Handwriting Recognition Software – Convert Your Handwritten Documents into Digital Text Documents
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The Mac is a great tool for writers, with a plethora of software available for any kind of writing. It doesn't matter if you're a student spending long nights on your big paper, a journalist writing up your latest scoop, or a novelist furiously typing away on your next opus — there's an app for you on the Mac. We analyzed the market for you, and here are three of the best OCR handwriting tools: #1. ISkysoft PDF Editor 6 Professional iSkysoft PDF Editor 6 Professional for Mac (and iSkysoft PDF Editor 6 Professional for Windows ) is a perfect OCR tool for PDF files. Aug 02, 2018 Google Handwriting Input allows you to handwrite text on your phone or tablet in 100 languages. It supports printed and cursive writing, with or without a stylus. Google Handwriting Input also supports more than a thousand emojis, so you can express yourself in any Android app. The 3.0.2.1 version of Handwriting for Windows is provided as a free download on our website. The following versions: 3.0 and 2.1 are the most frequently downloaded ones by the program users. This tool was originally designed by KBER. Neuroph OCR is an open source handwriting recognition tool that is developed to recognize various handwritten letters and characters. The software is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, and it can be used as a standalone software or as a plug in.
Having a lot of handwritten documents in your business can be really confusing if you want to digitize your business. Typing all the documents manually can take a lot of time to complete. Thus, handwriting recognition software is necessary for you to automate all the process. This software helps you to convert your handwritten documents into digitized text documents, which make them more readable and easier to store.
This is useful if you want to convert all of your paper documents into digital documents. Not only paper documents, this software can also be used to recognize handwriting input from various sources, including touchscreen devices and photographs.
TopOCR
Writing Tool For Mac
TopOCR is an OCR software developed for document cameras, which is a new way to scan documents with the best accuracy. Thus, this software can be used to scan books and magazines and convert them into digital documents easily. It can output to PDF text and PDF image files, making it easier for you to keep and organize the digital documents in your drive.
FreeOCR
FreeOCR offers a handwriting recognition technology that allows you to scan handwritten documents and convert it into text format, which you can then export as a Microsoft Word document. The software can also scan your handwritten documents and convert it into a JPG image file or PDF. The software is only available for Microsoft Windows.
Neuroph OCR
Neuroph OCR is an open source handwriting recognition tool that is developed to recognize various handwritten letters and characters. The software is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, and it can be used as a standalone software or as a plug in. It is a simple software the gets the job done to recognize the handwritten letters and convert it into digital document formats.
PenOffice
PenOffice provides an accurate handwriting recognition software with the extensive set of pen-based collaboration tools. It features new user interface, multi-monitor systems, multi-language support, new handwriting recognition engine, built-in dictionary, inline gestures, and customizable on-screen keyboard. This software can be integrated with Microsoft Office and OpenOffice software.
WritePad Pro
WritePad Pro is a word processing app with handwriting recognition engine embedded in it, allowing you to recognize your handwriting as you type on the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch devices. The app can save your file in HTML format, in which you can view in any web browser. It features handwriting recognition, document import formats, text formatting, multimedia, document sharing, translator, and a file manager.
AceCad DigiMemo
DigiMemo is a software that allows you to take and organize digital memo. It is embedded with memory and handwriting recognition. It features the user interface that is available in various languages, send to OneNote function, and online writing function. The handwriting recognition software provided by DigiMemo can help you to recognize handwriting, diagrams, tables, and shapes, and convert them into Microsoft Word format.
Other Handwriting Recognition Software for Different Platforms
Some handwriting recognition software is available only for the Microsoft Windows platform, but some others are available for other platforms as well. Aside from that, there are some mobile apps that allow you to convert your handwriting into digital texts, and save the file as a Word document.
Windows Journal
Windows Journal is a built-in application that is available on Windows, which you can use to convert your handwritten letters into text documents. You can find this small utility by searching with the keyword “Journal” in your Windows search box. It offers the text correction feature, allowing you to keep the accuracy of your converted text.
inkBook for Mac
inkBook for Mac facilitates the old way of taking notes, allowing you to write your note as if you are writing it on a paper. Using a digital pen and tablet, you can easily create notes with your handwriting, and with the help of this software, convert it into text files accurately. It features multi-notebook style interface, customizable tabs, gestural input, handwriting recognition, and freeform layout.
Google Handwriting Input
This simple app allows you to convert your handwriting into digital texts, with support for emoji. Aside from typing your handwriting directly on your Android phone or tablet, you can also covert printed and cursive writing into digital texts as well. It features touchscreen typing, voice input, emoji drawing, and support for all types of handwriting.
Ink2Text Handwriting Recognition System
This is a simple open-source software that allows you to convert your printed and cursive writing into text documents. This software is available only for Linux system. It can also recognize the gesture input that you give via your keyboard, handwriting input panel, or tablet computers. It should be used in collaboration with S/HIP (Stylus/Handwriting Input Panel) project.
