It is well known that paperwork is a significant productivity barrier. More and more businesses are making efforts to become completely paperless. Consider this: isn’t it time to switch to digital instead of hard copy given that 45% of office paper is thrown out every day?
A crucial step in the digital transformation is going paperless. Companies gain from using digital tools to communicate information, take notes, generate invoices, and do much more instead of relying on paper. OCR, or optical character recognition, technology is a vital tool for everyone involved in document digitization.
OCR technology enables the conversion of content from photos to text, simplifying and speeding up the digitization process. OCR and artificial intelligence are currently being used to automate paperless labor and the digitization process.
What is OCR technology, and how does it work?
The text image is transformed into a text format that may be read and edited using optical character recognition. We can scan a document in image format, such as a receipt, invoice, report, etc., using an OCR reader. The OCR technology has drawbacks, such as the inability to convert text into an editable format. The image’s content will be transformed into plain text data.
The first step in the OCR conversion process is image acquisition, during which the scanner acquires an image and transforms it into binary data. The background of the image will be categorized by the scanner as light, and the text will be categorized as dark.
To make the text in an image of a page machine-readable, OCR technology examines the shapes, patterns, and lines in the photograph. Normally, the procedure entails several steps:
A digital image of the document is created through scanning or photography.
Preparation:
To improve the text’s quality and readability, the idea is improved.
OCR algorithms find any text areas that are present in the image during text detection.
Character recognition is the process of using recognized text to analyze and create digital text.
Post-processing:
Additional processing is applied to the identified text in order to correct errors and improve accuracy.
Output:
The finished product is a digital document that may be searched and edited.
Role of OCR in Documents Digitization
OCR software efficiently converts text from JPG photos into editable, digital Word documents. You are able to interact with the text more creatively thanks to this procedure. This procedure also makes your paper shareable in a common JPG to word processing format.
The following procedures must be taken in order to digitize paper documents using OCR software and a scanner:
Document scanning and conversion
Paper documents are turned into digital images or electronic copies when they are scanned. Due to their lack of intelligence, these photographs cannot be changed by copying and pasting them onto other sheets or searching for them. Converting documents entails more than just simple scanning. The scanned image is converted into text using OCR data extraction technology, which is also included. It is simple to search for and edit. OCR also facilitates the data export process.
Document remediation and Editing
Document remediation enhances this process by adding meta tags to pictures and signatures. It also reorganizes tables and columns for use with assistive technology. Through this procedure, a standard digital document is converted into a resource that is usable by people with visual or aural impairments. Some characters might not be accurately recognized by the OCR program. especially if the original form contained errors or was handwritten. The legal team examines the digital information and corrects any errors by hand.
Saving and storage
The finished digitized documents are kept in a safe database that can be searched. The files can be retrieved easily and rapidly; therefore, there is no need for physical storage.
Moving on, media data and information optimization are included in OCR software. By making the media more visible and clear, it can raise the quality.
The black-and-white line images in an OCR application are typically in art mode. They are kept in the GIF and PNG file types. The color photographs are saved in JPEG format, while the black and white images are saved in GIF or JPEG. To take advantage of this technology, businesses must build up the necessary infrastructure for OCR.
The Advantages of OCR for Document Digitization
Businesses can digitize all of the documents associated with their operations using the OCR process. Companies can gain from increased security, usability, and accuracy with electronic documents.
Reduces Space and Increased Security
A 500-page printed book can fit into 1 MB of storage space. Imagine how much space firms with lots of paper could save by digitizing with OCR. While digital papers can be password-protected, paper-based documents are accessible to anyone. Additionally, we can look through the log files to see who visited a specific document.
Easy Access and Cost-Savings
Anyone with a computer and a connection to the internet can view digital materials. The required documents are stored on a central server where anyone with access can look for them. Physical document storage, management, and preservation are more expensive than digitizing them. Documents that have been digitized won’t deteriorate or decay. Digital papers, however, are vulnerable to cyber theft or hacking. But we do have effective security measures for that.
Automate task
Data entry procedures can be automated with the aid of OCR. OCR can be used to read data from photos and documents and save it in a database instead of manually keying it in. This prevents errors from being introduced by human-made manual data entry operations.
Reading information from blood, urine, and various other health reports is one use case for automating data entry that is currently in use. obtaining information for data analysis from medical paperwork, insurance claims, or health reports.
Wrapping Up
The industry is seeing new advancements in optical character recognition (OCR), which makes the switch from paper-based to digital documentation simple. Choose the instruments that have all the features and functionalities you need for simple document digitalization from the many options accessible.
