Recent posts
The newest posts from every category, most recent first.
See the most recently updated posts
Epson Scan Searchable PDF: Epson Scan 2 and ScanSmart
Save a searchable PDF from an Epson scan: the Image Format and Text Language steps in Epson Scan 2, the file type in ScanSmart, and the OCR component.
OCR in everyday software
OCR Contract Management: Paper Into a Repository
OCR for contract management turns paper agreements into repository records you can search and track. A batch procedure, a field list and a spot check.
Contracts and agreements
ScanSnap Searchable PDF: Settings in ScanSnap Home
Get a ScanSnap searchable PDF from the scanner itself: the profile checkbox in ScanSnap Home, converting older scans, the language setting and the limits.
OCR in everyday software
Scan Incoming Mail to Searchable PDF: A Daily Office Routine
A daily routine to scan incoming mail to searchable PDF in a small law office: who opens, scans, checks and files, what skips the feeder, and naming.
Searchable PDFs
Convert PDF to Readable Text When Copying Gives Gibberish
Convert a PDF to readable text when copying gives gibberish: find out whether the fonts or an old OCR pass are at fault, then recognize the pages again.
Converting scans
Legal Document Conversion: Matching the Format to the Task
Legal document conversion turns a scan or file into the format the next person can use. Choose by recipient, convert once, and name every copy clearly.
Converting scans
NetDocuments OCR: What the Platform Says It Does
NetDocuments OCR is a service your firm subscribes to and an administrator configures. What the vendor's support pages say it covers, skips and saves.
OCR in everyday software
iLovePDF OCR: What the OCR PDF Tool Gives You Back
iLovePDF OCR returns your scan as a PDF with selectable, searchable text. What iLovePDF publishes about languages, free limits, its apps and uploaded files.
OCR in everyday software
OCR for iManage: What iManage Says About Scanned Files
OCR for iManage is a purchased cloud feature with a 150-page limit on image-based documents, per iManage's documentation. How to test a scan and what to ask.
OCR in everyday software
OCR for In House Counsel: Contracts and Incoming Paper
What in-house counsel need from OCR: a searchable archive of signed contracts, fast intake of subpoenas, and privileged scans kept apart from business users.
Choosing legal OCR
Damages Schedule PDF to Excel: Checking the Arithmetic
Turn a scanned damages schedule PDF into an Excel workbook, rebuild its subtotals as formulas, and test the arithmetic against the printed totals.
Converting scans
OCR for Legal Process Outsourcing Teams at Volume
How to run OCR for legal process outsourcing across several clients: who picks the tool, written approval, client separation, sampling and plan sizing.
Choosing legal OCR
OCR for Paralegals: A Daily Workflow That Holds Up
A daily OCR workflow for paralegals: an intake routine for scans, which export fits each task, what to verify every time, and how to hand work to an attorney.
Choosing legal OCR
OCR for Clio: Making Scans Searchable Before Upload
OCR for Clio is a step you run before upload. What Clio's help centre says about document search, and how to make a scan findable in the matter.
OCR in everyday software
OCR Cost Per Page: How to Compare Pricing Models
OCR cost per page explained: the pricing models, the division that makes them comparable, the hidden costs, and Schema Law's plans as per-page figures.
Choosing legal OCR
Does OCR Software Store My Documents? Retention 101
Does OCR software store my documents? Online tools usually keep uploads for a while. Where copies sit, how to delete them, and how to set a retention period.
Confidentiality
SharePoint OCR: Can It Search Your Scanned Documents?
SharePoint OCR is a paid Microsoft 365 service, not a default. What it reads, which scanned documents it skips, who turns it on and how it is billed.
OCR in everyday software
ABBYY FineReader Alternative for Law Firm Workflows
How to choose an ABBYY FineReader alternative for a law firm: what FineReader does, which features to check before leaving, and a two-week trial plan.
Choosing legal OCR
Apple Notes Scan Documents: What Becomes Searchable
What you get when you scan documents with Apple Notes: a PDF in the note, search inside Notes, and a test for whether the exported PDF is searchable.
