OCR software is incredibly useful for converting scanned documents into editable text that you search, change and so on as you need. This can save huge amounts of time when dealing with document images, as it saves having to retype large volumes of text to make just a small change and so on. There are numerous solutions for your OCR needs, including several free solutions. We will look at a few free OCR software here, to see if they can meet the requirements for accurate OCR that most people will encounter. If you want to edit your OCR files, you can choose PDFelement Pro.
Part 1. Top 3 PDF OCR Freeware
#1. FreeOCR
Those programs are called OCR (Optic Characters Recognizing) and Free OCR is a god choice, because it does it works very well and it's totally free. Maybe you need to scan a page of a book and have it in plain text, don't worry. Plug-in your scanner, and select it as input in Free OCR interface. The rest will be done by Free OCR.
FreeOCR is a fully functional OCR package for the Windows package that can import scanned documents from Twain scanners, PDFs and image files. It uses the Google supported Tesseract engine for enhanced accuracy and is presented in an easy to use interface that makes the whole process simple to follow. With 10 languages included it is a flexible package that works very well. Once a document is OCR'd, the resulting text is placed in the interface and can be copy and pasted into any document desired for maximum compatibility.
#2. SimpleOCR
This is another free package designed for use on the Windows platform, and is basic, but useful tool. Restricted to just English and French, it lacks the language options of some here, and again, OCR'ing a document provides you with a text panel within the application, that you simply copy and paste into the required document format when complete. It has good accuracy and a simple, easy to understand interface but even compared to other free software is somewhat basic and there are perhaps better choices out there today.
#3. Tesseract-OCR
Tesseract-OCR is a free and open source OCR solution that is currently maintained by Google. It has a wealth of options and can be used on Linux, Windows and OS X. However, whilst well featured, it has support for several languages and these can be extended via downloadable extensions, it is extremely complex to run and requires some understanding of the underlying code to get the best out of it. However, it produces very accurate results and with its compatibility with a wide choice of platforms can be a useful tool for those who can manage to get through the steep learning curve.
Comparison of the above Free OCR PDF Applications
Features
FreeOCR
SimpleOCR
Tesseract-OCR
Compatible Operating System
Windows
Windows
Mac OS X ,Windows, Linux
Supported Languages
10
2
12 (plus expansions)
Adware on Installation
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File Conversion
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Verdict:
Whilst the free packages do offer a certain amount of usability, there are downsides. With Adware installed on two of the options and the third one being overwhelmingly complex for many people, the price may not be the bargain that it first seems. Limited languages, and an inability to export directly into a file are other restrictions with all of these free packages, and although they are perhaps helpful in an emergency there are better solutions out there.
Part 2. The Best PDF OCR Software that You Cannot Miss
With that in mind, we can look at what is on offer commercially, and the best option here is iSkysoft PDF Converter Pro for Mac, which not only includes a multitude of features for converting and manipulating PDF files, but a comprehensive, easy to use and very accurate OCR engine as well. With a wide choice of 17 different languages and export into a variety of formats, as well as batch processing that means you can set up as many as 200 files for conversion all done automatically, it has the tools to make your OCR needs simple to manage.
Easy Steps for PDF OCR on Mac OS X (Sierra Included)
Step 1. Import Your PDF Files to the Application
After you have successfully downloaded and installed PDF Converter Pro for Mac, you can then drag and drop your PDFs to the program. Also, you can click the File menu on the gray header bar and select the Add PDF File option.
To set the language for your file, you can click PDF Converter Pro on the gray header bar, and then click Preferences > OCR. From here, you are free to choose any language you prefer.
Step 2. OCR PDF to a Format You Like
To set the output format, you just need to click the Gear icon to activate the window for output settings. Select an output format for your PDF and customize the page range. When everything is OK, tick the Convert the Scanned PDF Documents with OCR option and click Convert to start the OCR process. It’s very simple, quick and convenient, and if you need OCR on a regular basis, it is worth the cost over the free packages we have looked at.
PDFelement Pro - The Best Way to OCR PDFs
PDFelement Pro comes with the advanced OCR feature. With this smart PDF OCR tool you can edit and convert scanned PDF just in a simple steps. Besides, you can also use this tool to convert the PDF documents to many popular image formats such as Word, PPT and images etc. Multiple editing tools allow you to edit PDF files as your needs.
Why Choose This PDF OCR Software:
Advanced OCR feature allows you to edit and convert scanned PDF easily.
Edit PDF texts, graphics, images, links, watermarks and other elements with ease.
Convert PDF to images, Word, Excel, PPT, EPUB and more formats.
Create PDF from other formats and create PDF forms easily.
Easily mark up and annotate PDF files with multiple markup tools.
Combine multiple files into PDF and split PDF into several files.
Oct 15,2019 • Filed to: Mac Tutorials
A number of programs, including the FreeOCR, are specially designed for such function. OCR stands for optical character recognition, and it revolutionizes the way people scan and edit their documents. In layman's term, the devices and programs with the OCR technology allows you to scan any document and convert it into a format that you can easily edit. In contrast, the typical scanning process only creates image files that you cannot manipulate directly. That is why many data encoders highly praise the OCR technology for the convenience that it has brought along with it.
The Best PDF OCR-Software
PDFelement Pro for Mac - The Best Way to Edit and Convert Scanned PDF
However, the FreeOCR is only for Windows users. If you need OCR for PDF on Mac OS including 10.15 Catalina, a good alternative to FreeOCR Mac is PDFelement Pro. But before delving into the specifications and offerings of the alternative offered by iSkysoft, it is important for you to understand what the OCR technology can offer to you.
Free Ocr For Os Xp
Key Features of this PDF OCR-Software:
With OCR function, edit and convert scanned PDF will be no longer a problem.
Easily add multiple PDF files to convert at one time.
The output file will be kept in original formatting.
You can convert PDFs to popular document formats in batch.
You can also fully control PDF with combine, split, merge and compress features.
What the FreeOCR Mac can do for you
1. PDFelement Pro for Mac has gone a little further than just being a simple FreeOCR alternative for Mac. It has the same basic function of allowing you to scan and edit PDF files of any size and complexity. But the added functionality of iSkysoft PDF Editor Pro for Mac is that it can convert those PDF files into other formats, such as the Word Document. Such feature will allow you to get more flexibility when it comes to manipulating your PDF files.
Free Ocr For Mac Os X
2. Aside from the OCR support of iSkysoft PDF Editor Pro for Mac, other offered functions of the software include PDF annotation and marking, PDF combination and splitting, and PDF conversion into various formats. With so much to offer, this software is surprisingly cost-effective, in that you do not have to spend a lot of money to get access to all of the said features. For just $99.95, you will enjoy the full power of the program for an unlimited time. Also, it should be noted that the OCR support only comes with the full version of PDFelement Pro, and not with the regular version. If you want to give this FreeOCR for Mac alternative a spin, you can easily download a trial version of the program in its website.