OCR software: the ‘what,’ ‘how’ and ‘why’ of scanning and recognition

‘OCR’, ‘Optical Character Recognition’, ‘optical character recognition’, ‘software OCR’, ‘scan and recognize‘: the terms around document recognition are flying around your ears – and you’ve probably Googled them all by now. But the information surrounding the subject is often technical and subjective, making it difficult to get a good picture of OCR. Where can you find the explanation you’re looking for? On this page, we list all the important questions and answers regarding OCR software for you!

The basics of OCR software: understanding optical character recognition

Curious about the principle behind OCR and the benefits you can get from OCR software? In this section, we’ll go into that in more detail.

What is OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and how does it work?

“OCR” stands for “Optical Character Recognition. This is a technique by which the computer reads letters, numbers and punctuation marks from a picture. You use OCR software to convert paper documents and booklets into editable digital versions that you can eventually archive. Think forms, contracts, letters, reports, articles and manuals. OCR works on the basis of pattern recognition. After scanning the text and recognizing it as an image, OCR software extracts letters, numbers and punctuation from the image at the pixel level. From this comes words and text. So if you scan a paper document (such as a purchase invoice), OCR software can transform it very quickly into a searchable digital document. Want to know more? Read our blogs “What is OCR?”and “How does OCR work?

What is an OCR program and what can you do with it?

The basic function of OCR software is to make documents searchable. An OCR program looks at where values are on a document and recognizes them. But different systems exist. Regular OCR solutions recognize according to templates. If one element is once in a different place (for example, if the date is moved from left to right), OCR text recognition no longer works. As a user, you will then have to make a manual adjustment. An advanced OCR program can interpret text as a human would and therefore provides you with specific information. This has a lot of added value in administrative processes such as purchase invoice processing. Good OCR software minimizes repetitive, monotonous work. This means that financial administrators are left time for challenging, fun tasks that add more value to the organization. In addition, the error rate goes down significantly because an OCR program eliminates (human) over-typing.

What do “scan and recognize” and OCR software have to do with each other?

If you want to digitize purchase invoices and other incoming documents, you need scanning and recognition software. This is a document recognition solution. But what exactly is it? Many people think that document recognition is a process where you scan a picture that then enters your records. That is not incorrect, but there is much more to it: scan and recognize software automatically converts the scanned image into data, which you see back in your ERP system. Isn’t this exactly the same as what an OCR program does? That’s right. “Scan and recognize software” is therefore a synonym for “OCR software.

Scanning a text with OCR and processing it digitally: how does it work?

In finance, you want to convert scanned and PDF documents into digital versions that you can edit and archive. To do this, it’s best to use a smart OCR program. This recognizes data on pdf documents and interprets it to present a logical result. For example, if there are six digits after the word “invoice number,” an OCR program understands the context. It recognizes the digits as the invoice number and fills it in for you. You then only need to check the automated proposal. So it is no longer necessary to fill in the individual fields manually when you process a PDF document.

What is the relationship between OCR, pdf files and images?

OCR software is often used to read purchase invoices, work orders, expense reports, service reports and hr files. In fact, these are often pdf files that financial-administrative staff have traditionally retyped. When you read a pdf file with OCR, you don’t have to perform this time-consuming, error-prone task. The OCR software automatically converts scanned images into data that enters your ERP system. Smart OCR software interprets the document and makes a booking proposal that you just have to check.

Can you use OCR software to process only invoices or other documents as well?

In most cases, organizations deploy OCR software to process purchase invoices. But in principle, you can use OCR technology to process all incoming documents. Common document types that you can also process with OCR software are order confirmations, orders and declarations. Make sure you choose a smart total solution (‘scan and recognize’ plus workflow) that integrates seamlessly with your ERP system.

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Why doesn’t OCR work flawlessly?

When a particular field on a document deviates, the OCR system may not immediately recognize it. In such cases, it is important what kind of OCR software you use. With a regular variant, you have to perform all kinds of operations. For example, it is necessary to retrain the system with each vendor and create templates. However, if you use smart, self-learning OCR software, you start with a very high recognition rate (even with a new supplier). Over time, the results get better and better – without you having to do anything. If the system does not immediately recognize certain document data, you can simply click on what it should have recognized. The software learns and remembers this so that the next time it gets it right the first time and shares the knowledge gained within the user community. All users benefit from this and the system therefore becomes smarter and smarter Moreover, you don’t have to create templates, which optimizes your time savings.