OCR in everyday software
Smallpdf OCR: What the Online Tool Does to a Scan
Smallpdf OCR adds a hidden text layer to a scanned PDF in the browser. What Smallpdf's own pages say about limits, file types, languages and deleting uploads.
OCR in everyday software
How to Scan a Document and Change the Text
How to scan a document and change the text when only paper survives: convert the scan to Word, proof it against the page, then edit a clean copy.
Converting scans
How to Convert a Scanned PDF to Word
Convert a scanned PDF to Word with OCR, then check and clean the DOCX before you edit. A procedure, a review checklist and the usual repairs.
Converting scans
Kofax Power PDF OCR: What Tungsten's Editor Does
Kofax Power PDF OCR, now in Tungsten Power PDF: how it makes a scan searchable, converts to Word or Excel, and what Standard and Advanced each include.
OCR in everyday software
Scan Handwriting to Text App: Reading Paper With a Phone
A scan handwriting to text app photographs a handwritten page and returns a draft. Learn how to capture pages, why lines go missing, and how to file the text.
Handwriting
Adobe Acrobat OCR Alternative: When to Look Elsewhere
When an Adobe Acrobat OCR alternative makes sense for a law firm, what Acrobat still does that a converter cannot, and how to run the two together.
Choosing legal OCR
How to Reduce PDF Size for Court Filing and Keep the Text
Reduce PDF size for court filing without losing search: find the court's limit, rescan at filing settings, compress with care, split into volumes.
Litigation support
Nitro PDF OCR Alternative: When a Firm Needs More
When a law firm should look for a Nitro PDF OCR alternative: what Nitro's OCR does by platform, what a converter cannot replace, and how to run both.
OCR in everyday software
OCR for Solo Attorney Practices: What You Need
What OCR a solo attorney needs: the features worth paying for, a one-person routine for scans, signs you have outgrown it, and how to weigh the cost.
Choosing legal OCR
Personal Injury Document Digitization, Intake to Demand
Personal injury document digitization from intake to demand: what to scan at the first meeting, which papers to convert, and how to build the specials sheet.
Practice areas
Convert PDF Images to Text: Words Locked Inside Pictures
Convert PDF images to text when a typed file has words inside pictures: find the image regions, run OCR on those pages only, and keep the typed text.
Converting scans
Kofax Power PDF Alternative for Law Firm Scans
Choosing a Kofax Power PDF alternative for law firm scans: what stays behind if you leave, how Tungsten licenses it now, and a one-matter test to run.
OCR in everyday software
OCR JPG to Word: From a Picture File to an Editable Page
OCR turns a JPG of a document into a Word file you can edit. How to convert one picture or several, why small print blurs, and what to compare after.
Converting scans
OCR for Freelance Paralegals Working for Several Firms
OCR for freelance paralegals who serve several firms: whose tool to use, what the attorney approves, keeping firms apart, deletion, billing and plan size.
Choosing legal OCR
Scanned Purchase Agreement: Filled Blanks, Boxes, Addenda
A scanned purchase agreement is a printed form with filled blanks, checked boxes and addenda. Convert each paper, then read every entry against the image.
Contracts and agreements
Handwritten Notes Converted to Text: Making a File Memo
Get handwritten notes converted to text you can file: scan the pad, correct the draft from memory, expand your shorthand and save a dated file memo.
Handwriting
OCR Vendor Subpoena: Who Can Demand Your Uploaded Files?
An OCR vendor subpoena can reach files a firm uploaded. What the Stored Communications Act limits, what it allows, and the contract terms to check.
Confidentiality
Bluebeam Make PDF Searchable: Running OCR in Revu
How to make a PDF searchable in Bluebeam Revu: which plans include OCR, the steps under Document > OCR, the options to set first, and tips for drawings.
OCR in everyday software
OCR for Court Reporters: Exhibits and Older Transcripts
Where OCR helps court reporters and reporting firms: searchable deposition exhibits, archived paper transcripts, and keeping the certified original apart.
Choosing legal OCR
OCR Court Filings: Turning Orders Into Editable Text
How to OCR court filings and orders into editable Word text, and how to deal with captions, line numbers, signature pages and docket headers.
