Performing Optical Character Recognition

A PDF version of the instructions: Performing Optical character Recognition (OCR) (Acrobat Icon 475 KB)

Often scanned documents are saved as images. This makes it very difficult for  Screen Readers to recognize the characters and makes the document inaccessible. It is recommended if you have the originals to re-scan the document and save it as .pdf document. If you are lacking the originals follow the instructions below in order to covert the image into an accessible PDF document performing OCR (Optical Character Recognition).


Note: You can find the required software in the Computer Lab in the Educational Technology Department

Step 1.

Right click on the file and choose the option Open With:

Step 2.

Select OmniPage application  or if it does not appear on the list, click on the Browse button and locate the program.
OmniPage application will open the file.

 

 
Step 3.

Your screen should look like this:

Note: The first page of your document will appear in full size and the rest of the pages are located on the left hand side. To view any of the other pages just double-click on the desired page.
Step 4.

Locate the Drop-Down menu indicated with the numbers: 1-2-3 on the top of the document and select the option: From images to OPD:
Step 5. Click on the grey button to start the process of converting the image to an OmniPage Document (OPD): .
Step 6.

A Workflow Start Processing window will appear. Click on the button indicating the current document:

Note: A Load Files window may appear. Just click on the Cancel button.

 
Step 7. Another window will show asking you to save the file as an .opd file. Choose a name and location for the file to be saved.
Step 8.

After the file is saved in an .opd format, another window will appear asking you to save the .opd file as text, image, etc.  Make sure you select the type file option to be saved as PDF.

 
Step 9. Locate the file and open it, perform full accessibility check and make sure it has all the components required in order for the file to be accessible.