwriting, checkboxes, and movable zones. These solutions can cost anywhere from around $1,000 to hundreds of thousands of dollars depending on the document volume and complexity of the project.

PDF Processing with FineReader and FineReader Server

How to create a PDF from Microsoft® Word, Excel, or PowerPoint

How to convert emails to PDF

How to Split a PDF

Create new PDF documents or separate PDF documents combined in one easily with FineReader PDF 15.

Learn how to split PDFs and extract pages easily.

How to create and edit interactive PDF forms

Watch this video and see how to edit and create interactive PDF forms quickly and easily.

Form Editor tool in FineReader PDF 15 allows creating and editing fillable PDF forms with text and date fields, dropdown lists, list boxes, checkmarks, radio buttons, signature fileds and action buttons. Collect information and create effective document templates with ease!

How to extract text from scanned PDFs

How to extract tables

How can I verify if the digital signature is valid?

If you open a document with a valid digital signature in FineReader, you will see a green notification Valid on the left panel of ABBYY FineReader PDF 15:

Recognizing a document with existing text layer in FineReader PDF 15

Open FineReader PDF 15;
Go to Tools > Options > OCR;
In the PDF recognition mode select Use OCR option:
Click OK;
Recognize your document again.

How to convert a document into an accessible PDF/UA

Make your mixed documents—PDF, scanned, photographed, or papers— digital and accessible.

In this […]

Configuring Nuance PDF output settings to include more than 500 pages per PDF

By default when using the Nuance Full-Text step each PDF that is generated can only contain 500 pages. The following steps can be used to increase the maximum number of pages that each PDF can hold beyond 500 pages.

By default the Nuance full-text step is designed to create 500 page PDF’s. Use the following steps to increase the default number:

This change should be made on all Capture Automation servers that will be generating PDF’s.

Make a copy of the ClientSettings.xml file located at C:\Program Data\Digitech Systems
From the desktop, click Start > Run > type services.msc and press <Enter>
Highlight and right-click the PaperVision ProcessInitiator1 service and choose Stop
Edit the ClientSettings.xml file using Notepad
Add the following line of text:<OCRFullTextMaxPagePerDoc>500</OCRFullTextMaxPagePerDoc>
Change the value from “500” to the number of pages that will be used to create each PDF (e.g. 750)
Save and close the ClientSettings.xml file
From the desktop, click Start > Run > type services.msc and press <Enter>
Highlight and right-click the PaperVision ProcessInitiator1 service and choose Start

Catherine2022-07-05T17:32:47-04:00Tags: Batch OCR PDF, Convert Images to Searchable PDF, Convert PDF to Editable Word, Convert PDF to Excel, Convert PDF to HTML, Convert PDF to Text, OCR PDF, PDF, PDF Data Extraction, PDF OCR, PDF Text Extraction, PDF to TXT Converter|

How to have more control over the OCR process in PowerPDF

Q: How to have more control over the OCR process in PowerPDF? For example, to edit the text in the OCR layer to correct mistakes.

A: As designed, Nuance PowerPDF does not offer this functionality .

Nuance Power PDF program offers a powerful built-in OCR engine but it only offers limited control over the OCR process. To accomplish what the client is requesting you would specialized Optical Character Recognition (OCR) program such as Nuance® OmniPage®.

There are many advantages in using this Nuance® OmniPage® Optical Character Recognition (OCR) program if you want more control over the OCR process.

Choose from four formatting levels instead of two (see below)
Win full control over the OCR process, including:
- The ability to manually zone pages
- Access to multi-lingual spell checking and proofing
- Dynamic verifier image display to speed up editing
- Voice readback facility
- And much more.
Scan new pages into the converted document
Add new pages from fax, image files or digital cameras
Save to other formats, including OmniPage’s internal format for document sharing with other OmniPage users.

The four formatting levels offered for saving in OmniPage are:

The pages retain the layout of the originals. Graphics and framed elements are placed in text boxes. Whenever possible, other text is transferred without using text boxes. Power PDF offers this under the name Flowing Column.

