How to Create An OCR Solution for Invoice

Introduction

Optical Character Recognition, or OCR, is a technique that lets computers identify and extract text from pictures or scanned documents. Converting text-containing photos into machine-readable text data is the main objective of OCR software. Numerous sectors can benefit from the broad range of uses of this technology, which streamlines data entry, document digitalization, and automation procedures such as your accounts payable processes. In this article, we will see the use of OCR solutions for processing invoices and how it makes manual invoice processing obsolete.

How to use OCR Solution for Invoice

1. Install the IronOCR C# library.
2. Create a new C# project in Visual Studio
3. Examine a feature-rich C# library to do on-receipt OCR.
4. Utilizing Tesseract, extract data from receipts
5. Look for particular data in the extracted text result.
6. Examine the barcode values on the supplied receipt picture.

What is Invoice Processing?

Businesses may transform image-based or scanned bills into machine-readable text by utilizing OCR invoice processing, which automates the extraction of text and data from invoices. The efficiency of financial procedures is increased overall, manual data entry is decreased, and how you process invoices is streamlined thanks to this automation.

IronOCR

Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is made possible for developers using the C# programming language by IronOCR**, a.NET library. IronOCR, created by Iron Software, is a useful tool for applications that need automatic text recognition as it lets users extract text from photos, scanned documents, and PDF files. To extract text and data from invoices, you must integrate the IronOCR library into your .NET application for automated invoice processing using IronOCR.

IronOCR helps to avoid fraud with the use of AI algorithms. This makes mistakes, fraud, and duplicate invoices quickly identified. Reduce errors with superior OCR invoice data extraction, so you may avoid mistakes caused by human data entry. Learn more about the IronOCR check here.

IronOCR's Salient Characteristics are:

• Text Extraction: Images, scanned documents, and PDF files may all have text content extracted using IronOCR. It uses sophisticated OCR algorithms to identify words, characters, and layouts in the supplied documents.
• To extract text information from invoice photos, use IronOCR. This entails retrieving information about the vendor, line items, invoice number, date, and any other pertinent data.
• Barcode Reading: IronOCR has capabilities for reading barcodes from pictures in addition to OCR, which increases its adaptability for applications that require handling both text and barcode data.
• Image Preprocessing: Deskewing, noise reduction, and contrast correction are among the image preprocessing methods that IronOCR supports. By enhancing the input pictures, these preprocessing procedures aid in increasing OCR accuracy.
• Zone-Based OCR technology: By defining OCR zones, developers may indicate certain areas of an image where text extraction should be concentrated. When managing papers with organized layouts, this capability comes in handy.
• OCR software scans and extracts text from scanned or photographed information by processing the acquired pictures or documents. The document's layout, words, and characters are interpreted by the OCR engine.

It's critical to remember that the accuracy of the OCR settings, the intricacy of the invoices, and the caliber of the input photos all affect how successful the solution is. Furthermore, using IronOCR's APIs and comprehending the particular capabilities offered by the library may be necessary steps in the integration process. For the most up-to-date details and recommendations, always consult the official IronOCR literature.

Creating a New Project in Visual Studio

Navigate to the "file menu" after starting the Visual Studio program. Go to "new project" and choose "Console Application". In this post, we'll create PDF documents using a console program.

In the relevant text box, type the project name and choose the file location. Next, as seen in the image below, click the Create button and choose the necessary .NET Framework.

Now that the application has been chosen, the Visual Studio project will create its structure. If you have chosen the console, Windows, or web versions, it will open the program.cs file, so you may add code and build/run the application.

To test the code, we may add the library after that.

Install IronOCR

Installing packages directly into your solution is possible using Visual Studio's NuGet Package management tool. The snapshot below may be used to view the NuGet Package Manager.

It features a search box to show the list of packages from the NuGet website. As can be seen in the screenshot below, we need to search the package manager for the phrase IronOCR:

The graphic above could provide us with a list of pertinent search terms. We have to make the required selection to install the solution package.

IronOCR to Extract data from Invoices

IronOCR is a powerful OCR library that can be used to extract data and read invoice data. With IronOCR, you may take a picture of a receipt and use it to convert it into easily processed and analyzed machine-readable text without compromising data privacy. Invoice OCR allows us to extract invoice data into digital format.

