opinions on linux ocr vs something in windows

[Terry D. Cudney]

Hi all,

	 A few of us have been testing/using the vividata package called xtrclilite for a few months now.It takes a image file in pbm or tif format (you can use the sane backend to scan/produce files in this format). The accuracy is very good. The speed is excellent. It is not quite as good as, say OmniPage Pro 14 (Windows program) in decolumnizing complicated page layouts, but in most cases does very well.

	We are negotiating with vividata for a single-user, blind discounted price. They have produced this as a commercial, corporate product, but have expressed interest in making it available to sigle, blind users for a reasonable (as yet undetermined) price.

	If you are interested in trying this software, grab the two filess:

	ftp://www.linux-speakup.org/pub/linux/goodies/xtrclilite*

	I would recommend first, to get these files, read the manual and then that you get sane working with your scanner. After you have sane working, you can install the xtrclilite package, but you'll need a license key to enable the ocr software. Currently the manager of vividata has asked that people from the blind community request the license key through me. First read the manual to make sure that you know what you are asking for and that you provide the necessary information about your system for vividata to generate the license key for your system. 

	At the moment, due to a relocation here, my system may not be available to recieve emails directly, so for the time being please direct license key requests to: terry at braille.uwo.ca and be patient if you don't get an immediate response.

	Those of us who are using this software are very happy with it's performance. As mentioned above, however, the pricing has not yet been set. The current license keys are temporary, free-to-use.

	HTH,

	--terry

On Wed, Oct 27, 2004 at 03:25:01PM -0700, Sean McMahon wrote:
> The only thing that's holding me back from going all the way linux, is OCR.  I
> know there are linux OCR packages which cost as much as windows equivelents, but
> are there any which are free?  Are the linux ocr options as good at recognizing
> text as those comercially available in windows?
> Sean
> 
> 
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-- 

Name:	Terry D. Cudney
Phone:	(705) 422-0039
E-mail:	terry at wasaga.dyns.net

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