When it comes to writing a thesis, it’s not an easy task; in fact, it’s a big project. It involves different tasks such as lots of research, note-taking, and organising all the gathered data. Most of the students collect the information from different books, scanned papers, images, and handwritten notes. But if they try to type all of the collected data manually by hand, it will take forever.
To cope with this issue, OCR tools came into the market and helped a lot in thesis completion. OCR tools have the ability to convert the text from images, printed documents, and handwritten notes into an editable format. This helps students avoid typing all content word by word and saves their valuable time.
To help you with this, we have researched and included the top OCR tools that can give you the editable text in a couple of seconds. So, read this blog to explore all of these!
1. Image to Text Converter – Turn Pictures into Words
An image to text converter converts all the words in an image into text that you can easily copy and edit. To do this, you can take a photo of a book page, upload it to the tool, and get the editable text in seconds.
How it helps in thesis writing:
- You can copy quotes from books without typing them out.
- You can store and edit text from scanned research papers.
- You can quickly turn lecture slides into editable notes.
Example use:
If you are reading in the library and find a useful paragraph, take a photo with your phone. Use the image-to-text converter to get the words and paste them directly into your research notes.
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2. PDF OCR Converter – Edit Text in Scanned PDFs
Most of the research papers are in PDF format, but some of them are also scanned images of the original documents. This means you can not easily edit or copy that text. In this situation, a PDF OCR converter can solve this problem. The tool can scan all the text contained in PDF images and convert them into searchable and editable text.
How it helps in thesis writing:
- You can search for keywords inside large PDF files.
- You can copy text from scanned books or journals.
- You can add your notes or changes directly to the file.
Example use:
If your professor shares a scanned journal article, you can use a PDF OCR converter to extract that text. This way, you can easily highlight, copy, or rearrange parts without retyping.
3. JPG to Excel Converter – Organise Data Easily
If your research involves tables, numbers, or surveys, you can capture the photos of that data and upload them into the JPG to Excel converter. The tool then reads all the tables, numbers and turns them into a spreadsheet format.
How it helps in thesis writing:
- You can quickly turn complex tables into Excel sheets.
- You can edit, sort, and calculate data without manual entry.
- You can combine results from different sources easily.
Example use:
If you come across a printed survey result in a research paper, you can take a photo of it and use a JPG to Excel converter. This tool will automatically extract the numbers and organise them into rows and columns in Excel, making it easy to analyse the data.
4. Handwriting to Text Tool – Make Notes Digital
Some students find it easy to write their ideas on paper. So, a handwriting to text converter tool can help in this situation by reading your handwritten text and converting it into a digital and neat format.
How it helps in thesis writing:
- You can easily back up your handwritten notes and avoid losing them.
- You can instantly search your notes by just typing the keywords.
- You can edit and share them easily.
Example use:
If you’ve written down thesis ideas in a notebook by hand, just take a photo of that and use a handwriting-to-text tool. It will turn your handwritten notes into editable text in a Word file, so you can easily organise them into sections.
5. Batch OCR Processor – Work on Many Files at Once
This tool is really helpful, especially when you have a lot of scanned images or files to work with. This batch OCR processor tool can convert all the files or images in one go. This way, you don’t need to open each file one by one. So, your overall time is also saved.
How it helps in thesis writing:
- You save time by converting multiple files at once.
- You can keep all your research documents in editable form.
- You can organise your files better for later use.
Example use:
If you download 20 scanned articles from the university library, you can load them all into the batch OCR processor. It will give you editable text for all of them in one click.
How to Choose the Right OCR Tool for Your Thesis
Here are some considerations that you can keep in mind in order to pick the best tool according to your needs:
- What’s your file type? – First, think about what your file is actually about, like is it an image, a PDF, a table, or handwriting? So, pick the tool accordingly.
- Check accuracy – You also need to make sure that the tool reads the text correctly, especially for academic terms.
- Look for export options – The tool should let you save the files in these popular formats, such as Word, Excel, or plain text.
- Consider speed – If you have multiple files, you can choose a batch conversion tool.
- Test before using – Always try a small file first to test the accuracy and final results. If it looks good, then use it for large files.
Practical Tips for Using OCR in Thesis Writing
The usage of these OCR tools is really simple, but if you follow these tips, it will become even better for you:
- Take clear photos – Try to capture photos in good lighting because it will help you focus on the text more accurately.
- Check for mistakes – No doubt, OCR tools are really smart, but sometimes they might give you some errors in the results. So, double-check the important information, especially with unusual words.
- Organise your files – Another tip is that you should properly name all your converted files clearly so you can easily find them later.
- Use them regularly – Don’t wait until the end of your research and use these tools consistently throughout your research.
Why OCR Tools Make a Difference
With the help of OCR tools, you can:
- Reduce typing time.
- Make research searchable.
- Help keep notes in one place.
- Improve the accuracy of data entry.
With the right tool, you can focus more on thinking and less on typing.
Final Thoughts
OCR tools play a very smart role in your thesis writing. Whether you want to convert the pages of a book into editable notes, convert handwritten ideas into a digital form, or extract the tables into an Excel spreadsheet, you can do these with the OCR tool in just a couple of clicks.
All of these five OCR tools discussed above are really helpful and save you multiple hours of effort. They also make the whole thesis writing process much easier to complete with accuracy. If you use these tools wisely, you can spend less time on basic things and more on productive ones. So, try these OCR tools and see how they change your workflow!
Frequently Asked Questions
OCR (Optical Character Recognition) is a technology that reads text from images, scanned documents, or handwritten notes and converts it into editable and searchable text.
Avoid poor time management, lack of proofreading, weak research structure, and improper citation formatting.
Use OCR-based image-to-text converters or PDF OCR tools to digitise your scanned materials for editing.