Litigation support
Scan to Text: Paper to Words You Can Paste Anywhere
Scan to text in two moves: scan the paper page to a PDF, then run OCR and export plain text you can paste into an email, a case note or a form field.
Converting scans
OCR Export Controlled Documents: ITAR and EAR Limits
Before you OCR export controlled documents online, read how the ITAR and the EAR define export, release and the end-to-end encryption carve-out.
Confidentiality
Handwritten Changes to a Contract: What OCR Misses
Handwritten changes to a contract rarely survive OCR intact. How to find each pen edit on the signed scan, log it, and carry it into your working copy.
Contracts and agreements
Are Electronically Signed Documents Legal After Printing?
Are electronically signed documents legal? What the federal statute says, and what printing, scanning or OCR does to the evidence inside a signed PDF.
Contracts and agreements
Google Drive OCR Alternative for Client Documents
What Google Drive's OCR does with a scanned PDF, the limits Google publishes, what its terms say, and when a Google Drive OCR alternative suits client files.
OCR in everyday software
Scanned Image to Text: PNG, JPG, TIFF and Screenshots
Turn a scanned image into text: which image types OCR reads, what to do with TIFF and HEIC, how screenshots behave, and how big the letters must be.
Converting scans
California Court PDF Requirements for Scanned Exhibits
California court PDF requirements for e-filed scanned exhibits: what rules 2.256, 3.1110 and 8.74 say about searchable text, bookmarks and file size.
Litigation support
Convert Signed Agreement to Word: A Working Copy Method
How to convert a signed agreement to Word from a scan: the steps for a contract, the signature block, working-copy labels and broken cross-references.
Contracts and agreements
Scanned PDF Metadata: What the File Says About Itself
Scanned PDF metadata explained: the dates, title, author and producer fields a scan carries, where a PDF stores them, and what they can and cannot tell you.
OCR basics
OCR for Expert Witnesses: Working From Scanned Case Files
OCR for expert witnesses handling scanned case files: getting counsel's consent to upload, turning records into data, citing source pages and closing out.
Choosing legal OCR
OCR Without Sending Documents to OpenAI: How to Check
Want OCR without sending documents to OpenAI or another model provider? Where to look, how to read a subprocessor list, and what to do if none is acceptable.
Confidentiality
Attorney Client Privilege and AI Tools: The Risks
How attorney client privilege and AI tools interact: one federal ruling on waiver, the confidentiality rules, work product, and the contract terms that help.
Confidentiality
Best Searchable PDF Software: What to Compare Before Buying
The best searchable PDF software for a law office depends on six comparisons. Here is what to check in the page image, text placement, limits and extras.
Choosing legal OCR
OCR Faded Text: Thermal Paper, Weak Toner and Pencil
Can OCR read faded text? Why pale print drops out of black and white scans, how to capture thermal paper, weak toner and pencil, and when darkening helps.
Difficult scans
Counterpart Signature Pages: Assembling a Scanned Set
Counterpart signature pages are separately signed copies of one agreement's last page. How to match scanned ones and compile one executed copy.
Contracts and agreements
Scanned Images to PDF: One Ordered, Searchable File
Turn scanned images into one PDF: put the pages in order, combine them, fix size and rotation, then run OCR so the finished file can be searched.
Converting scans
Search a Scanned PDF for a Name Without Missing Misreads
Search a scanned PDF for a name with a list of spellings and likely misreadings, context terms such as an address, and a clear view of what no hits means.
Searchable PDFs
AI Document Tool for Lawyers That Doesn't Train: 6 Checks
Six checks for choosing an AI document tool for lawyers that doesn't train on files, prompts, outputs or feedback, with a dated note for the firm's records.
Confidentiality
Handwriting to Text App Windows: Pen and Ink Tools
A handwriting to text app on Windows can be the touch keyboard's handwriting panel, OneNote or Word. What Microsoft documents for each, and the limits.
Handwriting
OCR Construction Documents: Pay Apps, RFIs, Daily Logs
How to OCR construction documents in a claim: pay applications as tables, change orders and RFIs by number, daily logs, drawings, and a delay chronology.
