[Bann Valley] document photography and OCR

["Coleen Christensen" <chriscol@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Awhile back I suggested that someone try using a digital camera to capture 
documents while traveling.

Stuck with a new computer and scanner, I found myself needing to find free 
OCR software that could open photos and read the text.

Many flatbed scanners come with a free copy of Abbyy FineReader 
Sprint--which is what I used in the past, and was pretty satisfied with.
Abbyy has an article about how to use your digital camera effectively to get 
document information; I think I would have done better if I had read the 
article before I left home.  It's here:
http://www.abbyy.com/finereader8/?param=55830

The OCR software on the new printer/scanner won't read from a file.  So I 
went looking for a freeware program comparable to Abbyy.

Here's the best free OCR I've found so far--and it seems pretty decent at 
reading from questionable photos.  http://www.topocr.com/topocr.html

I also tried out a program called FreeOCR; that one was disappointing.

Coleen Christensen
chriscol@xxxxxxxxxxx
http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=ccmcconnell 


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