VB.NET Code to Get You Started

C# + VB.NET: AutoOcr AutoOcr
using IronOcr;

string imageText = new IronTesseract().Read(@"images\image.png").Text;
Imports IronOcr

Private imageText As String = (New IronTesseract()).Read("images\image.png").Text

IronOCR is unique in its ability to automatically detect and read text from imperfectly scanned images and PDF documents. The IronTesseract Class provides the simplest API.

Try Other code samples to gain fine-grained control of your C# OCR operations.

IronOCR provides the most advanced build of Tesseract known anywhere, on any platform. With increased speed, accuracy and a native DLL and API.

Supports Tesseract 3, Tesseract 4 and Tesseract 5 for .NET Framework, Standard, Core, Xamarin and Mono.

C# + VB.NET: Intl. Languages Intl. Languages
using IronOcr;
using System;

var ocrTesseract = new IronTesseract();

ocrTesseract.Language = OcrLanguage.Arabic;

using (var ocrInput = new OcrInput())
{
    ocrInput.LoadImage(@"images\arabic.gif");
    var ocrResult = ocrTesseract.Read(ocrInput);
    Console.WriteLine(ocrResult.Text);
}

// Example with a Custom Trained Font Being used:

var ocrTesseractCustomerLang = new IronTesseract();
ocrTesseractCustomerLang.UseCustomTesseractLanguageFile("custom_tesseract_files/custom.traineddata");
ocrTesseractCustomerLang.AddSecondaryLanguage(OcrLanguage.EnglishBest);

using (var ocrInput = new OcrInput())
{
    ocrInput.LoadPdf(@"images\mixed-lang.pdf");
    var ocrResult = ocrTesseractCustomerLang.Read(ocrInput);
    Console.WriteLine(ocrResult.Text);
}
Imports IronOcr
Imports System

Private ocrTesseract = New IronTesseract()

ocrTesseract.Language = OcrLanguage.Arabic

Using ocrInput As New OcrInput()
	ocrInput.LoadImage("images\arabic.gif")
	Dim ocrResult = ocrTesseract.Read(ocrInput)
	Console.WriteLine(ocrResult.Text)
End Using

' Example with a Custom Trained Font Being used:

Dim ocrTesseractCustomerLang = New IronTesseract()
ocrTesseractCustomerLang.UseCustomTesseractLanguageFile("custom_tesseract_files/custom.traineddata")
ocrTesseractCustomerLang.AddSecondaryLanguage(OcrLanguage.EnglishBest)

Using ocrInput As New OcrInput()
	ocrInput.LoadPdf("images\mixed-lang.pdf")
	Dim ocrResult = ocrTesseractCustomerLang.Read(ocrInput)
	Console.WriteLine(ocrResult.Text)
End Using

IronOCR supports 125 international languages.

Other than English which is installed by default, language packs may be added to your .NET project via NuGet or as downloads from our Languages Page.

Most Languages are available in Fast, Standard (recommended) and Best quality. Best may be more accurate, but also is slower.

C# + VB.NET: Results Objects Results Objects
using IronOcr;
using IronSoftware.Drawing;

// We can delve deep into OCR results as an object model of
// Pages, Barcodes, Paragraphs, Lines, Words and Characters
// This allows us to explore, export and draw OCR content using other APIs/
var ocrTesseract = new IronTesseract();

ocrTesseract.Configuration.ReadBarCodes = true;

using var ocrInput = new OcrInput();
var pages = new int[] { 1, 2 };
ocrInput.LoadImageFrames("example.tiff", pages);

OcrResult ocrResult = ocrTesseract.Read(ocrInput);
foreach (var page in ocrResult.Pages)
{
    // Page object
    int PageNumber = page.PageNumber;
    string PageText = page.Text;
    int PageWordCount = page.WordCount;
    // null if we dont set Ocr.Configuration.ReadBarCodes = true;
    OcrResult.Barcode[] Barcodes = page.Barcodes;
    AnyBitmap PageImage = page.ToBitmap(ocrInput);
    int PageWidth = page.Width;
    int PageHeight = page.Height;
    double PageRotation = page.Rotation; // angular correction in degrees from OcrInput.Deskew()

