Posted 17 December 2023

Handwriting recognition - conversion to text software recommendations

Can anyone recommend a good conversion tool that can convert handwriting to readable text?

We are studying some family history files which include pages of handwritten text which in places are difficult to interpret. Searching online I've found a wealth of apps and AI tools, but most are not free.

I don't want to keep paying for software just to find out they can't interpret the handwriting we have, so wondering what people on this forum recommend?

Thank you
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  1. skyking_comms's avatar
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    Many thanks for all the replies.. I've spent some time testing each one as I have a scanner for my Windows 11 Laptop and used my Android phone for the apps.

    Google Translate - doesn't work as it converts the text of one language into another

    Google Docs - I converted the handwriting of a page I could actually read into a pdf file and added it to my Google Drive account. I then opened it in Google Docs as advised and it could barely make out a couple of the words. I think the issue here is that the text I have is joined-up writing which is what it's struggling with

    MS One Note - Really struggled with this as I could get it to import my image but anytime I right clicked and chose 'Copy text from picture' there was no text to paste.

    Amazon Textract - I thought this sounded ideal, but 3 months free trial requires a payment card so I declined.

    I did read on one forum that they recommended PaddleOCR but I have no idea how I can test it as it's not an executable I can run in Windows.

    Are there any other solutions?
    bozo007's avatar
    MS Lens?
  2. forcedintoplayin's avatar
    Does Google translate not work?
  3. tardytortoise's avatar
    which operating system are you using? do you have access to other operating systems? I'm gussing the files were scanned in?

    Google Docs converts handwriting to text. To begin with, you need a scanner to turn your handwritten note into a PDF doc. Then add the scanned PDF to Google Drive, select the file and click Open with > Google Docs. This will turn the handwriting into editable text. (edited)
  4. bozo007's avatar
    MS Lens can do this, and if I am not mistaken, MS OneNote. It is a free app. Bear in mind that no software is perfect and a human is usually required to do the editing in a manner where the text is logical. (edited)
  5. aLV426's avatar
    If you are struggling to interpret the handwriting, any software is going to struggle. AI can assist, but it's still not an exact science.
    There are hundreds of different software options, however the first step is to digitise your documents.
    Examples such as Adobe Scan, Pen to Print, Nanonets & OneNote. I would suggest trying Amazon Textract, as it is available as a 3 month free trial and is very capable.
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