ABBYY FineReader – Best Handwriting Recognition Software of 2016
This software allows you to convert paper documents, PDF, and digital photos into editable text documents. The software’s main feature is that it provides the output text documents with a high level of accuracy, which helps you to reduce the amount of time needed for you to edit and format the output documents. The text recognition engine embedded in this software can recognize up to 190 different languages. This handwriting recognition software is available for Windows and Mac.
What is Handwriting Recognition Software?
Handwriting recognition software, often called OCR software, is the type of software that allows you to convert your handwritten documents into digital documents. Not only that, the software can also convert the handwriting done on a touchscreen interface, using digital pen and stylus. You can convert your handwritten documents or texts into various formats, such as Microsoft Word, PDF, and JPG formats. Some handwriting recognition software can also recognize drawing, shapes, tables, and diagrams and convert them into digital formats as well. Whereas you can usually use this software with a stylus, digital pen, or any touchscreen device, you can also use your scanner and camera to scan your paper documents and convert them into digital documents with the help of this software.
How to Install Handwriting Recognition Software?
Some handwriting recognition software is only available for specific platforms. So, you should make sure that your platform is compatible with the software before you start installing it. To install the software, you need to download the installation file to your device and run the installation process by clicking the downloaded file. To use the software, you need to have the associated accessories, such as touchscreen panel, digital pen, and stylus. Some handwriting recognition software is also available for mobile devices.
Converting paper documents into digital documents can take a lot of time to do if you do it manually. OCR or handwriting recognition software can help you to convert multiple paper documents into digital documents at the same time. This will save your time in the process. As the handwriting recognition technology is advancing day by day, the accuracy of the handwriting recognition software is increasing. Nowadays, you can accurately convert printed and cursive handwriting into digital text files without much editing needed. All the formatting is done by the software so that you don’t need to spend your time fixing errors due to bad accuracy in the handwriting recognition system.
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Writing is a very personal practice, and as a result you have a million writing-focused apps to choose from. From distraction-free apps that take up your whole screen to feature-packed mainstays like Microsoft Word, we've put together a guide to help you choose the writing software that's right for you.
There was a time not that long ago where your choices for writing apps boiled down to plain text or Microsoft Word. Things have changed a lot over the years. Nowadays, you have almost too many options. So, with that in mind, we've tested out a ton of writing software to pick our favorites depending on what your needs are. We're leaving out notes apps here, so favorites like Evernote and Simplenote won't make an appearance. Instead, we're concentrating on tools for long form writing.
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For the Most Options and Compatibility: Microsoft Word
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Let's face it: some people don't have an option other than Microsoft Word ($80). Whether you're writing a novel, putting together some short stories, or just drafting up a memo for the office, Microsoft Word is the most powerful tool around.
Since Microsoft Word is the industry standard, it's good to get your bearings with it. Word is the most popular because it has the most features. With Word, you can do just about anything you could imagine with your text. It features all types of formatting options, customizable toolbars, application-specific keyboard shortcuts, draft versions, collaboration, and more. It's the kitchen sink of word processors, and if that's what you need, Word's you best option. That said, LibreOffice's Writer is pretty good these days if you prefer free software.
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If you're not a fan of the visual clutter in Microsoft Word but you're stuck with it, you can clean it up pretty easily. That'll at least make it a little less distracting to use.
For Novelists Who Hate Microsoft Word: Scrivener/Ulysses III
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Microsoft Word might be the default app for writing a novel, but it's not necessarily the best. If you're looking for something created with long form writing in mind, both Scrivener and Ulysses III are excellent choices.
Scrivener ($45) is a Windows and Mac app that gives you a single place to dump all your ideas and writing. It includes tools to keep notes, collect research, outline, and organize your writing. With all that, you can navigate to different sections of your text, jump around to different parts of research, and find whatever you're looking for with powerful search options. Basically, Scrivener is like Evernote for longform writing, and if you're looking for a way to organize and write in the same place, it's an excellent option. Scrivener also integrated with Simplenote if you want to take your writing on the go.
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Ulysses III ($44.99) for Mac takes a similar approach to Scrivener, but simplifies things a little bit. It uses plain text or Markdown for writing, but also includes statistics, notes, exporting, organization, and more. The Markdown support means you can use it for regular old blogging just as easily as for novel writing. Ulysses III fits somewhere between a minimalist writing tool and Scrivener. It's feature packed, but offers a ton of options for hiding those features away too. If you want to take your writing on the go, Ulysses III integrates with Daedalus Touch on iOS.
Both Ulysses and Scrivener have demo versions, so check them both out and see which works best for you.
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For Distraction-Free Writing: FocusWriter
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There's no shortage of distraction-free writing tools out there, and most of them are pretty similar. After all, the main goal of a distraction-free writing app is provide a blank canvas to write on in a nice, full-screen view—and nothing else. That said, we like FocusWriter because it's free, works across Windows, Mac, and Linux, and includes a few optional features if you're looking for something more than a blank page.