The pages retain the layout of the originals, but all elements are placed in text boxes, including text in columns. Power PDF offers this formatting.

Text is decolumnized, but text attributes, graphics and tables are retained.

Flowing Page
True Page
Formatted Text
Plain Text

Text is decolumnized and rendered as plain text. Graphics and tables are retained, but not in their original locations. This option is convenient for users who want to reformat the content.

Catherine2022-07-05T22:46:47-04:00Tags: Best OCR Software, Convert Images to Searchable PDF, Convert PDF to Editable Word, Convert PDF to Excel, Convert PDF to HTML, Convert PDF to Text, OCR PDF, PDF Converters, PDF Data Extraction, PDF OCR, PDF Text Extraction, PDF to TXT Converter, Zonal OCR, Zone OCR|

What Document Management Systems are supported by PowerPDF Advanced 2.1?

Q: What Document Management Systems are supported by PowerPDF Advanced 2.1?

A: Document Management System support in the Advanced Edition

Microsoft® SharePoint Server 2003, 2007, 2010 and 2013 Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) 3.0 and Microsoft Office 365
eDOCS DM (former Hummingbird Enterprise™ 5.3.1 and 10

Power PDF supports eDOCS systems if a DM Extensions API is installed and configured on the client machine. The product is also integrated into Windows Explorer DM Extension.

Interwoven® WorkSite 8.3, 8.5 and 9.3

Power PDF supports Interwoven WorkSite systems if DeskSite 8.2 or FileSite 8.2 for WorkSite 8.3 or FileSite 8.5 for WorkSite 8.5 or DeskSite 9.3 or FileSite 9.3 for Work 9.2 is installed and configured on the client machine. The product is also integrated into DeskSite and FileSite clients. The Nuance implementation warns if a requested document is checked out to another user.

Livelink® ECM – Enterprise Server 9.7.0 and 10 from OpenText Corp.

Power PDF supports LiveLink ECM if a LiveLink Explorer Professional Windows Client is installed and configured on the client machine.

OpenText Enterprise Connect

Supports OpenText Content Server through Enterprise Connect if the Enterprise Connect framework 10.5 or higher is installed and configured on the machine

NetDocuments SaaS cloud-based storage.

Save files to this web-based storage facility, providing Software as a Service (SaaS).

Worldox® GX3 and GX4
EMC2® Documentum 7.1, 6.7

Power PDF supports EMC2 Documentum if a DFC 6.5 client is installed and configured on the client machine.

Xerox DocuShare 6 and 6.5
OnBase 13+

To work with Hyland’s OnBase from Power PDF the Nuance module must be licensed on the OnBase server.

DMS PowerPDF Document Management Systems

Catherine2022-07-05T22:57:38-04:00Tags: Batch OCR PDF, Convert Images to Searchable PDF, Convert PDF to Editable Word, Convert PDF to Excel, Convert PDF to HTML, Convert PDF to Text, OCR PDF, PDF, PDF Converters, PDF Data Extraction, PDF OCR, PDF Text Extraction, PDF to TXT Converter|

OCR Freeware

About SimpleOCR Freeware

Do you dread having to retype that document you are holding in your hand? If only you had the electronic file, your life would be so much easier. With SimpleOCR, you could easily and accurately convert that paper document into editable electronic text for use in any application including Word and WordPerfect.

Not only is SimpleOCR up to 99% accurate, it is 100% free.

Download SimpleOCR now or learn more its feature and functions.

Accuracy

With optical character recognition up to 99% accurate, there is no better OCR application for the price. This increased accuracy greatly reduces the need for post-recognition proof reading and correction. And after all, isn’t that why you want to OCR the document in the first place? Of course it is!

System Requirements

SimpleOCR works on any version of windows, from Windows 95-10 and beyond! Your scanner need only a TWAIN driver, the driver that comes with a majority of all scanners sold. In short, SimpleOCR will most likely work with the PC and scanner you already have.

Pricing

SimpleOCR is free for all commercial and non-commercial purposes. It may be re-distributed freely, but only in its original, unaltered form.

