LatIA.

2024; 2:98
doi: 10.62486/latia202498
ISSN: 3046-403X

ORIGINAL

Optical character recognition system using artificial intelligence

Muthusundari1 , A Velpoorani2 , S Venkata Kusuma2 , Trisha L2 , Om.k.Rohini2 

1
Assosciate Professor, Department of Computer Scienceand Engineering, R.M.D. Engineering College, Kavaraipettai, India,
2
Student, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, RMD Engineering College, Kavaraipettai, India.

Cite as: Muthusundari M, Velpoorani A, Venkata Kusuma S, L T, Rohini O. Optical character recognition system using artificial intelligence.
LatIA. 2024; 2:98. https://doi.org/10.62486/latia202498

Submitted: 11-02-2024 Revised: 09-05-2024 Accepted: 17-08-2024 Published: 18-04-2024

Editor: Prof. Dr. Javier González Argote

ABSTRACT

A technique termed optical character recognition, or OCR, is used to extract text from images. An OCR the
system’s primary goal is to transform already present paper-based paperwork or picture data into usable
papers. Character as well as word detection are the two main phases of an OCR, which is designed using
many algorithms. An OCR also maintains a document’s structure by focusing on sentence identification,
which is a more sophisticated approach. Research has demonstrated that despite the efforts of numerous
scholars, no error-free Bengali OCR has been produced. This issue is addressed by developing an OCR for the
Bengali language using the latest 3.03 version of the Tesseract OCR engine for Windows.

Keywords: Optical Character; Recognition System; Artificial Intelligence.

RESUMEN

Se utiliza una técnica denominada reconocimiento óptico de caracteres, u OCR, para extraer texto de
imágenes. El objetivo principal de un sistema OCR es transformar los datos ya presentes en papel o imágenes
en documentos utilizables. Tanto la detección de caracteres como la de palabras son las dos fases principales
de un OCR, que se diseña utilizando muchos algoritmos. Un OCR también mantiene la estructura de un
documento centrándose en la identificación de frases, que es un enfoque más sofisticado. La investigación ha
demostrado que, a pesar de los esfuerzos de numerosos estudiosos, no se ha producido ningún OCR bengalí
sin errores. Este problema se aborda mediante el desarrollo de un OCR para la lengua bengalí utilizando la
última versión 3.03 del motor Tesseract OCR para Windows.

Palabras clave: Carácter Óptico; Sistema de Reconocimiento; Inteligencia Artificial.

INTRODUCTION
With the help of artificial intelligence (AI), optical character recognition (OCR) systems have transformed the
process of turning scanned images into machine- readable text. These systems are highly effective at precisely
extracting text from a range of sources, such as handwritten, typewritten, or printed documents, by utilizing
sophisticated algorithms and machine learning models. Preprocessing techniques like picture enhancement
and segmentation are applied to AI-powered OCR systems in order to maximize image quality and separate
text from background noise. By using feature extraction techniques, they are able to recognize individual
characters and words by identifying patterns and structures in images. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs)
and recurrent neural networks (RNNs) are two examples of machine learning models that are essential for
improving accuracy and managing a variety of languages, fonts, and document formats. These systems have

© 2024; Los autores. Este es un artículo en acceso abierto, distribuido bajo los términos de una licencia Creative Commons (https://
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sea correctamente citada
 LatIA. 2024; 2:98 2

multilingual text recognition capabilities. diverse formats, including handwritten ones, demonstrating their
adaptability to a range of uses. Furthermore, by combining contextual awareness, adaptive learning, and
domain-specific improvements, AI- driven OCR systems go beyond basic text recognition. They have a wide
range of uses, including automated data entry, invoice processing, document digitization, ID verification, and
accessibility solutions for people with visual impairments. All things considered, AI-driven OCR systems are
a game-changer that increase productivity, simplify procedures, and promote accessibility across multiple
industries.

Previous works
Over many years of study and development, earlier achievements in the field of optical character recognition
(OCR) have set a strong basis for future developments. The initial OCR systems concentrated on identifying and
categorizing characters from scanned texts using fundamental pattern recognition techniques like template
matching and feature extraction. These systems’ accuracy and resilience were typically hampered by issues
with noise, typeface variety, and handwriting styles. But OCR has advanced significantly since the introduction
of deep learning and machine learning techniques. Improved text recognition accuracy, multilingual support,
and adaptability to various document layouts are the results of research into complex algorithms such as
Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) for image feature learning, Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs) for
sequence modeling, and attention mechanisms for context understanding. Furthermore, OCR systems’
capabilities have been further improved by the incorporation of domain- specific optimizations and natural
language processing techniques, opening up new applications in document digitalization, automated data entry,
identity verification, and accessibility aids. These earlier studies demonstrate not just how OCR technology
has developed but also how continuous attempts are being made to increase text recognition tasks’ accuracy,
efficiency, and usefulness.
Many professionals in the fields of computer vision and artificial intelligence have devoted a great deal of
time and effort to the development of optical character recognition (OCR) systems.
Several well-known researchers and their works include:
Yann LeCun: LeCun’s work has had a major influence on OCR technology. He is a pioneer in the fields of deep
learning and convolutional neural networks (CNNs).
Among his accomplishments is the creation of LeNet, a CNN-based architecture for character detection in
handwritten text.
Geoffrey Hinton: Well-known for his work in deep learning and neural networks, Hinton’s research has
impacted OCR systems by developing novel feature extraction techniques and training algorithms.
Andrew Ng: Ng’s contributions to computer vision and machine learning have improved OCR performance
and accuracy. His work on deep learning algorithms has been used to enhance image text recognition.

