How to Transcribe Image to Text

Elise Williams

2020-05-27 16:26:29 • Filed to: PDFelement for Mac How-Tos • Proven solutions

Imagine it's nearing your day to do the taxes, and you have a bunch of manual receipts that have been digitized, but now you have to go through each one and manually extract the data! You're faced with limited time and too much work to get done in that time, so what do you do? The ideal solution here is to look for a good tool to help you transcribe image to text in the most accurate way possible. The image transcriber you use must not only be accurate but also capable of handling a high volume, depending on how many files you need to convert to text.

How to Transcribe Image to Text

PDFelement is essentially a PDF editor with extended functionality that includes bulk conversion into multiple formats, optical character recognition (OCR), and other advanced utilities. The core features include robust tools for editing, annotations, form creation and filling, redaction and other security implementations, bulk conversion, and data extraction from image or PDF files. This last functionality is exactly what will help us transcribe image to Text. Simply follow the detailed steps below, and you'll be done in a few minutes.

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Step 1: Create the PDF file from the image file

The first step after downloading and installing PDFelement is to get your scanned image files converted to PDF. You can easily do this by clicking on "Create PDF", then select the image and open.

If you have multiple documents, as in the case of your digital receipts in image format, you can click the "Combine Files" option and create one large PDF, which will speed up the process immensely.

Step 2: Perform OCR on the converted file

When you have your single PDF file ready, you'll see an option to "Perform OCR" in the blue notification bar, which you'll need to click on. You should be done in a little while, after which comes the optional editing part.

Step 3: (Optional) - Make changes to the text-converted data

If you need to make changes, you can choose between line and paragraph mode, each of which will present you with a custom set of editing tools you can use to modify the text. Although the accuracy rate of PDFelement OCR is best-in-class, there's always a margin of error, especially when it comes to something as important as receipts for filing your taxes. If you notice anything out of the ordinary, this step gives you the chance to rectify it.

Step 4: Converting to a chosen output format

In this step, you can choose to export the information in one of the many formats. Excel might be a good idea for calculating receipt amounts, etc., but you may want to transcribe Image to Text or just as a Word file for your reference. Whatever you need, PDFelement has you covered.

This is definitely the go-to method for any kind of work that requires you to transcribe picture to text or a scanned image file to its text equivalent. However, you can also consider online services that exclusively let you transcribe picture and other image files.

How to Convert Image to Text using an Online Service

Since most online image to text conversion services (OCR services) generally involve the same process, here's the outline:

Step 1: Choose a reputed website that offers free or paid OCR conversion from image to text.
Step 2: Upload your image file or files, depending on the restrictions applied by the site.
Step 3: Select the output format and other parameters as requested on the site.
Step 4: Hit the Convert button and wait for the document to be converted.
Step 5: Download the converted text and check for accuracy and errors.

Although this might seem like a convenient way to transcribe image to text quickly and without having to download anything, there are several aspects you will need to first consider before taking this route. For your convenience, we've put together a comparison table so you know what you're getting with each type of OCR service. In short, PDFelement vs. online OCR service options.

Comparison Table for the 2 Ways to Transcribe Image to Text

Feature	PDFelement	Online OCR
Information Security	Very secure, since no information is uploaded to the Internet	Not ideal for sensitive or private information, such as financial or personal data
Tools for other purposes	Full-fledged PDF editing functionality, as well as robust batch processing and conversion features	Usually not available
Stability	Very stable, since no online connectivity is involved	If your connection breaks, you have to re-do the entire thing
Dependability	Highly reliable	Dependent on various factors such as server uptime, etc.
Ease-of-use	Install once, use it over and over, even do batch conversions	Each document needs to be uploaded individually for most services
Output types	Comprehensive list of output formats	Limited to two or three types

You'll find a lot of great PDF editors with OCR features out there, but none are as comprehensively feature-packed or affordable as PDFelement. You have a choice of Windows or Mac versions, as well as Standard and Pro editions for all your PDF needs. Even if you only require the Standard edition, you can use the Pro free trial version to do OCR on your important documents. In short, it offers affordability blended with convenience and powerful features delivered in a slick and highly engaging interface that's easy to navigate and use.

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