Download SimpleOCR Now

Huge Dictionary – With more than 120,000 words, it is unlikely that SimpleOCR will run into a word it does not know. In the rare event that it does, our improved text editor allows you to easily add the new word to the dictionary. By adding new words to the dictionary, SimpleOCR becomes better with every use.
Attention! SimpleOCR does NOT have any handprint OCR capabilities, it will not be able to recognize handwritten text. ICR (Intelligent Character Recognition) is rather complicated software usually on a more expensive side.
Despeckle – For those documents which are not […]

OCR Guide

Optical Character Recognition

During your foray into the world of document scanning, you’ve likely encountered the term “OCR” and may even know that it stands for “Optical Character Recognition“. But what exactly is OCR and how can you make the best use of this sophisticated and valuable tool?

We’re here to give you a run-down of what you need to know about Optical Character Recognition, answer any questions you might have, and recommend the best OCR software solution for your scanning project.

Table of Contents:

What is OCR?
OCR Output Types
Limitations of OCR
OCR for Business
Levels of OCR Software
Improving OCR Accuracy
Desktop OCR Software Comparison
Feature Comparison Chart
OCR Apps and Descriptions

What is OCR?

What Is OCR Barcode Scanning Recognition Software The primary purpose of Optical Character Recognition is to quickly and automatically scanned or photographed document images into machine readable text that can be searched for keywords or edited in a word processor.

In general, an OCR engine analyzes the pixel data of scanned images and searches for patterns resembling letters, numbers, and other symbols to create a digitized record of characters.

The biggest OCR engines employ huge Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) models that have been trained on billions of documents collected over decades of development.

While the exact mechanics of this process can be complicated, OCR engines are a key automation tool for the digital age. It bridges the gap between knowledge stored on physical documents and digital data that can be edited, searched or parsed into structured data to automate data entry tasks.

OCR Output Types

Full Page OCR converts the entire document into one of the following formats:

[…]

Applications

When you scan a document that has text or numeric data on it, you are able to read and understand what is written in the scanned image. However, to a computer, the resulting image file is just as meaningless an assortment of pixels as a landscape photo. In order to transform this information into an editable format that you can search through, copy, and modify without retyping it manually, you will need the an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

There is a wide variety of OCR software available. While they all share the ability to convert images of machine printed (not handwritten) text or numbers into an editable format, the various software often have different features, accuracy, prices, and language options.

You can find the various types of OCR software with a description of each below.

Users within a single department, working from home or who have a small business can simply scan their documents to a folder that is shared to everyone. In this “ad-hoc” scenario you only need some basic document scanning software to simplify and bring consistency to your filing system.

If you want to move to the next level, there are Desktop Document Management options that provide an all-in-one means for capture, storage, search and retrieval of documents. Additionally, they provide security, advanced capabilities and ease of use above that of the ad-hoc methods

And let’s not forget cloud-based options that alleviate the need to maintain storage servers or keep software up to date.

Need a simple, no frills OCR solution without spending hundreds of dollars on a professional software package? Look no further. There is a no cost, donation optional, OCR freeware solution for […]

aaron2022-06-21T12:06:06-04:00Tags: Accounts Payable Automation, Accounts Payable OCR, AI Classification, AP Invoice Scanning, Automate Data Entry, Automated Invoice Processing Software, Automatic Classification, Automatic Document Separation, Barcode OCR, Batch OCR, Batch OCR PDF, Batch OCR Software, BCR, Best OCR Software for Handwriting, Best Software to Create Forms, Business Card OCR, Check Mark Recognition, Checkbox Recognition, Cloud OCR, Convert Handprint to Text, Convert Images to Searchable PDF, Convert Images to Word, Convert PDF to Editable Word, Convert PDF to Excel, Convert PDF to HTML, Convert PDF to Text, Convert Picture to Text, Cursive Handwriting Recognition, Data Capture, Data Extraction, Document Management, Document Processing Software, Electronic Data Capture, Excel OCR, Forms Processing, Handprint Recognition, Handwriting Recognition, Healthcare OCR, ICR, Invoice Automation Software, Invoice Capture, Invoice Imaging, Invoice OCR, Invoice Recognition, Invoice Scanning Software, Invoice Workflow Software, Knoxville Robotic Process Automation, Knoxville TN OCR Solutions, Machine Learning, NLP, OCR Form, OCR Form Software, OCR Invoice Processing, OCR Scanner, OCR Solution, OCR to Excel, OMR, Optical Mark Recognition, PDF Data Extraction, PDF Text Extraction, PDF to TXT Converter, Read Handwriting, Receipt Scanning, Robotic Process Automation, RPA, Scan Handwriting to Text, Scan Invoice, Scan to Excel, Scantron, Simple Invoice Software, Tax Forms OCR, Test Scanning|

