How to OCR Tables in Readiris

Open Readiris from the Start menu. Cancel the OCR wizard if it begins.

Place a document containing a table into the scanner.

Select the Scan button in the upper-left or select Scan from the Process menu.

If the image displays sideways or upside down, select Rotate from the View menu or the buttons on the lower right side.

Readiris should automatically analyze the page and place colored rectangles around areas of the document. If it does not, then select the analyze button on the right side of the screen (it looks like a wand pointing at a window).

Yellow boxes indicate areas that are going to be looked at as text. Blue boxes will be interpreted as graphics. Purple boxes are areas that Readiris recognizes as tables.

If the table appears in purple and is complete, skip to Step 11.

Remove unwanted colored boxes by selecting the box with the arrow tool (button in the upper-right screen), and press the DELETE key on the keyboard. Clear any and all yellow or blue boxes that lie within the table to be scanned. It may be easier to draw a large box over the whole table, and delete that box to remove all boxes.

Next, draw a purple box around the table to be scanned. Select the purple Draw Table button in the upper-right of the window. Move the cross-hair to one corner of a table and click the left mouse button. Draw a box around the table and click again after the entire table is outlined. There should now be a purple rectangle surrounding the table.

When you are satisfied, click on the Recognize button on the left toolbar.

If the automated dictionary appears, click Finish or perform the learning process, if desired.

Depending on the text output format (available in the Settings menu), the table will be placed directly into an application or will need to be saved in one of a variety of formats.