Do you need to analyse text in your research, but only have images or scanned PDFs to work with? This 2-session course is an introduction to extracting text from images using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) techniques.
In the course, we will give you an overview of text extraction, demonstrate how OCR works in practice, using free, ready-to-use tools that are widely available. In addition, we will discuss potential challenges you might face performing OCR such as images containing old English, Multilanguage, image blurred, stained or distortions, we then will explore ways to address these challenges using R and Python OCR modules. Participants will leave the workshop with skills to use OCR in their own projects.
This is a beginner-friendly course. No previous knowledge of the topic is required, and the trainer will cover the basics of the method.
If you want to learn the basics of Python or R, you can take our introductory courses Getting Started with Python for Research and Getting Started with R for Research.
- Demonstrate an understanding of how OCR works and its key features
- Apply ready-to-use OCR tools to extract text from images and PDFs
- Recognise potential challenges in OCR projects and employ appropriate strategies to address them
By attending this course, you will become familiar with the following skills:
- Extracting text from images and scanned PDFs
- Preparing and cleaning OCR data for analysis
- Using free, out-of-the-box OCR tools for research
- Perform basic image/file OCR processing with R or Python
