Hosted Microsoft OCR library: Free OCR API web service

#1

Post by kargo » Sun, Oct 18, 2015, 5:26 PM UTC

Hosted Microsoft OCR library: Free OCR API web service
blog.a9t9.com

Re: Hosted Microsoft OCR library: Free OCR API web service

#2

Post by skc » Sun, Oct 18, 2015, 6:41 PM UTC

Is it general knowledge that Microsofts OCR libs are better than Tesseract?

Re: Hosted Microsoft OCR library: Free OCR API web service

#3

Post by andrewgjohnson » Sun, Oct 18, 2015, 9:18 PM UTC

skc wrote: post #2

Is it general knowledge that Microsofts OCR libs are better than Tesseract?

Does this imply you think Microsoft>Tesseract or are you asking what the consensus is?

Re: Hosted Microsoft OCR library: Free OCR API web service

#4

Post by sgt » Sun, Oct 18, 2015, 9:18 PM UTC

I tried this API with a document I had lying around which contains a lot of text in different tables. The text is pretty clear but this API was not able to parse the text to the point it's usable.

To give an example, a part of the text read "the limit" and was parsed as as "he imit". This despite it being extremely clear / easy to read for a human.

Update: Took another picture and uploaded a JPG instead of the original PDF. It worked fine this time.

Re: Hosted Microsoft OCR library: Free OCR API web service

#5

Post by adders » Sun, Oct 18, 2015, 9:24 PM UTC

Never used an OCR library before so gave it a challenge with the latest xkcd cartoon.

curl https://ocr.a9t9.com/api/Parse/Image --data "apikey=helloworld&url=http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/bells_theorem.png" { "ParsedResults": [ { "FileParseExitCode": 1, "ParsedText": "T-as IS CALLED I THEOREM. IT LAS FIRST\u2014 t: 1 wostcop n, FASTER- FIRM-LIGHT com)MCBT10N IS E6SlBLE! EL's rta\u201eNDERSTRtDlNGS ELLS THEX\u00dcI I-IPPPEN VIOLATE LOCALITY", "ErrorMessage": "", "ErrorDetails": "" } ], "OCRExitCode": 1, "IsErroredOnProcessing": false, "ErrorMessage": null, "ErrorDetails": null }

Re: Hosted Microsoft OCR library: Free OCR API web service

#6

Post by bdcravens » Sun, Oct 18, 2015, 9:32 PM UTC

Using the web site for a quick test, it gets me better results than Tesseract. However, it missed some words that free-ocr.com gets every single time. (free-ocr.com seems to have some voodoo magic)

Re: Hosted Microsoft OCR library: Free OCR API web service

#7

Post by amelius » Sun, Oct 18, 2015, 10:09 PM UTC

Can anybody recommend any good open source OCR libraries that run under *nix?

Re: Hosted Microsoft OCR library: Free OCR API web service

#8

Post by jonathanberger » Sun, Oct 18, 2015, 10:43 PM UTC

Does anyone know who or what organization is behind A9T9? It seems the author/source is somewhat obscured. It would be important to know before using for more than a hobby project.

Re: Hosted Microsoft OCR library: Free OCR API web service

#9

Post by ftcHn » Sun, Oct 18, 2015, 10:47 PM UTC

adders wrote: post #5

Never used an OCR library before so gave it a challenge with the latest xkcd cartoon. curl https://ocr.a9t9.com/api/Parse/Image --data "apikey=helloworld&url= http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/bells_theorem.png" { "ParsedResults": [ { "FileParseExitCode": 1, "ParsedText": "T-as IS CALLED I THEOREM. IT LAS FIRST\u2014 t: 1 wostcop n, FASTER- FIRM-LIGHT com)MCBT10N IS E6SlBLE! EL's rta\u201eNDERSTRtDlNGS ELLS THEX\u00dcI I-I…

Doesn't look like it likes xkcd hand lettering or the font that approximates it. I had better luck with a this...

curl https://ocr.a9t9.com/api/Parse/Image --data "apikey=helloworld&url=http://www.uky.edu/Providers/ScannedText/page1s.jpeg" {"ParsedResults":[{"FileParseExitCode":1,"ParsedText":"In 1830 there were but twenty-three \r\nmiles of railroad in operation in the \r\nUnited States, and in that year Ken- \r\ntucky took the initial step in the work \r\nwest of fhe Alleghanies. An Act to \r\nincorporate the Lexington & Ohio \r\nRailway Company was approved by \r\nGov. Metcalf, Jarinary 27, 1830.. It \r\nprovided for the construction and reÔÇó \r\n","ErrorMessage":"","ErrorDetails":""}],"OCRExitCode":1,"IsErroredOnProcessing":false,"ErrorMessage":null,"ErrorDetails":null}