Compare OCR Software

IRIS OCR

IRIS is a Belgian company that is the developer of one of the world’s top OCR engines. While more popular in European markets, their OCR and data capture solutions offer great performance and features for the price.

IRIS is offering very competitive pricing compared to OCR alternatives. Plus for the month of March SimpleOCR offers a great 50% discount on new version of IRIS ReadIRIS PDF 22!

ReadIRIS will allow you to convert any paper document, image or PDF into editable and searchable digital files (Word, Excel, PDF, HTML, etc.) using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology. Simply scan your paper document using the built-in scanning wizard or import image from folders or digital camera. ReadIRIS will instantly convert it to the format of your choice without altering the original layout. Your digital documents will now be easy to edit, archived and shared!

IRISmart File is intelligent software for semi-automatic naming and classification of electronic and paper documents. Ideal for freelancers, microbusinesses and SME, IRISmart will help you carry out long, slow everyday administrative tasks quicker than ever before. Anyone who wants to file a large amount of paper or electronic files and invoices into ordered folders quickly and efficiently will find this intelligent software to be a major ally.

IRIS Powerscan is a full-featured document scanning and data capture application designed for high-volume document processing. Please contact us for a quote or demo of IRIS Powerscan.

IRIS IRISXtract for Documents is THE software system for intelligent, automated document processing, for all types of documents. The product line of the IRISXtract system is designed to handle ALL your data capture needs, from the inbound mail, whether hardcopy paper or electronic, through […]

aaron2022-06-24T13:54:30-04:00Tags: Apple OCR, Compare OCR Software, Convert Images to Searchable PDF, Convert Images to Word, Convert PDF to HTML, Convert PDF to Text, Desktop OCR, MAC OCR, MAC OCR Software, OCR Accuracy, OCR PDF, OCR Tables, OCR to Excel, PDF Converters, Table Extraction|

PDF OCR

Searchable PDF OCR

Adobe Acrobat OCR to Searchable PDF Creating searchable PDF files using optical character recognition is one of the most common PDF OCR applications.

The PDF format works great with scanned documents because it allows the OCR text to be hidden in an invisible layer behind the original document image. So you see a perfect replica of the original instead of OCR text that lacks formatting and may contain artifacts and errors.

OCR PDF to Other Formats

Batch OCR PDF to Text, Excel, Word

PDF OCR can also mean converting scanned PDF files to Word, Excel, text and other formats. This can be done with any desktop OCR or OCR server application. However there are several OCR applications called PDF Converters that are only designed to convert documents to searchable PDF files rather than converting PDF files to other formats. This is an important distinction to make when searching for PDF OCR software.

PDF Converters often cost less than their full-featured desktop OCR counterparts since they only offer document scanning and conversion of images to searchable PDF files. They can also include the ability to convert other file formats like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, HTML, etc. to PDF automatically. Enterprise site licensing options let you enable this capability for any user in the organization. Contact us for a quote on site licenses for any PDF OCR application.

PDF OCR Compression

PDF also offers advanced compression options like MRC, JPEG2000 and JBIG that can produce much smaller files than traditional TIFF images. Foxit PDF Compressor is even able to parse the document and apply different compression to images, text and backgrounds to reduce the size even further. This can produce huge savings in cloud storage and access […]

Convert Scanned Image to Text Document

The primary purpose of Optical Character Recognition is to quickly and automatically convert scanned images of machine-printed (typed) text – which to a computer are no more meaningful a collection of pixels than any other image, such as a landscape photo – into actual text data that you can search through and modify.

