When you need to copy something down, you probably do just that. You grab a piece of paper or a notebook and you write it down, verbatim or shorthand. Today, many people are carrying handheld devices, smartphones, which are proving more and more useful and multifaceted as technology improves. Today we’ll be taking a look at OCR (optical character recognition) software built for smartphones that allows you to convert an image of text into actual editable text.
Five years ago the concept of taking a picture and running OCR software on one’s phone was inconceivable. Advancements in two smartphone features have made it possible now. The first aspect that needed upgrading was the camera. The original iPhone (which recently celebrated its fifth birthday) has a 2-megapixel camera that pales in comparison to today’s iPhone 4S, which boasts 8-megapixels and rivals the quality of consumer-level digital cameras. The second thing that now allows more powerful software is the development of faster mobile processor chips. Smartphones today are beginning to ship with quad-core processors, something computers only began doing in the last decade.
Today’s review covers two apps for Apple’s iOS, ABBYY Textgrabber + Translator and Ricoh Innovation’s Image to Text – OCR. Testing was done on an iPhone 4 and an iPhone 4S, with identical documents scanned. Textgrabber + Translator costs $0.99 while Image to Text – OCR is free.
These apps operate similarly in their functionality. Both provide a camera feature built-in as well as allowing the user to select an already existing image on the phone. While the apps’ cameras are convenient, I noticed right away that neither allows using the iPhone’s volume up button as a shutter-release. Only Apple’s own Camera app has that feature, and I’ve found that squeezing a tactile button produces better stability than pressing the screen. For this reason, I recommend taking whatever images you intend to OCR using Apple’s Camera app, and then loading them for OCR separately. This stability is of paramount importance when trying to convert an image to text because any blurriness or discrepancies in the image will lower accuracy of the recognition software. I also recommend taking more than one photo in quick succession as it increases your chances of getting a crystal-clear picture.
Swann, June 12: Lot 3: Thomas McKenney and James Hall, History of the Indian Tribes of North America, 1848-1854. Estimate $3,000 to $4,000.
Swann, June 12: Lot 3: Thomas McKenney and James Hall, History of the Indian Tribes of North America, 1848-1854. Estimate $3,000 to $4,000.
Swann, June 12: Lot 8: Invoice to the Town of Boston for advertising pre-revolutionary content in the Boston Post Boy, manuscript document, Boston, July 1768. Estimate $5,000 to $7,500.
Swann, June 12: Lot 13: Clairac and Nicola, L'Ingenieur de Campagne; or, Field
Swann, June 12: Lot 81: Journals of Major Robert Rogers . . . of the Several Excursions he Made . . . upon the Continent of North America, London, 1765. Estimate $4,000 to $6,000.
Swann, June 12: Lot 99: Photograph albums and papers from the family of W.G. Fargo, photo albums containing 442 photographs, 1865-88. Estimate $3,000 to $4,000.
Swann, June 12: Lot 112: Isaac Leeser, Discourses on the Jewish Religion, 10 volumes, Philadelphia: Sherman & Co., 1866-1868. Estimate $6,000 to $9,000.
Swann, June 12: Lot 176: Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Boston, 1845. Estimate $4,000 to $6,000.
Swann, June 12: Lot 190: Thomas Hariot, Admiranda narratio fida tamen, de commodis et incolarum ritibus Virginiae, 1590. Estimate $25,000 to $35,000.
Swann, June 12: Lot 200: Correspondence of a regimental cavalry commander in Wyoming and Utah, July 1865 to February 1866. Estimate $4,000 to $6,000.
Swann, June 12: Lot 226: Maturino Gilberti, Vocabulario en lengua de Mechuacan / Aqui comienca el vocabulario en la lengua Castellana y Mechuacana, 1559. Estimate $8,000 to $12,000.
Sotheby's Bibliothèque Jacques Dauchez - Autour de Dubuffet
5-19 June
Sotheby's Bibliothèque Jacques Dauchez - Autour de Dubuffet
5-19 June
Sotheby’s, June 5-19: Bissière, Roger. Cantique à notre frère soleil de saint François. 1954. 1,000 - 1,500 EUR
Sotheby’s, June 5-19: Céline, Louis-Ferdinand. La vie & l’œuvre de Philippe Ignace Semmelweis. 1924. Rare édition originale, avec envoi. Joint : La Quinine en thérapeutique, 1925. 4,000 - 6,000 EUR
Sotheby’s, June 5-19: Céline, Louis-Ferdinand. Mort à crédit. 1936. Édition originale. Bel exemplaire sur Hollande. 2,500 - 3,500 EUR
Sotheby's Bibliothèque Jacques Dauchez - Autour de Dubuffet
5-19 June
Sotheby’s, June 5-19: Chillida, Eduardo ─ Emil Cioran. Face aux instants. 1985. Un des 100 exemplaires sur Arches. Eau-forte signée. 600 - 800 EUR
Sotheby’s, June 5-19: Dubuffet, Jean. Ler dla canpane. L’Art Brut, 1948. Édition originale. 3,000 - 5,000 EUR
Sotheby’s, June 5-19: Dubuffet, Jean. L'Herne Jean Dubuffet. 1973. Un des 100 exemplaires du tirage de luxe avec une sérigraphie originale en couleurs. 1,000 - 1,500 EUR
Gros & Delettrez Livres & Manuscrits Arméniens Jeudi 12 juin 2025 Paris, Francis
Gros & Delettrez Livres & Manuscrits Arméniens Jeudi 12 juin 2025 Paris, Francis
Gros & Delettrez, June 12: BIBLE, Venise 1733, reliure arménienne
Gros & Delettrez, June 12: CHARAKNOTS, manuscrit XVIIe-XVIIIe siècle
