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General Discussion

Posted by Murilo de Melo
Murilo de Melo
14,456 Points

Hi everyone, I'd like to create a software that can scan receipts and create a digital form of it. What do I need?

Does anyone have an idea how I could create a software that scan receipts and create a digital form of it? Besides programming languages, what source can I use to that? Is there a course here in Treehouse for that?

Thanks

1 Answer

Steven Parker
Steven Parker
230,274 Points
Steven Parker
Steven Parker
230,274 Points

Using software to "read" a scanned document is called "optical character recognition", or OCR for short. It's an extremely demanding task requiring advanced scientific and mathematical understanding in addition to coding ability. For this reason, it's not something that even the most advanced coders would generally attempt to create.

Luckily, the folks who are capable of creating such software often make it available for a fee, and occasionally for free. You should be able to find a number of OCR software packages with a web search. Just be aware that there is a wide variation in the accuracy of such software.

Murilo de Melo
Murilo de Melo
14,456 Points

Hi Steven, thank you. I understand it now. It's funny that I'm studying software development third year and haven't heard from it yet. I always had this feeling that software developers should know to create anything, and now I see this is not the case. It's a relief actually. Best regards Murilo

Murilo de Melo
Murilo de Melo
14,456 Points

Unfortunately I'm not not seeing the button here to mark it as best answer. I've seen this in course-related discussions but not in general ones. Could it be it or because it is the only answer (so must be a best answer)? Your answer is best anyway ;)

Steven Parker
Steven Parker
230,274 Points
Steven Parker
Steven Parker
230,274 Points

Thanks! And yes, the "General Discussion" category has no "best answer" or voting buttons.