OCR Software comes in many different types, which vary in price range based on their features, speed, and accuracy. One of the main qualities that OCR producers are using to differentiate their products is volume of the documents OCR will allow you to process. That may be a bit counter intuitive but features that are needed to process hundreds, thousands or millions pages a year are rather different ones.

In case of several hundreds of pages (receipts, checks, medical, tax or legal forms, personal memorabilia) you need to scan for personal use you would need light, highly versatile, easy to use, not expensive software that will convert images just to text. It may not have automation features, and processing data further will be done manually by you. Thou it is not too hard since volume of documents is not very large and you can treat each of them individually.

Small business users usually process thousands of pages a year and require some automation features. Images need to be converted not just to text, but also to spreadsheets to be processed further. Once the system is set up it is assumed that it will run without much of the interference, and people in charge of document processing would be able to do that with certain ease.

Larger companies processing millions of documents require much larger levels of automation when each small, fine tuned feature would save thousands of work hours in a long run. Multiple machines will be processing documents […]

Kofax OCR

Kofax already had a large variety of products for your business automation like Kofax Capture for high-volume document scanning and data capture, or Kofax VRS Elite to deal with less then perfect images and to capture even the toughest to recognize documents.

Recently Kofax had acquired Nuance’s Document Imaging Division and thus created one of the most powerful family of products for business automation. With products like OmniPage Ultimate or Standard offers you a good versatile OCR packages for small or mid level businesses. There is also an OmniPage Server option for much larger document volumes.

Kofax OmniPage converts paper, PDF files and forms into documents you can share, edit on your PC, listen to with natural speech, or archive in a document repository. Amazing accuracy, support for virtually any scanner, the best tools to customize your process, and automatic document routing make it the perfect choice to maximize productivity. Improved OCR engines deliver amazing accuracy for document conversion and archiving business critical documents.

Kofax OmniPage Server is a cost-effective and reliable solution for business process owners to easily deploy a highly scalable, always-available OCR server solution for large volume of documents processing.

Kofax Power PDF is the smart replacement for Adobe Acrobat for maximum savings without compromise. Power PDF allows you to make changes to PDF files with the fluidity, flexibility and interactivity of real word processing. In addition you can share, edit and discuss document changes using text or voice chat in real-time with multiple people. Plus you can have anywhere, anytime access to your documents using popular Cloud services.

Kofax PaperPort […]

Nikita2022-06-21T13:03:03-04:00Tags: Apple OCR, Compare OCR Software, Convert Images to Searchable PDF, Convert Images to Word, Convert PDF to HTML, Convert PDF to Text, Desktop OCR, MAC OCR, MAC OCR Software, OCR Accuracy, OCR PDF, OCR Tables, OCR to Excel, PDF Converters, Table Extraction|

ABBYY FineReader PDF 15 Standard, 1 Year Subscription

ABBYY FineReader PDF 15 Standard, (1 Year Subscription) is a PDF software application for working with PDF documents and scans. Powered by ABBYY’s AI-based OCR technology it allows you to convert and edit not only digital PDF documents, but also scanned paper documents with the same ease-of-use. With FineReader PDF you can view, edit, search, comment, sign, protect, extract text from PDFs and convert documents into Word, Excel® for further editing.

Demo and Additional Materials

ABBYY FineReader PDF 15 Corporate, 1 Year Subscription

ABBYY FineReader PDF 15 Corporate, (1 Year Subscription) is an all-in-one business toolset for working with PDFs and document digitization. With FineReader PDF employees can work with both digitally created and scanned paper documents to fulfill various document-related tasks in the digital workplace effortlessly. ABBYY FineReader PDF 15 Corporate allows you to view, edit, search, comment and collaborate, sign and protect PDFs or compare document versions in different file formats to identify differences efficiently. Thanks to the seamlessly integrated AI-based OCR technology with FineReader you can also extract information from a PDF or convert the entire document to Word, Excel® for further editing. Document conversion can also be automated to prepare multiple documents for further processing.

