OCR is used for reading characters from paper, using scanners, and inputting them into a computer.

The shapes of different characters are detected by shining light on them, and sensing the patterns of reflected light. Each pattern is compared with a set of stored patterns until the closest match is found.

Scanners were originally designed to scan pictures but they can also be used to scan text into a word processor.

• OCR is faster than typing!

Disadvantage:

• You need to buy a scanner and OCR software.
• It is not completely accurate, and text would need proof-reading afterwards.

Characters on a page are written scanned printed and automatically input into a computer. The OCR software matches the character shapes with stored patterns.

Example application : entering printed text into a word processor editing text on a word processor printing text in a word processor