Practice areas
OCR Newspaper Clippings, Legal Notices and Old Articles
How to OCR newspaper clippings and published legal notices: keeping narrow columns in order, joining hyphenated lines, and recording the paper, date and page.
Difficult scans
OCR Government Contracts: Standard Forms and Modifications
How to OCR government contracts from a scanned federal file: the award form, lettered sections, clauses listed by number, line items and modifications.
Contracts and agreements
What Is Optical Mark Recognition? Checkboxes and OMR
What optical mark recognition is, how OMR decides a checkbox or bubble is filled, how it differs from reading text, and what to verify on a legal form.
OCR basics
OCR Bankruptcy Documents: Schedules, Claims, Pay Advices
How to OCR bankruptcy documents from intake to the claims register: creditor lists from bills, pay advices and statements for the trustee, and proofs of claim.
Practice areas
Best Free App to Scan Documents: What to Compare
The best free app to scan documents depends on where the file must end up. Compare free scanner apps on eight criteria and test one on a real page.
Phone scans and photos
Scan a Signature Into Word: Signatures, Logos and Seals
How to scan a signature into Word as a picture, fix the white box around it, and what OCR does with signatures, logos and seals on a converted page.
Converting scans
Is It Safe to Upload Legal Documents to ChatGPT?
Whether it is safe to upload legal documents to ChatGPT depends on the plan, its settings and the document. What OpenAI's pages say, and a rule to apply.
Confidentiality
OCR Bilingual Contract Scans: Two Languages Side by Side
How to OCR a bilingual contract scan so the two languages stay apart: split the columns, pair the clauses in a table and check numbers and dates.
Contracts and agreements
How to Scan a Document Without a Scanner
How to scan a document without a scanner: a phone's scanning app, a camera, an office copier, a print shop or a library, and how to choose among them.
Phone scans and photos
OCR Text Recognition Online: What Happens After Upload
OCR text recognition online means a web page reads your scan. See what happens after upload, where the reading runs, and what limits and free tiers mean.
OCR basics
How to Take a Picture of a Whiteboard You Can Read Later
How to take a picture of a whiteboard that stays readable: where to stand, where the light goes, shooting long boards in sections and filing the result.
Phone scans and photos
Photo of a Computer Screen: Why the Text Reads Badly
A photo of a computer screen converts poorly because the camera records the monitor's pixel grid along with the words. What to expect and what to ask for.
Phone scans and photos
Editing Scanned PDF Text: What You Can and Cannot Change
Editing scanned PDF text means covering part of a picture or converting the page first. How to choose a route, make a small change and label the copy.
Converting scans
Relativity Load File OCR Text: What an Import Needs
What a Relativity load file needs from OCR: text for every scanned document, a path column that finds it, a known encoding, and a check for empty fields.
Litigation support
Does OCR Use a Dictionary? Why Names Get Corrected
Does OCR use a dictionary? Many engines do, and it is one reason a surname or legal term comes back as a common word. See how it works and what to test.
OCR basics
Case Management OCR: Getting Scans Into a Matter File
Case management OCR makes scanned papers findable in a matter file. Test what your system searches, convert before filing, and name documents to a pattern.
Litigation support
OCR Software for Legal Documents: A Requirements List
What OCR software for legal documents has to accept, read and export, and how to turn your own files into a one-page requirements list before you shop.
Choosing legal OCR
OCR Blurry Scan Pages: Focus, Motion and What to Redo
Can OCR read a blurry scan? How to tell blur from low resolution, what blurs a flatbed or feeder scan, what sharpening can do, and which pages to rescan.
Difficult scans
OCR for Mid Size Law Firm Teams: Sharing Work by Matter
What OCR for a mid size law firm should look like: one approved tool, exports filed by matter, a named owner, and pricing by pages for each account.
Choosing legal OCR
OCR Redacted Documents: What the Black Boxes Do to Text
When you OCR redacted documents, the boxes leave gaps, stray characters and joined sentences in the text. Learn how to mark, count and log each redaction.
Difficult scans
What Is PDF/A? The Archival PDF and What OCR Adds to It
PDF/A is the ISO standard for PDF files meant to be kept for years. What it forbids, what the version labels mean, and how a scan with OCR text fits.
