OCR or scanner app?

[RicC]

can anyone recommend a good OCR or scanner app? something that can scan a page of a book and convert it to text file or doc? thanks

 

[Dave_e]

Yep - but first, a few notes about getting a decent quality image:
. Hold the phone above the document and try to get it square - OCR works best when the page isn't bent out of shape!
. While I suggest you use the flash irrespective of the available lighting, you will have to hold the phone at a slight angle to stop the flash bouncing right back into the lens - which will destroy any attempts to OCR the page! It'll be a compromise: too much angle and your page will 'keystone'; not enough and you'll get a white spot on the document.
. If there's any way you can brace the phone against a solid object (put the document on the floor and use a chair or table-leg) then you're less likely to get a blurred image - yes, even with the flash...
. Finally, you have remembered to clean the lens first, haven't you?

Right, now the software: You can download stuff from a number of different companies these days, some cost, some don't - do a search for 'ocr application android' or something - but be aware that OCR on an Android isn't the fastest thing in the world and the downloads tend to be a bit on the large side (I know of one major supplier that seems to think 20Mb applications are reasonable!)
There's also a no-software way of doing this: do a search for 'Leafdoc' and visit the website - registered users can email an image to their on-line service and get either a PDF or a text document back as an attachment by return.
Works just as well on...spit...those other devices too!
(I work at Leafdoc so I know what it can do)

 

[iori57]

You guys should try a new app in town, called OCR Instantly Free.

Supports offline processing, cropping and image enhancement. No other OCR app I tried have all these features and as good.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.thesimplest.ocr