If your job or hobbies have you working with text and images a lot, you might have heard the term OCR a couple of times. If this terminology has infiltrated your inner circles once or twice it shouldn’t surprise you because it is gaining speed considerably these days. You are probably curious as to what OCR means and why is everyone talking about it when it comes to image editing or text manipulation. This little guide was compiled as a solution for those that need a quick introduction to OCR, what it stands for, and what it can do for them. That being said, let’s dive right into it and see what it’s all about. Keep in mind that you can get OCR yourself at any time, for there are many OCR solutions online such as  https://www.sodapdf.com/products/pdf-form-creator/.

 

What does OCR stand for?

OCR stands for Optic Character Recognition. The term is directly related to what it can do and what it can achieve through image scanning and text manipulation. Check out the rest of the guide to see what that is precisely.

How many types of OCR are there?

There are two main types of OCR that you will be able to find online. There is the premium software that will require you to pay a fee straight up or in smaller increments in the form of a subscription, and there is the free software or free version of OCR, which can be used without having to pay anything, at any time. The main functions are presents for both versions. The premium software contain additional tools and perks that justify the fee.

What can OCR do precisely?

OCR can take image files and scan them for text. The software is capable of detecting text inside an image and then creating it in a format that allows the use to edit it as they see fit. OCR can be used not only to store text but also to edit it and send it to different contacts.

What can OCR help with?

OCR can help users get a fully functioning text document of a big text that they need. Often times people run into text they need to memorize or keep for later but it comes in the form of an image. Taking pictures with their phones has been a crippled solution for ages, but the result is a photo that is of poor quality most of the time and doesn’t show the text properly. OCR helps by providing a fully readable version of that same text that’s stuck on the poster on the wall for example.

Should you get OCR?

As previously mentioned, you can get both premium and free OCR, which means that you don’t have to take any risks. The answer is yes, if you work with images and text a lot, this can be very useful software for you and you should try it at least.