best format to convert to .doc file

[mol3000]

im using vuescan and need to scan some documents but need to edit them... which is the best format to scan to so i can convert over to a doc file

[JerryB]

im using vuescan and need to scan some documents but need to edit them... which is the best format to scan to so i can convert over to a doc file

Hi,
First you need a OCR (optical scanning recognition) program that will allow you to your paper documents into your word processor where you can then edit them! .....

There several OCR progrms avail... not sure if any freeware.... you can check out download.com or tucows.com for that... I suggest go to your local office depot, or officemax or staples..... they generally have a variety avail plus you can talk to the clerks and determine which one is best for you..... something to note;;; some OCR work better with certain word processors than others.. so you may want to ask that...!! example of a ocr program is something like omni page.. but i am not saying that the best.....

[mol3000]

actually vuescan let me do that but for some reason its not saving it.... is it something im clicking wrong in the software???? i clicked on that option and it scans but it dont pop up like it use to.. and wont save it when i do it manully

[kschang]

Likely, the OCR is a 30-day trial version.

[rallynavvie]

OCR scanning is a tricky thing. OCR software will attempt to recognize characters on a scanned image and then attempt to format them how it seems them on this scanned image. It rarely works out like that. First of all the document usually needs to be clear black print on a white page done with an offset or laser printer. The font needs to be a typical roman font (though some programs will take all sorts of character but they cost a lot). Even with the ideal originals the OCR software will still place the wrong characters in places, sometimes resulting in incorrect spelling. If the letter or word is too mottled it will interpret it as an "image" rather than text data. Secondly the program's ability to lay out pages that aren't simply full text pages or columns of text is very spotty.

I use OmniPage at work for OCR scanning, but we're using it to scan legal documents to PDF so that the text within the PDF is searchable. The legal documents are pretty much text from top to bottom in a single column with hardly any odd formatting or spacing. Even then we still have to go through by page to make sure something wasn't dropped or spelled wrong. For the customer who wants, say, their old resume scanned in to make changes to it it's far easier for us just to start it from scratch than it would be to fight with the OCR software placing text all over. At least if we start the document from scratch we have full control of the formatting.

Barring all that and you still have a use for it expect to pay a few hundred dollars at least for a consumer-level OCR application. I wouldn't even mess with OCR at home, it's just not worth the hassle.

[guns1inger]

I use Abbey Fine Reader and it has a pretty good accuracy rate, even on odd looking documents.

[mol3000]

ok, i really didnt want to add any more software to my computer if i didnt have to so can i just scan it to pdf and is there a pdf to doc converter?????

[guns1inger]

It depends. If your software can't OCR iteven to RTF, then cahnces are it will create PDF files full of jpeg images, and you won't be able to convert them to text anyway. OCR is the missing piece of the puzzle here.

[rallynavvie]

OmniPage will scan and save out to a Word file.

If this is just one page you could have retyped it by now in Word. Are these lots of pages you need OCR scanned?

Oh and if you do end up OCR scanning make sure to scan the pages at a minimum resolution of 400dpi. I've found this to be about the lowest most OCR software will take and yield the least errors. We usually do it at 600dpi though.