
OCR / ICR
Supercharge AI automation with the power of reliable, accurate OCR


Boost AI efficiency with trusted OCR
Revolutionize how you work with documents using optical character recognition (OCR) and intelligent character recognition (ICR), the cutting-edge technology for image-to-text conversion, document recognition and processing.
Highly optimized to deliver unmatched efficiency, accuracy, and versatility, ABBYY’s OCR and ICR technologies adapt seamlessly to diverse needs, optimizing performance across various applications. Whether you're looking to extract data from complex forms, build the next-gen AI-powered app, or streamline enterprise workflows, our Document AI platform delivers consistent and high-quality results with purpose-built AI.
From static documents to dynamic AI-driven solutions
OCR technology converts scanned or handwritten documents into machine-readable, AI-ready text, maintaining the document's logical structure and original content. The extracted data becomes highly versatile, ready to power a wide range of AI-driven tools and processes.
OCR’s output transforms static documents into actionable, structured information, forming a critical bridge between raw data and intelligent automation, while opening new opportunities for efficiency and innovation across industries.
Where OCR meets AI innovation
- Within intelligent document processing (IDP), this structured data enables precise automation of tasks such as invoice processing, contract validation, or compliance checks.
- Combined with retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), the data enhances the ability to retrieve contextually relevant information for generating accurate responses.
- Autonomous agents, such as chatbots or virtual assistants, also benefit from this enriched data, allowing them to interact more intelligently using reliable document-based knowledge.
- Furthermore, the AI-ready output can fuel the training of advanced language models, increasing the quality and diversity of training datasets without manual preprocessing.
What is OCR?
Optical character recognition (OCR) is a technology designed to convert different types of documents, such as scanned paper documents, PDFs, or images, into editable and searchable data. By utilizing sophisticated algorithms and machine learning, ABBYY’s OCR identifies and processes machine printed characters, understands document layout and logical structure, and converts them into structured, machine-readable, AI-ready text. This allows organizations to digitize large volumes of paper-based information accurately and efficiently.
Precise OCR is a critical component of intelligent document processing, ensuring accurate data extraction and reliable outputs that drive business efficiency. Inaccurate data extraction can lead to misinformation, hinder decision-making, and compromise business operations, resulting in increased manual labor, higher costs, and reduced productivity. By unlocking content and insights trapped in documents, precise OCR enables seamless automation and supports smarter decision-making processes. It serves as the backbone of AI-based automation workflows, transforming unstructured data into actionable information for advanced technological solutions.
What is ICR?
Intelligent character recognition (ICR) is an advanced extension of optical character recognition (OCR) technology. While OCR is primarily designed to recognize printed or typed text, ICR specializes in processing handwritten characters with a higher degree of accuracy. This cutting-edge technology leverages artificial intelligence and neural networks to continuously learn and improve its recognition capabilities over time. ICR is particularly valuable in scenarios that involve handwriting-heavy documentation, such as forms, checks, or historical archives. By integrating ICR into document processing systems, organizations can further enhance the automation and digitization of complex workflows, minimizing manual data entry errors and streamlining information management.

