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Computer Help and Support

Polybius

(19,168 posts) Mon Jan 10, 2022, 10:18 PM Jan 2022

Can I turn an essay into text by scanning it? [View all]

Long story short, I can't find the .txt (or .doc) file on my computer of an essay I wrote about 25 years ago. However, I have the actual physical paper in mint condition.

I need it in text form. Now, I know I could do it the hard way and manually type it out, but that would take several hours. Is there any way that I could scan it and turn it into text? If yes what free programs can do this for me?

14 replies

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Can I turn an essay into text by scanning it? [View all] Polybius Jan 2022 OP

Is it type written or hand written? iemanja Jan 2022 #1

It's typed Polybius Jan 2022 #3

OCR is the term. Optical Character Recognition Tetrachloride Jan 2022 #2

Thanks! Polybius Jan 2022 #4

I used OCR about twenty or so years ago. TexasTowelie Jan 2022 #8

I use acrobat pro crud Jan 2022 #5

If you have an IPhone or iPad, there is a scanner in NOTES. Baked Potato Jan 2022 #6

I've used OCR a few times. It works, but proofing it against the original is important yonder Jan 2022 #7

You might actually want to retype it. PoindexterOglethorpe Jan 2022 #9

If you have speech recognition on your computer, you can read and speak the words, and the Earth-shine Jan 2022 #10

Absolutely! I am mega-impressed with MS Word's speech recognition MerryHolidays Jan 2022 #12

OCR software is pretty standard with all modern scanners CloudWatcher Jan 2022 #11

My experience Lucid Dreamer Jan 2022 #13

Lists of free OCR software NullTuples Jan 2022 #14