Existing systems
Although current OCR systems are quite capable of processing documents and recognizing text, they have
some drawbacks. For instance, use limits and extra fees for high-volume processing may be applied to cloud-
based OCR services such as Google Cloud Vision and Microsoft Azure Computer Vision, making them less practical
for ongoing or extensive use without a large investment. In addition to requiring specialist hardware for best
performance, on-premise OCR software like Kofax Omnipage and ABBYY FineReader can have high upfront
license prices, which raises the total implementation costs. While open- source OCR engines, such as Tesseract,
offer affordable possibilities, they do not have the same support and customization options as commercial
products.
Organizations must also take into account integration challenges, platform dependence, and potential
privacy/security issues with cloud-based OCR APIs when choosing an OCR system.

Implementations
There are various important procedures and factors to take into account while implementing an optical
character recognition (OCR) system. Initially, the system must obtain text-containing images, which may be
digital images, scanned papers, or photos. Then, to enhance the quality of the photos and improve text legibility,
preprocessing methods like image enhancement, noise reduction, and image binarization are used. The OCR
engine then carries out text segmentation to distinguish between individual characters and words and text
detection to identify text areas within the images. In order to extract pertinent features from the segmented
text and feed them into machine learning models or pattern recognition algorithms for text recognition, feature
extraction techniques are used. Large datasets of text images with annotations are used to train these models
so they can recognize patterns and connections between visual elements and matching characters. To increase
the recognition accuracy, post-processing techniques including language modeling, context analysis, and spell
checking might be used.

https://doi.org/10.62486/latia202498 ISSN: 3046-403X

Figure 1. General OCR model

Preprocessing
Preprocessing improves the quality and clarity of input images before to text extraction, which is a crucial
step in the Optical Character Recognition (OCR) process. A number of methods are used in this important phase
to enhance image visibility, lower noise, and standardize image properties. The input image is first binarized,
which turns it into a binary format and separates the text from the backdrop, making further processing easier.
After that, noise reduction techniques are used to get rid of undesired artifacts like scratches and speckles,
guaranteeing cleaner images for precise text extraction. Image de-skewing improves alignment for accurate
recognition by correcting any skew or slant in the text lines brought on by perspective distortion or scanning.
Contrast enhancement enhances the visibility of text against different backgrounds by adjusting the levels of
brightness and contrast.
Moreover, image normalization sets uniform standards for picture dimensions, orientation, and resolution to
ensure uniform processing of images in various texts. The preparation procedures that improve OCR accuracy,
efficiency, and robustness across a variety of document types and image situations include text localization,
layout analysis, artifact removal, resolution enhancement, and color space conversion.

Figure 2. Example of image preprocessing

Feature extraction
In order to enable precise text identification in optical character recognition (OCR), feature extraction is
a crucial stage that involves finding and extracting important patterns and characteristics from input images.
Local and global feature extraction techniques are just one of the many important components of this process. In
order to extract important information like character edges, corners, and text regions, local feature extraction
focuses on particular regions of interest inside the image and uses techniques like edge detection, corner

https://doi.org/10.62486/latia202498 ISSN: 3046-403X

detection, and blob analysis. Alternatively, global feature extraction uses methods such as texture analysis and
histogram-based features to capture holistic aspects like overall text density, texture variations, and structural
layouts, while taking into account the entire image or bigger sections.
In preprocessing, thresholding and other techniques are frequently used to change the pixel values into
a binary format, where text sections are represented by black pixels on a white background. This makes the
image simpler to interpret and analyze further.
Pixel values are used to compute features in feature extraction, which characterize the visual properties of
text elements. The distribution and arrangement of pixel values within text sections provide form descriptors,
texture patterns, edge densities, and pixel intensity histograms as common features.
These pixel values can be used directly or as input characteristics to train OCR models by machine learning
algorithms like Support Vector Machines (SVM), k- Nearest Neighbors (k-NN), and Convolutional Neural Networks
(CNNs).
In order to provide precise text recognition, the trained models are able to identify patterns and correlations
between pixel values and related characters.
In the end, OCR activities are made easier by using the pixel values of the entire image as basic data points
that are preprocessed and feature extracted, resulting in the conversion of text- containing images into forms
that can be read by machines.