This is an example of how IronOCR works to process vendor invoices and extracts text from paper invoices.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using IronOcr;
var Ocr = new IronTesseract(); // nothing to configure            
Ocr.Language = OcrLanguage.EnglishBest;
Ocr.Configuration.TesseractVersion = TesseractVersion.Tesseract5;
using (var Input = new OcrInput())
{
    Input.AddImage(@"invoice.png"); // adding the example invoice to read
    var Result = Ocr.Read(Input);
    Console.WriteLine(Result.Text);
    Console.ReadKey();
}

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using IronOcr;
var Ocr = new IronTesseract(); // nothing to configure            
Ocr.Language = OcrLanguage.EnglishBest;
Ocr.Configuration.TesseractVersion = TesseractVersion.Tesseract5;
using (var Input = new OcrInput())
{
    Input.AddImage(@"invoice.png"); // adding the example invoice to read
    var Result = Ocr.Read(Input);
    Console.WriteLine(Result.Text);
    Console.ReadKey();
}

Imports System
Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports IronOcr
Private Ocr = New IronTesseract() ' nothing to configure
Ocr.Language = OcrLanguage.EnglishBest
Ocr.Configuration.TesseractVersion = TesseractVersion.Tesseract5
Using Input = New OcrInput()
	Input.AddImage("invoice.png") ' adding the example invoice to read
	Dim Result = Ocr.Read(Input)
	Console.WriteLine(Result.Text)
	Console.ReadKey()
End Using

The following is the result of the code mentioned above:

The above example shows that IronOCR helped us to OCR and display extracted data in the console.

Read Barcodes on Invoice

In addition to text, barcodes on receipts may be scanned using IronOCR. To utilize IronOCR to scan barcodes on receipts, you must use the ReadBarCodes function together with the BarcodeReader class.

This is an illustration of how to use IronOCR to decode an image of a receipt for barcode reading.

var ocrTesseract = new IronTesseract();
ocrTesseract.Configuration.ReadBarCodes = true;
using (var ocrInput = new OcrInput("invoice.png"))
{
    var ocrResult = ocrTesseract.Read(ocrInput);
    foreach (var barcode in ocrResult.Barcodes)
    {
        Console.WriteLine(barcode.Value);
    }
}

var ocrTesseract = new IronTesseract();
ocrTesseract.Configuration.ReadBarCodes = true;
using (var ocrInput = new OcrInput("invoice.png"))
{
    var ocrResult = ocrTesseract.Read(ocrInput);
    foreach (var barcode in ocrResult.Barcodes)
    {
        Console.WriteLine(barcode.Value);
    }
}

Dim ocrTesseract = New IronTesseract()
ocrTesseract.Configuration.ReadBarCodes = True
Using ocrInput As New OcrInput("invoice.png")
	Dim ocrResult = ocrTesseract.Read(ocrInput)
	For Each barcode In ocrResult.Barcodes
		Console.WriteLine(barcode.Value)
	Next barcode
End Using

While IronOCR offers strong OCR capabilities, it's vital to remember that the whole invoice processing workflow may also require other elements like data validation, business logic, and financial system connectivity. You might need to combine IronOCR with additional tools or parts to achieve a complete invoice processing solution, depending on your particular use case.

Result:

To know more about the IronOCR online demo refer here.

Conclusion

As a strong and adaptable Optical Character Recognition (OCR) library for C# developers, IronOCR stands out, in conclusion. Text extraction from photos, scanned documents, and PDF files is made possible and simple through this all-inclusive collection of functions offered by the Iron Software .NET library.

Lastly, IronOCR is a remarkable OCR solution that offers outstanding integration, flexibility, and accuracy. Because of its unparalleled accuracy, advanced algorithms, and capacity to identify a wide range of document formats, including handwritten ones, IronOCR is the greatest OCR solution currently on the market and it provides better documents with code examples that allow beginners to learn quickly and easily.

The cost-effective development edition of IronOCR is accessible, and purchasing the IronOCR package grants a lifetime license. Because the IronOCR package offers start at $749, a single cost for numerous systems, it delivers exceptional value. It provides 24/7 online engineer support for IronOCR licensed users. Please see the IronOCR website for further information on the fees.