Skip to Main Content

Scanning at the Frohring Library: ScanSnap SV600 (with OCR)

What is OCR?

OCR stands for Optical Character Recognition.

This technology enables the conversion of images containing text into machine-readable digital format. Essentially, it allows computers to "read" and interpret text from various sources such as scanned documents, photographs, or digital images. The result is a text that you can edit, search, and copy-paste. 

How does it work? 
  1. Image Capture: you feed an image into the OCR system - for example, a scanning of a book. 
  2. Character Recognition: The system analyzes the image, pixel by pixel, to identify characters like letters and numbers.   
  3. Text Conversion: The recognized characters are converted into digital text format, like a Word document or a plain text file.   

Links

How to scan with ScanSnap SV600

1. Log in to the computer G-LIBSCAN-03 and turn on ScanSnap SV600 by clicking the button at its base.

2. The ScanSnap program will open on the desktop. To start scanning, click the blue "Scan" button at the top left. If you don't need to use OCR, skip to Step 6.

3. To scan a file with OCR, click the settings button at the top right (a circle with a pen).

4. Click the "Option..." button next to "File format."

5. Check the box labeled "Convert to Searchable PDF" and click OK to exit.

6. Choose where you want to save the file (we recommend "Scan to Folder") and adjust any other settings as needed. Click "Scan" to start scanning the pages.

7. To scan additional pages, click "Continue Scanning" until you're finished. When done, click "Finish Scanning."

8. Choose how to save the document. To flatten the images, click "Check/Correct."

9. Modify the pages as needed, then click "Save and Exit."

10. Finally, select a folder, choose a file name, and click "Save."

I scanned the pages - now what?

When you scan with the OCR technology, you get a searchable PDF file: the computer recognizes that there is text, and it is possible to search for words and phrases, and select text. 

You can also copy and paste the text on Word, for example. However, pay attention! As you can see in the image below, Word recognizes most of the words, but not everything: there may be several mistakes and typos in the text. It may also have difficulty understanding sentences, paragraphs, and line breaks, so you will need to review and edit the text accordingly.