July 10, 2009
Free OCR Service Turns Image Files Into Text
Recommend ThisRemember the old days, when you needed a scanner and pricey OCR software if you wanted to convert a page of text into editable text?
The old days are gone, man! Free OCR is a free Web-based OCR service that turns any uploaded image file into a text file you can load into Word or your document editor of choice.
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The site supports BMP, GIF, JPEG, TIFF, and PDF files (though for the moment it will convert only the first page of a PDF, a rather annoying limitation that will supposedly be remedied in the future).
The maximum file size is 2MB, and the service recommends a minimum of 150 dpi. You'll also need to forgo heavily formatted documents for now: Free OCR doesn't yet support columns and the like.
Consequently, your mileage will vary depending on the nature and resolution of your image. That said, the service does a pretty impressive job. I used my iPhone to snap a photo of a document, and the resulting text file was darn near perfect. So give it a try! It's free--says so right in the name.
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