Why Can't I Edit A Scanned Doc

[zingo1327]

Hi guys, Me again. I'm new to windows 10 and I've also got a new scanner.
I scanned an old doc and it came up on my screen as it would with windows XP but I can't get a curser so i can edit it. All that happens is a "hand" shows but doesn't seem to do anything.The scanned doc opens in microsoft Word. Any help appreciated.

[Mamyalynne]

Any help here until the experts arrive?

https://support.office.com/en-gb/article/scan-and-edit-a-document-7a07a4bd-aca5-4ec5-ba73-4589ac8b9eed

[Buenchico]

When you scan a document, you're effectively 'taking a photograph' of it. i.e. it becomes a 'picture', rather than a collection of text. So you can't edit a (raw) scanned document with Microsoft Word.

To scan a document and end up with an editable file you need to use OCR (optical character recognition) software, that examines all of the light and dark area on the 'photograph' and tries to work out which letters they represent. (Many scanners now come with suitable software on the accompanying disk. Perhaps your did?).

[zingo1327]

hi buenchico,
seems you are correct in what you say as I've just noticed that the saved scanned doc is in jpg format. I re-loaded my installation disk but don't seem to have OCR on it. I went to canon website and downloaded a new installion for my scanner but it is the same as the disk I got when I bought the scanner and still seems to be missing the OCR thingmy. Any thought as to where I can download this?

[Tuvok]

You don't need to install software - there are websites that offer free ocr

[Tuvok]

https://www.onlineocr.net

https://www.newocr.com

http://www.free-online-ocr.com

[Buenchico]

Click Start > All Programs > Canon Utilities > IJ Scan Utility.
(That's based on Windows 7 but the path should be very similar in Windows 10).

Then follow the instructions here:
https://ugp01.c-ij.com/ij/webmanual/ScanUtility/M/MG5700%20series/2.0/EN/SU/su-100.html
(Those instructions are the ones for my Canon MG5750 printer/scanner but they're likely to be the same for any recent Canon scanner).

If the above doesn't help, please provide the exact model number for your scanner.

[zingo1327]

Hi guys, I've been in touch with Canon help desk and the scanner doesn't come with OCR built in to the installation disk. So really they are selling a scanner that can't scan anything other than photos.
Tuvok. How does your suggestion work?
I scan a doc to my computer screen then what?
As you can see, I need an idiots guide

[Tuvok]

If you can make a jpg or PDF of your document, just go to the websites and follow the instructions to upload the file then start the conversion/recognition process and you will then either get text to copy or a file to download - depends which site you use.

[ichkeria]

It isn’t that your scanner can only scan photos.
It’s that like most normal scanners it “photographs” your document.
I daresay OCR technology has moved on, but when I tried it a few times before it was not all that reliable

[Buenchico]

FreeOCR is a well-respected freebie for extracting text from scans. (It might not be as flexible as some of the commercial products which are available but, with Omnipage Ultimate retailing for $450, you probably won't want to fork out for such software anyway):
http://www.paperfile.net/

The instructions are straightforward:
http://www.paperfile.net/help.html

The online services suggested by Tuvok require you to scan your document to an image file, or to a pdf file first. (All three of those site will work with Jpeg files. The first two can handle PDF files too but the last one can't). You Click the 'Upload' or 'Browse' button on one of those sites, navigate to the location of the relevant file on your hard drive and double-click on it. You then select the output format you require and click 'Convert'. Once the conversion is completed you'll be presented with a download link, enabling you to access the file containing the text.

[zingo1327]

thanks a lot guys