Text can be easily captured in the images, whether it is a prescription from a doctor, a grocery list, student notes, or any professional document. But keeping its record is not easy, as pictures are prone to accidental deletion, or be lost due to device damage. Also, they are not easily searchable on a mobile device as they are scattered in the memory with many other pictures.
There should be a solution to this problem, a method with which the important text in the images can be sorted out easily. So, the data may be saved in an easily accessible memory location and retrieved whenever needed. This problem can be resolved using OCR technology. What this technology is and how it works, let’s discuss that in detail.
What is OCR Technology?
Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is a technology that identifies the text, understands it, and extracts it in the form of editable text. The text can easily be edited and processed in the word processors after being extracted.
How OCR Works?
OCR focuses on the words and characters written in the image without focusing on the colors of the text, which is known as Grayscale conversion. The spots or lines on the text varying in color are removed to identify the text.
The image is also subjected to binarization, which differentiates between text and its background usually with opposite colors such as text in black and background in white. Also, the text is aligned straight as it is tilted to ensure correct conversion.
Key Techniques for Converting Images-into-Text
How can you convert the images you have into text? Here are some methods that can be used to extract text without having technical knowledge of the OPTICAL CHARACTER RECOGNITION.
Text Extraction Methods
The following are the text extraction methods that you can use to convert the images into text easily.
Online OCR tools
Optical character recognition tools are online entities that offer text extraction services. They don’t need to be downloaded. You just have to search for an online OCR tool and start using it without signing in or creating an account. Online optical character recognition tools are usually free and offer services in multiple languages.
OCR software
Optical character recognition software is useful if you have enough space to download the software on your device. They don’t need much space but still some space will be utilized. You just have to give the input as images and the text will be converted into editable text that can be copied or processed further.
Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word 360 has a built-in optical character recognition that can convert imaged text into editable text. The image needs to be inserted in the Word. Next, right-click on the image to see a list of options, one of which is “Copy text from picture,” which you have to choose. The text will be pasted in the same document which can be processed further.
Google Lens
It is a mobile application that can be downloaded on a mobile device. It uses optical character recognition and AI to extract text from images. It uses the mobile camera to capture the text or a picture from the device’s memory. It processes and extracts the text and highlights it on the screen, which can be copied or translated.
Google Drive
Google Drive offers text extraction through Google Docs. You can upload the PDF or image to Google Drive and open it with Google Docs. It automatically converts the imaged text into editable text using optical character recognition. The text can be processed further in Google Docs or copied.
Live Text
It is an iOS feature that can be used on Apple devices. It uses the camera to directly scan and extract the text. The pictured text from the device memory can also be extracted with Live Text. It detects the text which can be copied or used in other applications.
Choose AI Incumbent OCR Tool
The optical character recognition tool that uses AI is best for image to text conversion. Simple OCR has many limitations while extraction which can be improved with AI. It fills in the absent words while recognizing the text’s context.
Multiple image formats are supported such as JPG, JPEG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, HEIC, and PDF. You just have to drag and drop the image or upload it from the device’s memory. After processing the image in a few seconds, text will be accessible as a text file that can be downloaded or text can directly be copied.
Final Words
It is quite easy to capture the important text in pictures, but the organization and handling of the images is a difficult task. So, the text in the images needs to be extracted. It can be done using optical character recognition technology.
There are several methods that can be used for text extraction such as online OCR tools & software, MS Word, Google Lens, Google Drive, and Live Text. The optical character recognition tool that uses AI for text extraction is best for image-to-text conversion. It understands the context and provides perfect results.