Demo and Additional Materials

ABBYY FineReader Server On-Premise

ABBYY FineReader Server On-Premise

Innovative server-based OCR software for performing centralized enterprise-wide OCR processing. Allows anyone on the network to submit files for OCR. Complex XML job specifications can be submitted to control output. Support available for Arabic and Asian languages.

Available in CPU, Total Page Count and Pages Per Year licensing models.

Kofax OmniPage – Standard

Kofax OmniPage Standard converts paper, picture, and PDF files into editable documents to save you considerable time and money by eliminating retyping. Your documents look just like the original – complete with text, tables, and graphics. OmniPage uses superior character accuracy to precisely format your documents so you can easily make changes.

Kofax OmniPage – Ultimate

Kofax OmniPage Ultimate has several unique features that make it stand out for a variety of applications. Some of these include auto-redaction, SharePoint integration, automatic filing with barcodes, PDF auto-bookmarking, form data collection and MFP support. Most of these new features are not available in the Standard edition.

SimpleIndex OCR Workstation

Document capture solution with a one-click interface that automates your scanning and document filing by creating easy-to-find electronic content, saving you time and money. It’s highly customizable to meet even the most detailed needs, with top quality technicians to support your requirements.

SimpleIndex OCR Workstation version
Includes:

basic text and barcode recognition,
ABBYY FineReader OCR Client,
TWAIN and ISIS scanning
1 Year Support & Upgrades

Demos and Additional Materials

SimpleIndex Pro Server 1M PPY

SimpleIndex Pro Server 1 million pages per year – ABBYY FineReader OCR Server, Accusoft Barcode Engine 1D/2D Client, DTK Barcode Engine 1D/2D Server & ISIS Scanning

Document capture solution with a one-click interface that automates your scanning and document filing by creating easy-to-find electronic content, saving you time and money. It’s highly customizable to meet even the most detailed needs, with top quality technicians to support your requirements.

Demos and Additional Materials

Kofax OmniPage Server On-Premise

Kofax OmniPage Server turns OmniPage into a true server-based OCR solution that is scalable to any volume by load-balancing across multiple servers. OmniPage Server is perfect for high-volume conversion projects or for distributing OCR throughout the enterprise.

About SimpleOCR Freeware

Not only is SimpleOCR up to 99% accurate, it is 100% free.

Download SimpleOCR now or learn more its feature and functions.

Accuracy

System Requirements

SimpleOCR works on any version of windows, from Windows 95-10 and beyond! Your scanner need only a TWAIN driver, the driver that comes with a majority of all scanners sold. In short, SimpleOCR will most likely work with the PC and scanner you already have.

Pricing

SimpleOCR is free for all commercial and non-commercial purposes. It may be re-distributed freely, but only in its original, unaltered form.

Attention! SimpleOCR does NOT have any handprint OCR capabilities, it will not be able to recognize handwritten text. ICR (Intelligent Character Recognition) is rather complicated software usually on a more expensive side.

Despeckle – For those documents which are not […]

Optical Character Recognition

What is OCR?

OCR Output Types

There is a wide variety of OCR software available. While they all share the ability to convert images of machine printed (not handwritten) text or numbers into an editable format, the various software often have different features, accuracy, prices, and language options.

You can find the various types of OCR software with a description of each below.

Users within a single department, working from home or who have a small business can simply scan their documents to a folder that is shared to everyone. In this “ad-hoc” scenario you only need some basic document scanning software to simplify and bring consistency to your filing system.

If you want to move to the next level, there are Desktop Document Management options that provide an all-in-one means for capture, storage, search and retrieval of documents. Additionally, they provide security, advanced capabilities and ease of use above that of the ad-hoc methods

And let’s not forget cloud-based options that alleviate the need to maintain storage servers or keep software up to date.

DiVA (Cloud-based)

Searchable PDF OCR

OCR PDF to Other Formats

PDF OCR Compression

Larger companies processing millions of documents require much larger levels of automation when each small, fine tuned feature would save thousands of work hours in a long run. Multiple machines will be processing documents […]

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