With FocusWriter you can write text on a page and save it as a TXT file. On top of that, FocusWriter also includes timers, alarms, goal setting, themes, typewriter sound effects, statistics, and spell checking. Still, its main goal is to keep things simple and FocusWriter accomplishes that goal. If you're looking for just a place to write, regardless of what operating system you're on, FocusWriter is an excellent choice
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For Screenplays: Final Draft/Fade In/Trelby
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Final Draft is the industry standard for writing screenplays on both Windows and Mac. At $250, it's a tough sell, but it has everything you'll need. It includes a massive notes section for keeping track of characters, an index card system for summaries, a special scene view so you can see a script at a glance, and more. Of course, it also has templates for different screenplay types, a formatting assistant that helps you get used to screenwriting formats, and a revisions system for when you're ready to go to production. $250 is a lot of money, but Final Draft has a trial version to check out to make sure it'll work for you.
That said, you don't have to use Final Draft if you don't want to. Fade In is cross-platform (Windows, Mac, and Linux) script writing software with features that rival Final Draft for just $50. Like Final Draft, it comes with organization tools, revision tools, a ton of autocomplete tools, and a variety of formatting options. Fade In doesn't have all the extra bells and whistles that Final Draft does, but if writing is all you care about, Fade In has what you need.
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All that said, if you just want to dip your toe into screenwriting, Trelby is a free alternative for Windows, Mac, and Linux, that has enough features to at least get you started. Just don't expect more than a text editor with screenwriting formating built into it.
For Editing: Hemingway/Marked 2/Phraseology
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Editing is often the hardest part of writing, but you won't find a ton of tools specifically made for dreaded task. That said, you have a few great options for apps that help put a spotlight on your mistakes, spot repeating words, and help you clean up your writing a bit.
Hemingway is a web app that highlights problems in your writing. Once you paste your text into it, Hemingway highlights hard to read sentences, adverbs, complex phrases, and passive voice. What you decide to do with that information is up to you, but it's a great tool for editing it you're the type to use too many adverbs or drop into passive voice.
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On the Mac, we like Marked 2. Technically, Marked 2 is just a Markdown previewer, but it includes a ton of tools for writers. You'll get word counts and a ton of advanced document statistics, but its best feature is 'Visualize Word Repetition.' This mode highlights words that you repeat throughout the document, which is helpful if you're the type to repeat phrases a lot.
For a similar experience to Hemingway on your iPad, we like Phraseology. It's a fantastic tool that includes syntax highlighting, statistics tools, readability scores, and root word breakdowns. Basically, it gives you every piece of data about your writing you could want so you can pinpoint how to fix it up.
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For Journaling: Day One/RedNotebook
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You can use any text editor you want as a journal, but having a special app just for this kind of writing makes it a little more fun.
If you'd prefer an open source (and Windows/Linux) option for journaling, RedNotebook is your best bet. It's a pretty simple app that lets you quickly get to writing a journal entry and moving on. Once you get going, you can easily search through old journals, find specific dates, and do just about everything else you'd expect to do in a journal.
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Without a doubt, Day One is the best journaling app for iOS and Mac. On top of providing a clean place to write your thoughts, it also includes syncing, photo imports, a passcode lock, a public publish option, reminders, Markdown support, and more. It also pulls in a lot of information automatically, so you can add weather, location information, and even your daily exercise. Day One is incredibly organized and easy to browse through, so if you're digging through old notes you can find what you're looking for.
Once you get going, you should see all kinds of handy benefits from journaling, regardless of which app you choose.
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For Writing on the iPad: Editorial
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We liked Editorial when it was first released, and it's still the most powerful writing program on the iPad. The reason is pretty simple: Editorial lets you make it as simple or as complicated as you want it.
Chinese Handwriting Tool For Mac
As a straightforward writing program, editorial checks all the boxes you'd expect. It supports Markdown, plain text, offers outlines, word counts, Dropbox versioning, and all the other stuff you'd expect from a text editor. Where Editorial gets interesting is its workflows. Here, you can create Automator-esque custom actions that do everything from send a block of text to Evernote to sending an email. It's complicated, but once you find a few workflows that work for you, you'll be able to use Editorial for writing in all kinds of contexts. We can't begin to go into the depth needed to get into Editorial's systems, but MacStories has a fantastic starter guide that should answer any questions.
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You have hundreds of writing apps on the iPad (and iPhone) to choose from and each has their own strengths. Which one works best for you likely depends on what you're looking for, but this chart should help you pick the right one.
For Writing on an Android Tablet: Write
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Writing on your Android tablet doesn't offer nearly the (over) abundance of app choices as on an iPad, but Write checks off most of the boxes for anyone looking for a simple writing app.
At its core, Write is a full screen writing app that gives you a place to dump your ideas and just write in plain text. If you want more, it also has Markdown support, a statistics menu, automatic saving, a file management system, and supports backup to pretty much every cloud service out there. It's simple, but it gets the job done and clears a space for you to just write.
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Of course, if you're looking for more power, TextMaker, Google Docs, and QuickOffice are excellent choices that work more like a word processor than just a writing tool.
As we mentioned at the start of this post, thousands of options for writing software exist. Each of those has a specific set of features that's going to appeal to some people more than others. So, it's usually a good idea to treat your writing software like you would any productivity tool: settle on an app that works for you and stick with it.
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