OCR basics
How to Scan a Document on Android: Drive, Files, Camera
How to scan a document on Android with Google Drive, Files by Google or a Samsung Galaxy camera, where each one saves the scan, and whether to pick PDF or JPG.
Phone scans and photos
Apple Notes Handwriting to Text: Scribble and Copy as Text
Apple Notes handwriting to text on iPad, from Apple's own guides: Scribble as you write, Copy as Text afterwards, handwriting search, and Smart Script.
Handwriting
Conformed Copy of a Contract: Building One From Scans
A conformed copy of a contract folds every amendment into one readable text. How to build one from scanned originals and note where each change came from.
Contracts and agreements
OCR Tax Returns and IRS Notices for a Tax Controversy
How to OCR tax returns, IRS notices and receipts for an audit, appeal or collection matter, test transcripts for search, and index the file by year and issue.
Practice areas
OCR Employment Records for a Discrimination Case File
How to OCR employment records an employer produces: personnel files, reviews, write-ups, agency charge files and printed emails, and what to check afterwards.
Practice areas
How to Redact a Scanned Contract Before You Share It
How to redact a scanned contract before sharing: choose the terms, find every place each one repeats, remove them for good, and keep a log of each version.
Contracts and agreements
OCR Vendor Data Breach: What a Law Firm Does Next
After an OCR vendor data breach, a law firm secures the account, lists which client documents were exposed, weighs notice duties and keeps an incident log.
Confidentiality
Workers Compensation Records to Spreadsheet, Step by Step
Steps for getting workers compensation records into a spreadsheet: payment histories, wage statements and medical payment ledgers, with checks for each.
Practice areas
How to Transcribe a Handwritten Deed From a Deed Book
How to transcribe a handwritten deed from an old deed book: find its parts, type the description call by call, capture margin notes, and label the result.
Handwriting
Bulk OCR PDF Folders: Making a Whole Matter Searchable
Bulk OCR PDF folders without redoing files that already have text: inventory first, choose skip or redo, keep names and subfolders, sample and log the run.
Searchable PDFs
How to Create a Load File From Scanned PDFs
How to create a load file from scanned PDFs: split the scans into documents, OCR them to text files, list the Bates ranges, and test the set before it goes out.
Litigation support
How to OCR a Photo of a Document Taken on a Phone
How to OCR a photo of a document: shoot flat, square and evenly lit, upload the JPEG, PNG or PDF, export the text, then check it against the image.
Difficult scans
Extract Contract Terms From Scan Into a Key Dates List
How to extract contract terms from a scan when the terms are dates: find the term, renewal and notice clauses, work out each deadline, and list them.
Contracts and agreements
What Is the Best OCR for Scanned Legal Documents?
The best OCR for scanned legal documents depends on the pages in your file. Sort them into text, tables, forms and poor copies, then shortlist tools to match.
Choosing legal OCR
How to Bookmark a PDF for Court Filing: Exhibits and Briefs
How to bookmark a PDF for court filing: what named court rules require, what each bookmark label should say, and how to add and test them on exhibits.
Litigation support
Blurry Photo of a Document: Can OCR Still Read It?
A blurry photo of a document can sometimes still be read by OCR. How to judge the blur, why dim rooms cause it, and when to retake the picture.
Phone scans and photos
PowerToys Text Extractor: What It Copies From a Screen
PowerToys Text Extractor copies text from a region of your Windows screen to the clipboard. Its shortcut, its language packs and Microsoft's own cautions.
OCR in everyday software
No Install OCR: Converting Scans on a Locked-Down Computer
No install OCR runs in the browser, so a locked-down firm computer can still convert a scan. What it needs, what IT may block, and when to avoid it.
Choosing legal OCR
Interrogatories PDF to Word: Drafting Responses From a Scan
How to get scanned interrogatories from PDF to Word so you can draft responses: converting, keeping the numbering exact, and when to ask for the Word file.
Litigation support
ABBYY FineReader Open Source Alternative: OCRmyPDF
The closest ABBYY FineReader open source alternative is OCRmyPDF with Tesseract. What it adds to a scan, what its own docs say it cannot do, and who runs it.
OCR in everyday software