1. What is Image Reader (OCR)?

Image Reader (OCR) addon let you easily extract words out of any image (scanned document). Simply import an image with text content (i.e. a scanned document) in the addon and wait for the OCR engine to finish the process. Please note that, before using the addon make sure to adjust the OCR language otherwise the addon wont be able to capture words correctly. The OCR engine supports more than 40 languages. Language packs are very big, and therefore, are not included in the addons package. Each time a language pack is needed, it will be downloaded from this GitHub repo.

2. What is OCR?

OCR stands for - optical character recognition. It refers to the technology used to recognize and translate written or printed text into a digital format. This technology allows text to be scanned and converted into a machine-readable format, making it possible to edit, search, and index the text digitally. OCR technology is commonly used in applications such as scanning documents and recognizing text in images.

3. How can I download the source code for Image Reader (OCR)?

To download the source code for this extension from Chrome Web Store, it is recommended to use Extension Source Downloader. With this addon, you can download the source code as a ZIP or CRX format to your machine. If you want to download the source code from the Firefox addons store, please open the firefox download link (if available) in the Firefox browser and then right-click on the - Add to Firefox - button and select - Save Link As... - item. Choose the destination folder on your machine and then save the file in XPI format. You can then rename the XPI format to a RAR or ZIP file. Some extensions may have a GitHub repo address, which you can use to download the source code as well. But, it may not be the latest version of the addon. Therefore, downloading the source code from the official web stores is the best option as it always gives you the latest version of the addon.

4. How can I work with this addon?

As mentioned above, before using the addon please make sure to adjust the OCR language. Then, import your image into the addon (through the file input UI at the top toolbar) and wait for the OCR operation to finish. Depending on the image complexity, the OCR operation may take a while. According to our tests, when text in the scanned document is written with - Arial - font, the OCR engine is very accurate. But, for other fonts, the result may vary.

5. What is behind the OCR engine in this addon?

This addon uses the open source project called Tesseract. Tesseract.js is an open-source JavaScript library and is made via an Emscripten port of the famous - Tesseract OCR Engine - written in C and C++. In order to get more info about Tesseract engine, please read this Wikipedia page. Tesseract.js is one of the best OCR engines available, however, there are cases where this engine fails to capture the correct words. This is because, OCR operation is naturally a very hard task and computer programs are still learning to accomplish this operation as accurate as possible.

6. How can I get the extracted words out of an image?

When the OCR operation is finished, results are rendered in the top section of the console area. You can copy-paste the result to your desired text editor. Please note that, currently there is no way to edit the results within the addon. In future support for this feature will be added.

7. How can I disable this add-on?

If you want to permanently disable the addon, please head to the extensions tab in your browser and then click on the disable button.

8. How can I change the OCR language?

In order to change the OCR language, please open the app UI and click on the dropdown menu on top left corner. Make sure to select the correct language as the OCR result is dependent on the language selected.

9. Why for some images, the OCR result is not readable?

The OCR engine is still a work in progress, therefore, you might see some bugs when working with this addon. Moreover, depending on the image selected, the results may vary. For example, as mentioned above, if you scan a document which is written with Arial font, and use this addon to extract words, the result will be very accurate. But, the same document, if written with other fonts may not have acceptable results. In future, when these limitations are eliminated in the OCR engine, this addon will be updated accordingly.

10. Can I use a different OCR engine?

No, currently this addon only supports - Tesseract - OCR engine. As mentioned above, this is one of the best OCR engines available. According to our tests, it has the best results comparing to other ORC softwares.

11. Where can I find the privacy policy for Image Reader (OCR)?

Please read the privacy policy for this extension here.