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Optical Character Recognition or popularly called as OCR is the process of changing an image into a machine readable and editable text medium. The process involves the search for typewritten, handwritten or printed text from a given image file which can be in PDF, GIF, JPEG, TIFF, BMP or PNG.

So why the necessity for the conversion in the first place? In many cases digital files stored in text format is more appropriate. Just to illustrate. A database whose entries are in readable text is easier to process. In addition to ease in processing, this format allows you to carry out better database manipulation. Consequently, it enables you to come up with important analytical reports useful for decision making.

OCR becomes indispensable if you have to convert sizeable hard documents in digital format. The importance of OCR is more evident if you need the digital format in computer editable text file. Though digital conversion for hard documents can be done in a manual way, this is not an effective and efficient proposition. You need substantial man hours for the conversion process. Hence this may turn out to be more costly and error prone conversion process.

OCR is undoubtedly the way to go for data entry of voluminous hard documents into text readable and editable medium. To implement data entry thru OCR, one main prerequisite is the use of an OCR computer software. The following are the primary OCR software classifications:

1) Commercial OCR Softwares

You have to make an investment in order to access this kind of OCR softwares. They are packaged with after sales support and good features to include multi language conversion, ability to classify business documents like invoice, purschase orders, etc. If you are faced with considerable volume of text conversion task, taking the commercial OCR software package alternative is a good option.

2) Open Source OCR or Free OCR Softwares

Commonly fall under the General Public License (GPL), these are free OCR packages which can you tap for your image conversion to text. These can be downloaded online. Infact since some of these packages come as open scripts, you can even modifiy these applications for your custom based requirements.

They serve similar functionalilty as other available OCR softwares. The drawback though is that these open source OCR packages or free OCRs commonly do not come with support. You can only rely on online available information about their functionality and usability.

3) Online OCR

File conversion task can be undertaken online. That means you just upload the necessary files for conversion to the website of a particular online OCR service provider. The generated output is usually sent to your email address. But there are different providers which do not require your email address or registration for output generation. If there is one disadvantage of online OCR, it is the danger of exposing your files- which should be avoided for confidential files.

Finding the appropriate OCR software is hinged on your data entry requirements. The main consideration however is to spell out your specific needs and take that into account with your current resources. Using OCR sofwares whether these are free, commercial or online OCR is a laudable move. It undoubtedly helps in your file conversion to computer readable and editable text less taxing.