We’ve all encountered a situation where we’ve got hundreds of printed documents on hand, and we need to find specific information from one of these pages. This may seem impossible, but it can be done through optical character recognition (OCR).

With OCR, we can easily convert printed text into a machine-readable format and organize our information more efficiently. We can also modify the scanned document, like in other text documents. This makes OCR one of the most essential features of any paperless document management system.

But how can we manage documents using OCR? Let’s find out.

How Does OCR Work?

Wondering how OCR works? Here’s how:

1.      Document Scanning

Before creating a PDF version of the document, OCR scans the printed documents and looks at the light regions of the scanned images as backgrounds while the dark areas are identified as text.

2.      Fixing Images

In the second step, the software fixes the images by addressing all the alignment issues within them. This is done by tilting the scanned documents to fix alignment, removing image spots, and smoothing the edges.

3.      Text Recognition

Once the image has been aligned, Ocr Software scans the document to identify alphabetic letters. It also identifies any numeric digits.

4.      Converting to Machine-Readable Format

After the OCR system has found all the important information, it converts the unstructured data into machine-readable text that can be searched or edited.

Comparison of OCR Technology and Manual Data Entry

Although Ocr Technology is more efficient when compared to manual data entry, both have advantages and disadvantages.

OCR software offers improved accuracy and speed compared to manual data entry. This makes it a cost-effective solution for businesses managing large data volumes. However, the downside is that OCR technology may require training, excessive maintenance, and high-quality documents to work properly.

On the contrary, manual data entry offers quality control and flexibility but can be error-prone and time-consuming at the same time.

So, deciding between OCR technology and manual data entry depends on our organization’s specific needs and requirements. We should evaluate the type and amount of data we handle and then look into human resources and training costs.

The best solution is to use a hybrid method that combines both OCR technology and manual data entry to utilize the advantages of both methods.

How OCR Technology Improves Document Management

Businesses using OCR technology to convert images and scanned documents into text benefit from a much simpler and more efficient approach to data entry. But that’s not the only way OCR technology improves document management.

Let’s look into the benefits of OCR and how they improve document management systems.

1.      Time and Cost Efficient

OCR software converts printed text into digital formats accurately and quickly. Through this process, we can eliminate manual data entry, which can be costly and time-consuming.

Plus, the OCR software can go through thousands of documents quickly, saving us processing time and reducing the costs required for manual data entry.

2.      Easy to Search Information

When the OCR software converts documents into digital formats, we can easily search and retrieve data using phrases or keywords.

Plus, the OCR software also categorizes and sorts out various documents, making it quite easy for us to find the needed information.

3.      Higher Accuracy

OCR software accurately converts documents, minimizing the human errors made in manual data entry. The accuracy percentage of OCR software is around 99%, which is higher than the accuracy achieved through human performance.

This accuracy level reduces document errors and improves the overall efficiency of document management operations.

4.      Improves Productivity

When we use OCR technology, the need for manual data entry is eliminated, which allows employees to devote their attention to other core tasks.

Employees can spend more time on complex activities that require more expertise and human judgment. This leads to better productivity and quality of work.

5.      Robust Security

OCR software provides enhanced security measures by allowing access controls and tracking document changes automatically. It alerts us when document changes are made or in the instance of unauthorized access.

This ensures our documents are secure and only the people we allow can access the document.

Implementing OCR Technology for Text Extraction

Many of us may know what OCR technology is but are unaware of how to implement it properly. Let’s quickly go through the different strategies we could utilize for the best implementation of OCR technology:

1.      Choose the Right OCR Technology

We first need to evaluate our organization’s needs and what type of documents we deal with. There are many document types, such as bank documents, law documents, invoice documents, and more.

And to increase efficiency, we must choose an OCR software that can process the document types we deal with. Filestack’s OCR software, with its ability to process different document types, is a good option.

2.      Evaluate the Accuracy of the OCR System

The purpose of OCR software is to accurately extract text from sources like PDF files, scanned documents, and images. Evaluating the accuracy of this software helps ensure it can consistently recognize and extract text from complex layouts and degraded sources.

It also enables us to determine if the software can also identify and provide a near-perfect extraction of special characters, punctuation marks, symbols, and different writing styles.

3.      Integrate the OCR Software

Once we’ve chosen OCR software, we should integrate it into our system because it will enable faster processing of documents, improve data accuracy, and enable full-text search functionality, making it easier to locate specific information within a document repository.

But how can we integrate the software? Here’s how:

• Use application programming interfaces (APIs) or software development kits (SDKs) that seamlessly integrate with our system.
• Write code that connects our systems with the OCR software.

The Bottom Line

If we want to achieve increased productivity and better data accuracy, OCR is the way to go. It enables us to automate the data entry process, quickly retrieve the required information, and transfer our essential documents to computers, smartphones, and tables.

If we’ve been looking for the best OCR-based tools and software, Filestack is the right solution for us. Get started with Filestack’s OCR software today to reduce human error, improve productivity, and extract accurate data.

FAQs

What is Optical Character Recognition?

Optical character recognition (OCR) is the process of converting an image or printed text into a machine-readable format. OCR software helps in managing large volumes of printed text and also helps us with easy information retrieval.

Why choose OCR technology over manual data entry?

Compared to manual data entry, which can only process a limited number of documents, OCR software is much faster and can work on multiple documents at the same time. Also, OCR technology eliminates the human-made errors that often happen in manual data entry.

Does OCR software provide any specific security measures?

Yes, OCR software follows security protocols, such as giving us access controls so only authorized people can view our data. Plus, it also tracks changes and notifies us, ensuring that we are well aware in the instance an unauthorized person makes the changes.

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