OCR, which stands for “Optical Character Recognition,” is a great way to turn written text into digital files. The best free OCR software is easy to find and can really change the game when you need to get text out of images and make it readable. These programmes are able to easily change a number of image file forms into common ones, such as Word, Excel, or plain text. In my experience, most of the software choices on this page come with a free trial version. But, as with other free versions, there are some restrictions, usually related to time or features.
However, a perfect OCR tool shouldn’t be limited to just document scanning. Instead, it ought to have more functions for managing, editing, merging, and other operations with documents. When you want to, you can create a digital duplicate of written text or handwriting without having to physically translate it. There are many more affordable professional instruments available. Below we have mentioned the best free OCR Software.
8 Best Free OCR Software
Nanonets
Virtually any document or image may be read by the best free OCR Software Nanonets. The dashboard handles large amounts of input data and is comparatively simple to use. You can quickly and efficiently extract data from photos and documents, whether they are printed or handwritten, with Nanonent’s cutting-edge OCR technology.
Additionally, Nanonets enables you to upload unstructured data and only extract the necessary fields. Additionally, it offers stand-alone OCR services for receipts, ID cards, passports, invoices, and US driver’s licenses.
DOCBrains
The platform known as DocBrains is capable of extracting information from any document and processing it before transforming it into a usable format for additional processing. Since documents are a crucial component of practically every industry, the bulk of those that are heavily dependent on them are undergoing automated digital transformation. The processing structure of such complex, unstructured, and semi-structured documents and invoices is where the real pain points lie. This is one of the best free OCR Software.
Microsoft OneNote
Advanced OCR capabilities in Microsoft OneNote can read handwritten notes as well as images. Drag a stored image or a scan into OneNote. OneNote also allows you to insert clipped images and portions of screens. Select Copy Text from Picture with a right-click on the inserted image. Overall, this is one of the best free OCR Software that you can download.
You can now paste the optically detected text that you copied into Word, Notepad, OneNote, or any other program by copying it to the clipboard. A multipage printout’s text can likewise be extracted by OneNote with only one click. Insert a printout with multiple pages into OneNote, then right-click the page that is now being displayed. You can download Microsoft OneNote from the Windows Store.
Adobe Acrobat
The best free OCR Software like Adobe Acrobat enables you to turn scanned PDF files and images into searchable and editable documents. It offers unique fonts that resemble printouts. Any printed document can be edited immediately. It makes it simple for you to copy and paste the content into other program. You can export the file to Microsoft office using Acrobat.
You can transfer data between locations by converting scanned documents to PDF files. With the aid of this program, you can preserve the authentic appearance and feel of your documents. Customer service is available over the phone, live chat, contact form, and call request.
AWS Textract
Still not convinced Try Amazon Textract, which can extract handwriting, written text, and other data from scanned documents using clever machine learning and AI. You can easily scan ID cards, passports, receipts, paperwork, and more using AWS Textract.
It’s interesting that it employs pre-trained query-based extraction, allowing you to specify the data you want to extract. You may also add human reviews and comments to the changed documents using AWS Textract. In terms of cost, the free tier allows you to scan and extract up to 1,000 pages each month. This is the best free OCR Software.
Doc.Capture
Doc.Capture automatically captures and indexes all types of documents to automate and speed up business processes. categories the papers for you automatically. The robust capture platform designed for the most demanding is called Doc.Capture. The system has a scalability that is unmatched in the industry today and functions at the production level. Using a production scanner, multifunction devices, copiers of any brand, or just a directory, the software enables you to gather all the data you require.
It will perform faster and more effectively because of the user interface, which was entirely created for you and has unmatched ergonomics. Greater control over capture processes is provided by the program. The modular and ready-to-use business application Doc.Capture was created to address the information capture requirements of a particular division or organization. This is the best free OCR Software.
SimpleOCR
SimpleOCR could have resolved the issue we are facing with handwriting recognition using Microsoft tools. However, the software only provides a 14-day free trial of handwriting recognition. However, there are no limitations on machine print recognition. Overall, this is one of the best free OCR Software that you can download.
Configure it to read from a scanner or by adding a page (JPG, TIFF, BMP formats). With the use of its text selection, image selection, and text ignore functions, SimpleOCR gives users some control over the conversion. The procedure enters a validation stage after conversion to text, when errors in the converted text can be fixed using an integrated spell-checker.
iText pdf2Data
With the help of iText pdf2Data, data from documents can be quickly recognised and extracted in an organised, reusable manner. It has versions for Java, C# (.NET), and the CLI. Based on selection criteria that you specify in a template, it provides a foundation for intelligently recognising data within PDF documents.
Compared to AI-based solutions, which require substantial training to recognize documents, this has major advantages. And anybody can build and change templates thanks to the user-friendly browser-based pdf2Data Editor. This includes marketers, information managers, and HR employees. Currently, this is the best free OCR Software you can check now.
What Is OCR?
Software for optical character recognition (OCR) turns handwriting or even photographs into text. OCR software analyses a document by comparing it to typefaces in their database and/or by identifying character-specific characteristics. Some OCR software also uses a spell checker to “guess” words that aren’t recognised.
The majority of software aims for a near approximation because achieving 100% accuracy is challenging. For academics, office employees, and students using OCR software, there are productivity shortcuts available. So let’s experiment with some more to locate the best OCR program for your requirements.
Conclusion
The free tools worked well with printed text but not with handwritten text in standard cursive. Because you can integrate it into your note-taking process, Microsoft OneNote is my particular favorite for offhand OCR use. Line breaks are supported with the variety of document formats that Photo Scan, a Windows Store universal app, may save to. However, this is not the best free OCR Software.