    foreach (var paragraph in page.Paragraphs)
    {
        // Pages -> Paragraphs
        int ParagraphNumber = paragraph.ParagraphNumber;
        string ParagraphText = paragraph.Text;
        AnyBitmap ParagraphImage = paragraph.ToBitmap(ocrInput);
        int ParagraphX_location = paragraph.X;
        int ParagraphY_location = paragraph.Y;
        int ParagraphWidth = paragraph.Width;
        int ParagraphHeight = paragraph.Height;
        double ParagraphOcrAccuracy = paragraph.Confidence;
        OcrResult.TextFlow paragrapthText_direction = paragraph.TextDirection;
        foreach (var line in paragraph.Lines)
        {
            // Pages -> Paragraphs -> Lines
            int LineNumber = line.LineNumber;
            string LineText = line.Text;
            AnyBitmap LineImage = line.ToBitmap(ocrInput);
            int LineX_location = line.X;
            int LineY_location = line.Y;
            int LineWidth = line.Width;
            int LineHeight = line.Height;
            double LineOcrAccuracy = line.Confidence;
            double LineSkew = line.BaselineAngle;
            double LineOffset = line.BaselineOffset;
            foreach (var word in line.Words)
            {
                // Pages -> Paragraphs -> Lines -> Words
                int WordNumber = word.WordNumber;
                string WordText = word.Text;
                AnyBitmap WordImage = word.ToBitmap(ocrInput);
                int WordX_location = word.X;
                int WordY_location = word.Y;
                int WordWidth = word.Width;
                int WordHeight = word.Height;
                double WordOcrAccuracy = word.Confidence;
                foreach (var character in word.Characters)
                {
                    // Pages -> Paragraphs -> Lines -> Words -> Characters
                    int CharacterNumber = character.CharacterNumber;
                    string CharacterText = character.Text;
                    AnyBitmap CharacterImage = character.ToBitmap(ocrInput);
                    int CharacterX_location = character.X;
                    int CharacterY_location = character.Y;
                    int CharacterWidth = character.Width;
                    int CharacterHeight = character.Height;
                    double CharacterOcrAccuracy = character.Confidence;
                    // Output alternative symbols choices and their probability.
                    // Very useful for spellchecking
                    OcrResult.Choice[] Choices = character.Choices;
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
Imports IronOcr
Imports IronSoftware.Drawing

' We can delve deep into OCR results as an object model of
' Pages, Barcodes, Paragraphs, Lines, Words and Characters
' This allows us to explore, export and draw OCR content using other APIs/
Private ocrTesseract = New IronTesseract()

ocrTesseract.Configuration.ReadBarCodes = True

Dim ocrInput As New OcrInput()
Dim pages = New Integer() { 1, 2 }
ocrInput.LoadImageFrames("example.tiff", pages)

Dim ocrResult As OcrResult = ocrTesseract.Read(ocrInput)
For Each page In ocrResult.Pages
	' Page object
	Dim PageNumber As Integer = page.PageNumber
	Dim PageText As String = page.Text
	Dim PageWordCount As Integer = page.WordCount
	' null if we dont set Ocr.Configuration.ReadBarCodes = true;
	Dim Barcodes() As OcrResult.Barcode = page.Barcodes
	Dim PageImage As AnyBitmap = page.ToBitmap(ocrInput)
	Dim PageWidth As Integer = page.Width
	Dim PageHeight As Integer = page.Height
	Dim PageRotation As Double = page.Rotation ' angular correction in degrees from OcrInput.Deskew()

