OCR stands for Optical Character Recognition.

For a raster image this means that Scan2CAD recognizes the text on the raster image as proper editable text rather than making it up out of lines and arcs. For a vector image this means that Scan2CAD recognizes the exploded vector text on the vector image as proper editable text rather than a series of connected vectors

What are OCR settings?

Select OCR settings

What are OCR settings?

OCR settings determine how raster text will be converted to vector text when you convert it using OCR Menu > OCR Run > Raster or Run Menu > OCR () or Run Menu > All ().

OCR settings also determine how exploded vector text will be converted to OCR vector text when you convert it using  OCR Menu > OCR Run > Vector

Select OCR settings

You will normally need to set the Maximum Character Size Limit for each raster (or exploded vector text) image you want to convert text on.

If the raster (or exploded vector text) image contains wide variations in text size, you may get better OCR results if you convert each area of differently sized text using a different Maximum Character Size Limit. You can do this by selecting an area of  text of one size, converting it, selecting an area of text of another size, converting it, etc.

For raster images the best way to do this is using OCR Menu > Char Size > Raster.

If performing an exploded vector text to OCR text conversion then use OCR Menu > Char Size > Vector.

You can also set the Maximum Character Size Limit in the OCR Settings dialog (OCR Menu > Settings).

Where the text on the raster image is all at the same orientation, make sure that the Character Rotation matches that orientation.

Where the text on the raster image is at different orientations, set Character Rotation to Auto, or convert areas of differently oriented text using different Character Rotations. You can do this by selecting an area of  text at one orientation, converting it, selecting an area of text at another orientation, converting it, etc.

The best way to set Character Rotation is to use the following short-cut keys:

F1 sets Character Rotation to 0 degrees.

F2 sets Character Rotation to 90 degrees.

F3 sets Character Rotation to 180 degrees.

F4 sets Character Rotation to 270 degrees.

You can also set Character Rotation in the OCR Settings dialog (OCR Menu > Settings).

The other OCR settings are:

Minimum Character Size Limit. You will not normally need to change this.

OCR Recognition Limit. You will not normally need to change this.

Character Space Limit. You will need to change this if the words on the raster image are more closely or widely spaced than normal. This is normally manifested by a single piece of text being split into multiple pieces.

Touching Characters. If the raster image contains touching characters, set this on. Scan2CAD will attempt to split and recognize the characters.

Character Set. You will need to change this if Scan2CAD can’t recognize the font on the raster image.

Display Mode. This should always be set to Strings. You should only change it to Chars if you are creating a training set during font training.