I hadn’t tried any OCR software since about 1997, mainly because I was not impressed with both the quality of the software interface, as well as the recongition capabilities. When I recently had the need to scan a bunch of paper material in, however, I took to google and tried to find the latest-and-greatest OCR software.

After looking around for only a few minutes, I saw a search result that interested me that claimed it was a free program that runs under Windows XP. Ok, I’ll give it a shot.

I clicked on the link and was taken to http://www.simpleocr.com/ where I downloaded the application (hint: the 2 links on the page are the same, depending on which you choose you will download either InstSocr.exe or SimpleOCR.exe.) The software is indeed free – the way they make money is through sales of their API and document imaging systems.

The interface is simple and effective. When you start a new OCR session, it lets you import either from graphic files, or from your scanner. The first time I tried it, I used a TIFF file that I had previously scanned, but later I scanned on the fly.

The interface open up into 2 panes. The top is the original scan of the document, and the bottom is the text document you are creating. As you go over the document by finding questionable words, it shows up the exact position on the original scan. Quite simply: cool.

If you are looking for a great, free OCR solution, be sure to check them out.

Installed movable type on Monday, and already there is an update! Everything seems to have gone smoothly, and now I can actually schedule articles in the future. Many thanks to the MT peoples for helping me find something to do in my spare time.