OCR technology that combines innovation with experience
Best-in-class OCR and ICR technology
Unlock the power of advanced purpose-built AI with superior optical character recognition (OCR) and intelligent character recognition (ICR). Accurately capture printed text and even handwritten data, making it ideal for diverse use cases.
Highly scalable and secure
Our platform processes millions of documents daily with industry-grade scaling, adapting seamlessly to businesses of all sizes. Equipped with top-tier security, it protects sensitive data while ensuring unparalleled performance, flexibility, and reliability as your needs grow.
Built for developers
With comprehensive APIs and SDKs available in major programming languages, seamlessly integrate OCR / ICR functionality into your applications or workflows. Customizable configuration options allow you to tailor the solution to fit your specific needs.
Seamless data extraction and processing
Extract data from documents accurately and efficiently without compromising quality. Our OCR/ICR technology is designed to handle complex forms and diverse layouts with ease, including multi-page tables, intricate backgrounds, barcodes, checkmarks, and high-resolution images.
Highly efficient language models
Benefit from state-of-the-art language models that deliver consistent and precise results across different document types, from invoices to contracts. These models are designed to handle multilingual content with ease.
Speed and accuracy
Process even highly complex documents, such as forms and tables, at lightning-fast speeds without sacrificing accuracy. Quickly transform cluttered, unstructured data into ready-to-use insights, saving time and resources.
Complex document understanding
Maintain the integrity of your document layouts, including tables, charts, images, and hierarchical structures, to ensure AI-ready outcomes. This approach guarantees seamless data extraction while preserving the original format, making it perfect for detailed reporting, in-depth data analysis, or creating visually clear and accurate documentation for stakeholders.
User-friendly interface
Easily integrate OCR and ICR capabilities into your existing systems with intuitive dashboards and APIs. No steep learning curve—start streamlining your workflows right away.
Flexible deployment options
Tailor your implementation to your business requirements with flexible deployment options. Opt for cloud-based solutions for convenience, on-premise for greater control, or a simple REST API for seamless integration with just a few lines of code.
How OCR and ICR work
OCR stands for optical character recognition. OCR technology is used to analyze, read, and extract text in scanned documents or images and convert it into machine-readable text. It is often used to digitize printed books and articles, or in business processes involving physical documents, such as invoices and receipts, so that the text content can be edited, searched, and stored electronically. OCR technology is typically integrated with other applications, such as IDP, as one step of a larger process of intelligent automation.
- Layout analysis as the foundation of OCR
- Text recognition
- Output
Layout analysis as the foundation of OCR
Layout analysis is the initial step in the OCR process, where the document's structure is examined to identify and segment key elements such as tables, images, text, barcodes, and checkmarks. This step ensures that each component is accurately recognized and processed, laying the foundation for precise data extraction and enabling seamless handling of diverse document types and complexities.

Text recognition
In its basic version, character recognition in OCR involves analyzing various characteristics of the image and matching it to predefined patterns or templates that represent known characters and symbols, then words, and so on. By utilizing advancements in machine learning (ML), neural networks (NNs), and in specific edge cases event transformers (similar to the technology used in large language models), this process achieves higher accuracy, enabling recognition across diverse fonts, sizes, and languages. These advanced technologies adapt to variations in character shapes, ensuring precise interpretation even from cursive handwriting or languages that have been very challenging for traditional OCR approaches, such as Arabic.

Output
The structured, machine-readable, AI-ready information extracted from documents enables automation for tasks like invoice processing and compliance checks, enhances retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) by providing contextually relevant data, supports intelligent interactions in chatbots and virtual assistants, and enriches AI model training by supplying diverse, high-quality datasets.

Intelligent document processing pipeline
Learn more about IDP and OCR
Checklist
5 Steps to Successful Intelligent Document Processing
Discover the power of IDP to make your automation robots smarter and your data extraction more efficient.

Article
NLP, LLMs, DeepML, and FastML: The AI Under the Hood of ABBYY Intelligent Document Processing
Explore about the cutting-edge AI that is built into each step of ABBYY’s intelligent document processing pipeline.
Article
OCR vs. IDP: What’s The Difference?
Learn about the key differences between what optical character recognition (OCR) offers versus a broader intelligent document processing (IDP) solution.
Checklist
5 Steps to Successful Intelligent Document Processing
Discover the power of IDP to make your automation robots smarter and your data extraction more efficient.

Article
NLP, LLMs, DeepML, and FastML: The AI Under the Hood of ABBYY Intelligent Document Processing
Explore about the cutting-edge AI that is built into each step of ABBYY’s intelligent document processing pipeline.
Article
OCR vs. IDP: What’s The Difference?
Learn about the key differences between what optical character recognition (OCR) offers versus a broader intelligent document processing (IDP) solution.
OCR/ICR—frequently asked questions
What types of businesses can benefit from your OCR/ICR solution?
Is your solution compliant with data security regulations?
What distinguishes your OCR/ICR technology from competitors?
Can your system handle multilingual documents?
Do you offer customer support and training?
Can the solution process handwritten notes accurately?
What are the deployment options for your platform?
Request a demo today!
Schedule a demo and see how ABBYY intelligent automation can transform the way you work—forever.