how can i run o c r on a pdf file?

Category: Geeks r Us

Post 1 by roxtar (move over school!) on Saturday, 28-Jan-2012 14:16:44

Hi,
I'm looking for a way to run ocr on pdf files without having to buy the full version of acrobat. Many of the online hand outs for my classes are pdf files, and instead of text, they are just scanned in pages. This, as you probably know, makes jaws read it as an empty document. Anybody know of a good way to deal with these files without having to buy the full version of acrobat?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Post 2 by Twinklestar09 (I've now got the bronze prolific poster award! now going for the silver award!) on Saturday, 28-Jan-2012 20:23:57

There's a free alternative to Acrobat that I use called FoxIt Reader. after opening a file with it, you can save it as a text file. Interestingly, sometimes it works, but other times not. When it doesn't, it just gives me the pages numbered but with nothing on them. When the file won't work with FoxIt Reader, I use another program called TextCloner Pro. It is an OCR software which includes the ability to convert PDF documents to a more accessible format, and it can also try to recognize text from an image. I don't know how the latter feature works because I've never tried it yet, but it just about always works with the PDF files. You can get a free trial of TextCloner Pro that will work with I believe 50 sessions of use, but for the price of 99.95 to purchase it, I would say it's worth it. *smile*

Post 3 by Twinklestar09 (I've now got the bronze prolific poster award! now going for the silver award!) on Saturday, 28-Jan-2012 20:30:36

For FoxIt Reader, it's at:
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/Secure_PDF_Reader/
and for Text Cloner Pro the site is at:
http://readingmadeez.com/products/TextClonerPro.html
.

Post 4 by roxtar (move over school!) on Saturday, 28-Jan-2012 21:23:04

thanks for the info. I'd venture to say that if it saves as a blank document in foxit, it probably doesn't do any ocr.
Maybe I'll try out the text cloner program.
Thanks

Post 5 by KC8PNL (The best criticism of the bad is the practice of the better.) on Saturday, 28-Jan-2012 22:08:03

You could always try
www.robobraille.org
It's free and works for most of my needs.

Post 6 by roxtar (move over school!) on Sunday, 29-Jan-2012 0:42:15

at KC8PNL
Holy sweet monkey balls!
you saved my ass in a huge way with robo braille. I'd never heard of the site.
My college career can now continue in relative peace.
Seriously, I'd been given 3 crucial files in pdf images.
Thank you so much.

Post 7 by KC8PNL (The best criticism of the bad is the practice of the better.) on Sunday, 29-Jan-2012 4:56:51

Cool. Glad it works for you. Now you can enjoy lots and lots of hours of fun acodemic reading. LOL

Post 8 by Remy (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Sunday, 29-Jan-2012 16:55:28

You can always "print" your PDF document using Kirzweill's virtual printer if you have that program. it works pretty well. Failing that you can full-screen adobe with F11 (I think) and capure an image of the screen with the CTRL print screen button, then paste it into whatever OCR program you have. If it's kirzweil, it will recognize the immage and scan it. I sue that with the kindle for PC ap (which is very similar in nature to a PDF document) and it works quite well.