I need software to convert scanned doc into word doc. Help.

Mr_Yoda

I've been asked to convert a scanned document which has been emailed to me into a text file or a word document and wondered if anyone could help with regards to the best software. The document itself is primarly text although there are a few logo type pieces within it.

I've tried using Simple OCR and Omniformat but the results were not particularly good and it they only converted the first page (there are six pages within the file). Does anyone know of any software (whether free or not is not really an issue) which would be do the job perfectly?

bugeyed

Generally, the best course of action is to scan with the software, rather than try to get text from what is probably an image file. If the file has been scanned and saved as an image, that is - a jpeg, tiff, bmp, etc then you are unlikely to be able to do much more with it. You could try one of these free trials - I havent checked to make sure they will allow you to print or save a converted file whilst in demo mode - you need to read the terms and conditions of each first. Hope they help

Free - http://softi.co.uk/freeocr.htm
Trial - Abby fine reader (top quality product) http://www.abbyy.com/finereader8/?param=45596

fwor

If you know anyone with a Canon scanner or all-in-one printer, it probably came bundled with a copy of ScanSoft Omnipage SE on the driver CD. I've tried that and it works very well, including coping with (i.e. ignoring) logos.

Alternatively, Abbyy Fine Reader is often bundled with Lexmark all-in-one printers, if you can lay your hands on a driver CD for one of those.

As bugeyed says, you'll probably get best results scanning directly into the OCR package, as it will set the scanner the way it prefers.

sco0ter

Abbey finereader will let you convert the image into a text file. It can actually convert and export direct to word for you although use the V9 one and not the V8 above

http://finereader.abbyy.com/?param=137544

According to the demo it says

you can process up to 50 pages in total and save or send to an external application only one page at a time.

so should let you do what you need. I bought it ages ago for transferring things onto electronic copies and it is brilliant and has excellent results from images including saving and transferring images within the document

bugeyed

Nice one scooter.....didnt note that my link was for the old version....Use scooters link for new version

Mr_Yoda

Thanks everyone, i'll give Abbey Finereader a go.