	For Each paragraph In page.Paragraphs
		' Pages -> Paragraphs
		Dim ParagraphNumber As Integer = paragraph.ParagraphNumber
		Dim ParagraphText As String = paragraph.Text
		Dim ParagraphImage As AnyBitmap = paragraph.ToBitmap(ocrInput)
		Dim ParagraphX_location As Integer = paragraph.X
		Dim ParagraphY_location As Integer = paragraph.Y
		Dim ParagraphWidth As Integer = paragraph.Width
		Dim ParagraphHeight As Integer = paragraph.Height
		Dim ParagraphOcrAccuracy As Double = paragraph.Confidence
		Dim paragrapthText_direction As OcrResult.TextFlow = paragraph.TextDirection
		For Each line In paragraph.Lines
			' Pages -> Paragraphs -> Lines
			Dim LineNumber As Integer = line.LineNumber
			Dim LineText As String = line.Text
			Dim LineImage As AnyBitmap = line.ToBitmap(ocrInput)
			Dim LineX_location As Integer = line.X
			Dim LineY_location As Integer = line.Y
			Dim LineWidth As Integer = line.Width
			Dim LineHeight As Integer = line.Height
			Dim LineOcrAccuracy As Double = line.Confidence
			Dim LineSkew As Double = line.BaselineAngle
			Dim LineOffset As Double = line.BaselineOffset
			For Each word In line.Words
				' Pages -> Paragraphs -> Lines -> Words
				Dim WordNumber As Integer = word.WordNumber
				Dim WordText As String = word.Text
				Dim WordImage As AnyBitmap = word.ToBitmap(ocrInput)
				Dim WordX_location As Integer = word.X
				Dim WordY_location As Integer = word.Y
				Dim WordWidth As Integer = word.Width
				Dim WordHeight As Integer = word.Height
				Dim WordOcrAccuracy As Double = word.Confidence
				For Each character In word.Characters
					' Pages -> Paragraphs -> Lines -> Words -> Characters
					Dim CharacterNumber As Integer = character.CharacterNumber
					Dim CharacterText As String = character.Text
					Dim CharacterImage As AnyBitmap = character.ToBitmap(ocrInput)
					Dim CharacterX_location As Integer = character.X
					Dim CharacterY_location As Integer = character.Y
					Dim CharacterWidth As Integer = character.Width
					Dim CharacterHeight As Integer = character.Height
					Dim CharacterOcrAccuracy As Double = character.Confidence
					' Output alternative symbols choices and their probability.
					' Very useful for spellchecking
					Dim Choices() As OcrResult.Choice = character.Choices
				Next character
			Next word
		Next line
	Next paragraph
Next page

IronOCR returns an advanced result object for each page it scans using Tesseract 5. This contains location data, images, text, statistical confidence, alternative symbol choices, font-names, font-sizes decoration, font weights, and position for each:

  • Page
  • Paragraph
  • Line of Text
  • Word
  • Individual Character
  • and Barcode

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OCR Images to Text in VB.NET Applications

One or multi pages can be sent to IronOCR. You'll receive all text, barcode, & QR content as a result. Add OCR functionality to .NET Console, Web, or Desktop Apps. Images can be submitted as PDF, JPG, PNG, GIF, BMP and TIFF.

Made for VB.NET, .NET, C#

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OCR with Fast & Accurate Results

The Optical Character Recognition software views content in multiple font styles for accurate text OCR. Use rectangle read regions to improve speed and accuracy. Multi-core multi threading improves OCR reading speeds.

API Reference Documenation

Image Processing for Imperfect Scan Recognition

What really makes IronOCR special is its ability to read badly scanned documents. Its unique pre-processing library reduces background noise, rotation, distortion and skewed alignment as well as simplifying colours and enhancing resolution & contrast. Iron’s AutoOCR and Advanced OCR settings provide developers with the tools to achieve the best possible results, every time.

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Multi-lingual OCR

Language packs available for: Arabic, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Danish, English, Finnish, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish. Other languages can be supported by request.

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Data Exported Directly to Your VB.NET Application

IronOCR outputs content as plain text and barcode data. An alternative structured data object model allows developers to receive all content in the format of structured Headings, Paragraphs, Lines, Words and Characters for input directly into .NET applications.

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Supports:
  • .NET Framework 4.0 and above support C#, VB, F#
  • Microsoft Visual Studio. .NET Development IDE Icon
  • NuGet Installer Support for Visual Studio
  • JetBrains ReSharper C# language assistant compatible
  • Microsoft Azure C# .NET  hosting platform compatible

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VB.NET Optical Character Recognition Tutorials

Tesseract Tutorial for C# | IronOCR

C# Tesseract OCR

Jim Baker is a development engineer at Iron developing for the OCR product

IronOCR and Tesseract Comparison for .NET

Jim has been a leading figure in development of IronOCR. Jim designs and builds image processing algorithms and reading methods for OCR.

See Jim's Tesseract Comparison
How to Read Text from an Image in .NET | Tutorial

C# OCR ASP.NET

Gemma Beckford - Microsoft Solutions Engineer

How to Read Text from an Image in C# .NET

Learn how Gemma's team use IronOCR to read text from images for their archiving software. Gemma shares her own code samples.

View Gemma's Image to Text Tutorial
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