Aotearoa People's Network Kaharoa

Scanning | Is OCR available?

Yes - Microsoft Office Document Scanning software provides a limited Optical Character Recognition tool.

• Only TIFF files (files with the extension .tif or .tiff) can be OCR'ed by Microsoft Office Document Scanning
• TIFF files created using the APNK scanner (scanner available at some locations only) can successfully be OCR'ed by Microsoft Office Document Scanning
• The shortcut to this program is located in Start | Programs menu on the APNK computers
• Microsoft Office Document Scanning comes with the Microsoft Office suite of software.

It may also be possible to convert a scanned image file to text by using an online tool - try a Google search for OCR free web.

Be aware when scanning documents to online websites it may be possible that the information in the scanned document could be used by other sources without your permission.  Do you trust the website? Does information in the document contain personal or confidential information?

Note - some websites may require you to download and install their OCR software - that won't work on the APNK computers.

See also -

• Are there instructions on using the scanner?
• Which libraries have scanners?
• Why reduce file size and how?
• Why change file type and how?
• Is there a list of settings I can change?
• How do I email my scan?
• Where do I save my scans?
• Are there problems with APNK TIFFs?
• Did you know the scanner menu is a touch screen?
• Can not detect original size?