Optical character recognition (OCR) means applying pattern-recognition techniques to convert an otherwise non-editable text (such as that in images or taken from the scanner) into characters or symbols that can be edited in text editor.
Smart OCR is capable of extracting editable text from source images coming directly from the scanner or as files. On this matter, it supports either PDF or a wide range of picture formats. The resulting text can be saved as TXT, PDF, HTML, RTF or DOC.
It has a modern-looking minimalist interface that will leave absolutely no room for doubts. The basic operations can be performed even by beginners but more complicated tasks are not hard to perform either. To make it even easier, you can always access the quick tasks menu, from where you can start any of functions. The working area will be divided into two panels; the first will show the image view while the second will display the text view. This will help you compare both and make the necessary adjustments. The program will respect the original document’s layout. In this regard, it will divide pages into areas, some of which may contain text while others will be recognized as pictures. These areas can be modified to get the best results. This feature will allow the program to work with text in columns and even within tables.
As for the accuracy of the results, the most important aspect in a tool of this type, Smart OCR managed to successfully recognize text with only few errors, and even those errors were quite justified due to the conditions of the original document. It is also fair to point out that I was using the trial version, which means that the spelling dictionaries were not activated. It is logical to think that the registered version will work even better.
As a whole, Smart OCR is a fine application that produces quite accurate results. However, when dealing with large documents, it stopped responding as it showed no signs of activity; but once it had finished loading the document, it went back to normality. This is a program I recommend for all types of users, mainly for those performing frequent OCR operations. My advice: if you have a fast Internet connection and you only need OCR from time to time, you can use the OCR service available from Google Docs and you will save a couple of bucks.
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