Feature training
The process of teaching a machine learning model to effectively recognize and classify text patterns is
known as feature training in optical character recognition (OCR). First, a dataset with character or text sample
images labeled with their respective character or symbol is used. Pixel intensities, edge information, texture
patterns, and shape descriptors are just a few of the essential elements that the OCR system pulls from these
photos during training in order to provide input features for the machine learning algorithm.
Convolutional neural networks (CNNs), for example, are frequently used in feature learning applications. In
CNNs, activation functions, pooling layers, and convolutional layers are used to teach the network hierarchical
representations of the input features. The model’s internal parameters, or weights, are iteratively adjusted
during the training phase depending on the labeled data, improving the model’s capacity to discriminate
between various characters and generalize to new examples.
The performance of the trained model is assessed and adjusted using cross- validation techniques and
validation datasets, guaranteeing its accuracy and robustness in identifying text from a variety of sources and
contexts. With feature training, OCR systems learn to precisely translate text images into machine-readable
formats, opening up a multitude of applications in text analysis, data extraction, and document processing.

Figure 3. Text images of Lucida Fax

Figure 4. Text images of Arial

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Figure 5. Text images of Berlin Sans

Feature matching
A key step in optical character recognition (OCR) is feature matching, which compares features taken
from input photos with reference or template features in order to precisely identify and detect text. By using
comparisons based on structural, texture, or statistical aspects, OCR systems are able to recognize characters
more accurately and consistently when transforming text images into digital representations.
A streamlined sequential OCR algorithm:
1) Input Image: Let’s begin with a text- filled input image.
2) Grayscale the image as part of the preprocessing step.
To generate a binary image, apply thresholding.
Make the image cleaner with skew correction and noise removal.
3) Text Recognition: Identify text sections by using edge detection.
Utilizing linked component analysis, group pixels into text blocks.
4) Segment text blocks into individual characters using the character segmentation technique.
5) Feature extraction: Take characteristics from each character, such as form and pixel intensity.
6) Character Recognition: To recognize characters, either use a basic classification method or compare
the retrieved features with known character attributes.
7) Produce a text output that can be recognized.

Experimental results
To highlight the efficiency and performance of the OCR algorithms, experimental findings of optical
character recognition (OCR) systems are usually provided in research papers and technical reports. Performance
benchmarks, error rates (e.g., Character Error Rate, or CER), and accuracy measurements are used to
quantitatively express these outcomes.

Figure 6. OCR system application

While error rates indicate the percentage of wrongly recognized elements, accuracy metrics quantify
the percentage of correctly recognized characters or phrases. In order to give a thorough examination of
OCR errors, confusion matrices that display the distribution of true positives, false positives, true negatives,

https://doi.org/10.62486/latia202498 ISSN: 3046-403X

and false negatives are frequently included. By comparing OCR systems to other OCR systems or to state-of-
the-art techniques using reference datasets, performance benchmarks enable researchers to evaluate the
effectiveness of OCR systems in relation to benchmarks. To visually illustrate OCR performance and pinpoint
areas for improvement, visualizations including error analysis charts, ROC curves, and precision-recall curves
are used. It is also possible to incorporate qualitative analysis, which entails visually examining the output
of OCR, comparing it to the ground truth, and evaluating the output’s layout and readability. The analyses
and outcomes of these experiments offer significant insights into the advantages, disadvantages, and future
improvements of OCR systems, directing future studies and advancements in the domain.

CONCLUSION
In conclusion, Optical Character Recognition (OCR) has made great strides and is now capable of accurately
and quickly converting text images into formats that are readable by machines.
OCR systems demonstrate low error rates and high accuracy rates, even in the face of difficulties such as
managing intricate layouts and fonts. OCR technology will only become more vital for document processing and
data accessibility across industries as more research and development is done, since it promises to increase
accuracy and usability even more.

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FINANCING
None.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST
None.

AUTHORSHIP CONTRIBUTION
Conceptualization: Muthusundari, A Velpoorani, S Venkata Kusuma, Trisha L, Om.k.Rohini.
Data curation: Muthusundari, A Velpoorani, S Venkata Kusuma, Trisha L, Om.k.Rohini.
Methodology: Muthusundari, A Velpoorani, S Venkata Kusuma, Trisha L, Om.k.Rohini.
Drafting - original draft: Muthusundari, A Velpoorani, S Venkata Kusuma, Trisha L, Om.k.Rohini.
Writing - proofreading and editing: Muthusundari, A Velpoorani, S Venkata Kusuma, Trisha L, Om.k.Rohini.

https://doi.org/10.62486/latia202498 ISSN: 3046-403X