Windows optical character recognition

You get all the tools you need for taking paper documents from a scanner and making them fully readable, neatly organized, digitized documents.

As well as recognizing text and converting it to PDF, Microsoft Office or other formats, the program can also compare documents, add annotations and comments, and more. If you need to convert bundles of documents in batches then FineReader can do that too. It can handle a host of output formats and different languages without breaking a sweat, and there are companion mobile apps as well if you need to do some quick scanning from a phone.

The software isn't the most modern we've ever seen but it's clean, functional and does the job perfectly well. Abbyy FineReader has built up a strong reputation for being one of the best options in the OCR field, and you can take advantage of a free trial to see if all the hype is on the money.

There is also a Corporate version which adds the ability to compare documents and perform automated batch conversions. Readiris blends a polished interface with a host of useful features and functions to really earn its place on our list. If you're running a small business or need a serious amount of paper digitized — and you're prepared to pay for it — then you'll find this program one of the most comprehensive out there.

From a host of supported file formats including Microsoft Office formats and the option to have text read aloud , to signatures and security protection on your finished digital documents, it's difficult to think of anything that the developers of Readiris have missed out.

Watermarks, comments and annotations are all supported. It's also one of the fastest and slickest OCR programs out there, putting some older applications we've seen to shame. Documents are processed and filed rapidly, and you'll soon be jumping quickly between the various Readiris screens, with no need to consult a manual or embedded help file. Like all the best apps, it combines a lot of powerful features with a simple and accessible interface. Some features, such as support for a maximum of languages and PDF password protection, require a Corporate level package, which is priced as a one-time fee.

The one below that level is Pro, and then the basic product is just the standard Readiris — and it's still very good, so many of you will be able to get by with the lowest priced package, making it one of the most cost-effective solutions on this list. Rossum offers an OCR solution with a difference, in that it's aimed at scanning invoices for key information to be exported into whichever program you're using.

This could make it especially useful for enterprises with a large number of invoices, especially coming from contractors and suppliers, which may often be in paper form. The software works by using AI to scan the document for key information rather than using a template format, which helps in that different invoices will tend to be formatted to present information in different ways.

However, while this could make it hugely useful in that regard, it's narrow range of purpose means it has limited application across other areas where documents or images need scanning or otherwise converting to editable text files. Even still, Rossum has a clear purpose and works to a specific niche need, and will no doubt prove valuable for businesses that need to extract figures simply and easily as opposed to simply working with text.

Because it works in a customized way for the documents you use and the data you need to scan and export, there's no flat rate pricing and instead you need to contact the company for a quote. However, a free trial is available to see if it will suit your needs.

There are different types of OCR software, with the above often able to work with batches of documents at the same time. Thanks for your feedback. After formatting windows update keeps complaining about failed updates. The updater is trying to install Norwegian optical character recognition and Norwegian typing about every mins , but fails with errorcode: 0xFF I've run the troubleshooter, and it reports "Service registration is missing or corrupt" as Fixed, but the problem persists.

How can I fix this incredibly annoying problem? This thread is locked. You can follow the question or vote as helpful, but you cannot reply to this thread. I have the same question Report abuse. Very good OCR recognition 5. It uses state-of-the-art modern OCR software. The recognition quality is comparable to commercial OCR software. Please do not feed hand-written documents to this converter.

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