This document discusses optical character recognition (OCR) technology. OCR software scans printed text documents and converts them into editable, machine-readable text files. The document outlines the benefits of OCR such as eliminating manual data entry and improving data accuracy. It also lists key areas where OCR is used including cloud storage, mailroom automation, and banking. Metrics for evaluating OCR software and current trends in OCR technology are discussed. Top OCR providers like Adobe Acrobat, OmniPage, and ABBYY FineReader are compared. Case studies on how OCR is used by accountants and universities are provided.

1. OCR Systems and its
Solution Providers
MAYA PRITHVI RAJ

2. Introduction
OCR stands for Optical Character Recognition. OCR technology is a
software that scans documents containing texts and converts them into
documents which can be edited. Once a printed page is in the machine-
readable text form, using OCR we can do all kinds of works like search
through it by keyword, edit it with a word processor, incorporate it into
a web page etc.

3. Benefits of Using OCR
 Eliminating manual data entry, a process that drains profit and
productivity.
 Improving data accuracy by reducing human error, which can
occur while the data is being input.
 Improve customer service.
 Aid compliance with secure, controlled access to sensitive
documents.
 Reduce the hidden costs that come with manual data entry,
which often occurs across an organization.
 Importing application and form submissions.
 Minimize manual sorting.

4. Key areas of usage
 Cloud storage
 Mailroom automation
 Invoice automation
 Form automation
 Information retrieval
 Banking
 Legal
 Healthcare

5. Metrics on Adoption of OCR software
Some key features we consider when looking at adopting an OCR software are
 Support for both scanned documents and digital images
 Efficiency of conversion time
 Accuracy rates
 Range of supported fonts
 Range of supported languages
 Export file formats
 File compression options
 OS compatibility
 Mobile capture capabilities
 Color support
 Ability to preserve original document layouts
 Access to an API and integration capabilities

6. CURRENT TRENDS IN OCR TECHNOLOGY
 The accurate recognition of Latin-script, typewritten text is now
considered largely a solved problem with 99% accuracy.
 Areas like recognition of hand printing, cursive handwriting, and
printed text in other scripts (with a very large number of characters)
are still the subject of active research. Higher rates of recognition of
general cursive script is not likely to be possible without the use of
contextual or grammatical information.
 OCR technology is also used in advanced scanning applications. For
more complex recognition problems, intelligent character recognition
systems are generally used such as hidden Markov model (HMM),
support vector machine(SVM) and artificial neural network (ANN).

7. Top Providers of OCR
1. ADOBE ACROBAT
 PROS - Offers robust OCR functions plus other document functions.
 CONS - It does not export to eBook formats.
 VERDICT - For accuracy and ease of use, Acrobat Pro DC is an exceptional tool for OCR
projects.
2. OmniPage Standar
 PROS - Automatically detects the language of the document you're converting.
 CONS - The software does not have a mobile app.
 VERDICT - Offers outstanding OCR performance as well as impressive features like
automatic language detection and the ability to save to eBook formats
3. ABBYY FineReader
 PROS - In addition to FineReader Professional’s highly accurate software, the program also
has a mobile app you can use to access files when you are on the go.
 CONS - Various processes create different windows, which can be confusing.
 VERDICT - Once you learn the different module functions, FineReader does an excellent
job on nearly all optical character recognition functions.

8. Other OCR Providers
 WayGo (USA)
Waygo translates Chinese characters into English text by seeing images, finding the relevant text,
and finally creating sensible phrases. Waygo does not require an internet connection to operate.
 Pixuate (India)
Pixuate bundles Face Recognition, Object Recognition, Template recognition, Facial Analysis,
Optical Character Recognition, Feature detection all into one simple web api interface.
 Breezedocs (Australia)
Breezedocs provides automated document processing as a service using the most advanced
Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and capture technology.
 Lingospot (USA)
Lingospot combines known metadata about a TV show with information extracted using our
multimodal analysis to get a deep understanding of every scene in that show.
 Syslore (Finland)
Syslore is a Finnish software company developing intelligent, high-performance address
recognition and matching solutions for postal, logistics and mailing companies.

9. Case Studies
• OCR has become an accountant’s
best friend which helps him/her in
works such as uploading receipts
into an online accounting platform,
pulling out all the relevant text
and data along the way.
• Cavite State University has
adopted the OCR Technology for its
Database Buildup of Students’
Scholastic Records. By doing this,
the laborious and tedious task of
manually encoding grades was
eliminated by the university staff.

10.  http://www.cvisiontech.com/library/ocr/ocr-pdf/what-is-ocr-used-
for.html
 https://www.pearl-scan.co.uk/blog/advantages-of-ocr-optical-character-
recognition
 http://www.in.techradar.com/
 http://www.explainthatstuff.com/how-ocr-works.html
 https://www.foxitsoftware.com/blog/how-todays-businesses-use-ocr/
 http://findaccountingsoftware.com/expert-advice/5-ways-to-empower-
your-business-with-optical-character-recognition-ocr/
 http://www.academia.edu/3012934/Recent_Trends_and_Tools_for_Featu
re_Extraction_in_OCR_Technology
 https://blog.tallie.com/optical-character-recognition-is-transforming-
accounting/
 http://www.toptenreviews.com/business/software/best-ocr-software/
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