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Optical Character Recognition (OCR)

10 min read

What is OCR?

Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is a CodeREADr data capture tool that allows a device’s camera to read and convert text from the image on the screen to typed characters. In other words, your device’s camera can record a targeted text string in that view.

For example, users can scan a box with an item’s name on it. Then, they can record that item name without typing it manually. This feature is useful for long strings of characters that need to be scanned but do not have a barcode image attached. Also, you can validate any data captured by the OCR-enabled camera. Then, use just as you would with a scanned barcode value.

How Do I Enable OCR on CodeREADr?

In the CodeREADr app, OCR can be used for both primary scans and question-answer scans. To enable OCR, you’ll need to select “Enable custom scanner configuration.” Once selected you can select the “Enable OCR” option and any other options as desired.

You can read more about the scanner configuration options in our Knowledgebase article on the topic.

OCR option

We suggest you start with the following options:

  • Scanner mode: Fusion
  • Enable Targeting
  • Allow the app user to resize the frame
  • Trigger scanning: Toggle
OCR settings for question

The screenshot above shows how this setting would be configured for a question-answer on the “Questions” page. It would be the same configuration for the primary scan, which is a scan made from the “Tap to scan” scene of the mobile app. That’s would be configured on the Advanced step.

Can I Scan License Plates?

An example use case for OCR is to capture, record, and optionally validate license plates. Below is the specific configuration we have created for that use case.

Enter configuration directly

In the box marked “Enter configuration directly,” paste the following JSON code:

Please contact us via email or through our website’s Chat Now utility if you need assistance configuring OCR for your use case.