OCR Software

[Halcyon]

Need to make a decision on what OCR software to purchase, either Omnipage 15 or Read Iris Pro. I've serach the Forum and found very few on the subject...some of them flamming Omnipage and others doing the same to ReadIris Pro.

I'm aware of the limitations of OCR software but would really like to know the opinion of those who have used (or live by it) either program, and find out which one really works best.

TIA

PD - Of course I'm not limited to the two programs mentioned above and will consider any other suggestions.

 

[erickkoch]

I have ReadIris 9. It works but I don't use it very often, usually just to convert simple PDF's to Word.

I suggest you download the ReadIris demo and try it. Don't buy it right away even if you like it. Wait and see if they offer you a discount (they offered me a 50% discount after 3 weeks). If they still do that you can get it cheaper than the $129 retail price.

Oh, one thing I found annoying about ReadIris is that it's limited to converting 50 page files or less (unless you buy the expensive "Corporate" edition). If you need to convert larger files you need to use PDF Lab to cut them down, then combine them again in Word, Excel, or whatever your target file is.

 

[MisterMe]

Need to make a decision on what OCR software to purchase, either Omnipage 15 or Read Iris Pro. ...

Why do you need to buy OCR software? Most people use OCR software to convert scanned documents into readable text. However, if you have a scanner, then it is likely that OCR software was bundled with it. OmniPage SE was bundled with my Canon. I am certain that OmniPage Pro X 11.0 will do much more than the software that came with my scanner. However, OP Pro X also costs a lot more than my scanner/bundled software.

 

[nsbio]

I had some OCR software bundled with my Canon Pixma MP500 multifunction printer. It worked a couple of times I tried it - dunno how "robust" it actually is. HP does not appear to bundle Mac-compatible OCR software (let me know if I am wrong).

 

[Halcyon]

I do have some bundled OCR software that came with my scanner, but like somebody else mentioned, I need a more robust solution. My client has hundreds of printed pages with text and tables that need to be converted to text.

I've worked with OCR software years ago and based on that past experience I'm not looking forward to it now. I'm just hoping that the software has improved and being that the documents are in good shape, it might work this time.

JC

 

[MisterMe]

....

I've worked with OCR software years ago and based on that past experience I'm not looking forward to it now. I'm just hoping that the software has improved and being that the documents are in good shape, it might work this time.

...

You ought to see how well your bundled software works. You can rest assured that there has been no revolution in OCR over the last ten years. Drumming your fingers while waiting for something better is a fruitless exercise.

 

[Halcyon]

Well, right now I'm testing some pages using ReadIris and I'm very surprised. It's doing a great job doing text recognition and formatting. Great job with the simpler tables, not so good with more complex ones (but I knew that was going to be hard for anything other than rebuilding them by hand).

Bundled OCR software doesn't even come close...specially with formatting and most importantly with SPEED!!!

Monday I will have the opportunity to try Omnipage Pro...so I'll post my conclusions for others out there that might find them useful in the future.

JC