How to Use Multiple Languages with Tesseract in C#

Introduction

IronOCR provides text extraction from various languages and scripts using the Tesseract Engine as a reliable OCR tool.

This article explores how IronOCR handles text in multiple languages through Tesseract. You'll learn how to implement multilingual OCR solutions and understand the capabilities of IronOCR and its Tesseract engine integration.

Processing documents in multiple languages is essential for modern applications. International business documents, multilingual websites, and global communication platforms require accurate text extraction across language barriers. IronOCR addresses this need by integrating with Tesseract's extensive language support, enabling text extraction from documents containing multiple scripts and character sets simultaneously.

Quickstart: Using IronOCR to Recognize Text in Multiple Languages

Configure IronOCR with a primary language and add secondary languages in one line to extract text from multilingual documents or images.

How Do I Read Multi-Language PDFs with IronOCR?

IronOcr provides about 125 language packs; only English is installed by default. Download additional languages from NuGet. View all available language packs here..

PDFs containing multiple languages require specific OCR engine configuration. IronOCR allows you to specify primary and secondary languages before processing documents, ensuring optimal recognition accuracy across different scripts and character sets.

:path=/static-assets/ocr/content-code-examples/how-to/ocr-multiple-languages-pdf-input.cs

using IronOcr;
using System;

// Instantiate IronTesseract
IronTesseract ocrTesseract = new IronTesseract();

// Set secondary language to Russian
ocrTesseract.AddSecondaryLanguage(OcrLanguage.Russian);

// Add PDF
using var pdfInput = new OcrPdfInput(@"example.pdf");
// Perform OCR
OcrResult result = ocrTesseract.Read(pdfInput);

// Output extracted text to console
Console.WriteLine(result.Text);

Imports IronOcr
Imports System

' Instantiate IronTesseract
Private ocrTesseract As New IronTesseract()

' Set secondary language to Russian
ocrTesseract.AddSecondaryLanguage(OcrLanguage.Russian)

' Add PDF
Dim pdfInput = New OcrPdfInput("example.pdf")
' Perform OCR
Dim result As OcrResult = ocrTesseract.Read(pdfInput)

' Output extracted text to console
Console.WriteLine(result.Text)

How Do I Process Multi-Language Images with Tesseract?

English is the default primary language. To change it, set the Language property to your desired language, then add secondary languages as needed.

Images containing multilingual text require careful configuration. Unlike PDFs, images may contain varied text orientations, different fonts, and mixed scripts. IronOCR's Tesseract integration provides comprehensive language configuration options for these scenarios.

// Example code for reading multi-language image with IronOCR
using IronOcr;

// Initialize IronTesseract OCR engine
var Ocr = new IronTesseract();

:path=/static-assets/ocr/content-code-examples/how-to/ocr-multiple-languages-image-input.cs

// Example code for reading multi-language image with IronOCR
using IronOcr;

// Initialize IronTesseract OCR engine
var Ocr = new IronTesseract();

using IronOcr;
using System;

// Instantiate IronTesseract
IronTesseract ocrTesseract = new IronTesseract();

// Set primary language to Russian
ocrTesseract.Language = OcrLanguage.Russian;
ocrTesseract.AddSecondaryLanguage(OcrLanguage.Japanese);

// Add image
using var imageInput = new OcrImageInput(@"example.png");
// Perform OCR
OcrResult result = ocrTesseract.Read(imageInput);

// Output extracted text to console
Console.WriteLine(result.Text);

IRON VB CONVERTER ERROR developers@ironsoftware.com

What Are the Key Takeaways for Multi-Language OCR?

IronOCR, using the Tesseract engine, extracts text from multilingual documents effectively. It handles the complexities of reading text in many languages, providing a versatile solution. Whether processing PDFs with various languages or working with multilingual image content, IronOCR simplifies recognizing and extracting text across languages.

Key advantages of IronOCR for multi-language text extraction:

• Extensive Language Support: Over 125 international OCR languages via NuGet packages
• Flexible Configuration: Simple API for primary and secondary language settings
• High Accuracy: Uses Tesseract 5's advanced recognition algorithms
• Performance Optimization: Built-in multithreading support
• Cross-Platform Compatibility: Works on Windows, Linux, and macOS

IronOCR provides a comprehensive solution combining ease of use with powerful features for multi-language OCR implementation. Build document management systems, translation tools, or any application requiring multilingual text extraction with the flexibility and reliability needed for success.

Start your multi-language OCR project by downloading IronOCR from NuGet and exploring our documentation and examples. For specific use cases or advanced scenarios, our troubleshooting guides provide insights for optimal results.