How to OCR documents on AWS Lambda

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This how-to article provides a step-by-step guide for setting up an AWS Lambda function using IronOCR. By following this guide, you will learn how to configure IronOCR and efficiently read documents stored in an S3 bucket.

Installation

This article will use an S3 bucket, so the AWSSDK.S3 package is required.

If you are using IronOCR ZIP, it is essential to set the temporary folder.

// Set temporary folder path and log file path for IronOCR.
var awsTmpPath = @"/tmp/";
IronOcr.Installation.InstallationPath = awsTmpPath;
IronOcr.Installation.LogFilePath = awsTmpPath;
// Set temporary folder path and log file path for IronOCR.
var awsTmpPath = @"/tmp/";
IronOcr.Installation.InstallationPath = awsTmpPath;
IronOcr.Installation.LogFilePath = awsTmpPath;
' Set temporary folder path and log file path for IronOCR.
Dim awsTmpPath = "/tmp/"
IronOcr.Installation.InstallationPath = awsTmpPath
IronOcr.Installation.LogFilePath = awsTmpPath
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Comience a usar IronOCR en su proyecto hoy con una prueba gratuita.

Primer Paso:
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Create an AWS Lambda Project

With Visual Studio, creating a containerized AWS Lambda is an easy process:

  • Install the AWS Toolkit for Visual Studio.
  • Select an 'AWS Lambda Project (.NET Core - C#)'.
  • Select a '.NET 8 (Container Image)' blueprint, then select 'Finish'.

Select container image

Add Package Dependencies

Using the IronOCR library in .NET 8 does not require additional dependencies to be installed for use on AWS Lambda. Modify the project's Dockerfile with the following:

FROM public.ecr.aws/lambda/dotnet:8

# Update all installed packages
RUN dnf update -y

WORKDIR /var/task

# Copy build artifacts from the host machine into the Docker image
COPY "bin/Release/lambda-publish" .

Modify the FunctionHandler Code

This example retrieves an image from an S3 bucket, processes it, and saves a searchable PDF back to the same bucket. Setting the temp folder is essential when using IronOCR ZIP, as the library requires write permissions to copy the runtime folder from the DLLs.

using Amazon.Lambda.Core;
using Amazon.S3;
using Amazon.S3.Model;
using IronOcr;
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

// Assembly attribute to enable the Lambda function's JSON input to be converted into a .NET class.
[assembly: LambdaSerializer(typeof(Amazon.Lambda.Serialization.SystemTextJson.DefaultLambdaJsonSerializer))]

namespace IronOcrZipAwsLambda
{
    public class Function
    {
        // Initialize the S3 client with a specific region endpoint
        private static readonly IAmazonS3 _s3Client = new AmazonS3Client(Amazon.RegionEndpoint.APSoutheast1);

        /// <summary>
        /// Function handler to process OCR on the PDF stored in S3.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="context">The ILambdaContext that provides methods for logging and describing the Lambda environment.</param>
        public async Task FunctionHandler(ILambdaContext context)
        {
            // Set up necessary paths for IronOCR
            var awsTmpPath = @"/tmp/";
            IronOcr.Installation.InstallationPath = awsTmpPath;
            IronOcr.Installation.LogFilePath = awsTmpPath;

            // Set license key for IronOCR
            IronOcr.License.LicenseKey = "IRONOCR-MYLICENSE-KEY-1EF01";

            string bucketName = "deploymenttestbucket"; // Your bucket name
            string pdfName = "sample";
            string objectKey = $"IronPdfZip/{pdfName}.pdf";
            string objectKeyForSearchablePdf = $"IronPdfZip/{pdfName}-SearchablePdf.pdf";

            try
            {
                // Retrieve the PDF file from S3
                var pdfData = await GetPdfFromS3Async(bucketName, objectKey);

                // Initialize IronTesseract for OCR processing
                IronTesseract ironTesseract = new IronTesseract();
                OcrInput ocrInput = new OcrInput();
                ocrInput.LoadPdf(pdfData);
                OcrResult result = ironTesseract.Read(ocrInput);

                // Log the OCR result
                context.Logger.LogLine($"OCR result: {result.Text}");

                // Upload the searchable PDF to S3
                await UploadPdfToS3Async(bucketName, objectKeyForSearchablePdf, result.SaveAsSearchablePdfBytes());
                context.Logger.LogLine($"PDF uploaded successfully to {bucketName}/{objectKeyForSearchablePdf}");
            }
            catch (Exception e)
            {
                context.Logger.LogLine($"[ERROR] FunctionHandler: {e.Message}");
            }
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Retrieves a PDF from S3 and returns it as a byte array.
        /// </summary>
        private async Task<byte[]> GetPdfFromS3Async(string bucketName, string objectKey)
        {
            var request = new GetObjectRequest
            {
                BucketName = bucketName,
                Key = objectKey
            };

            using (var response = await _s3Client.GetObjectAsync(request))
            using (var memoryStream = new MemoryStream())
            {
                await response.ResponseStream.CopyToAsync(memoryStream);
                return memoryStream.ToArray();
            }
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Uploads the generated searchable PDF back to S3.
        /// </summary>
        private async Task UploadPdfToS3Async(string bucketName, string objectKey, byte[] pdfBytes)
        {
            using (var memoryStream = new MemoryStream(pdfBytes))
            {
                var request = new PutObjectRequest
                {
                    BucketName = bucketName,
                    Key = objectKey,
                    InputStream = memoryStream,
                    ContentType = "application/pdf"
                };

                await _s3Client.PutObjectAsync(request);
            }
        }
    }
}
using Amazon.Lambda.Core;
using Amazon.S3;
using Amazon.S3.Model;
using IronOcr;
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

// Assembly attribute to enable the Lambda function's JSON input to be converted into a .NET class.
[assembly: LambdaSerializer(typeof(Amazon.Lambda.Serialization.SystemTextJson.DefaultLambdaJsonSerializer))]

namespace IronOcrZipAwsLambda
{
    public class Function
    {
        // Initialize the S3 client with a specific region endpoint
        private static readonly IAmazonS3 _s3Client = new AmazonS3Client(Amazon.RegionEndpoint.APSoutheast1);

        /// <summary>
        /// Function handler to process OCR on the PDF stored in S3.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="context">The ILambdaContext that provides methods for logging and describing the Lambda environment.</param>
        public async Task FunctionHandler(ILambdaContext context)
        {
            // Set up necessary paths for IronOCR
            var awsTmpPath = @"/tmp/";
            IronOcr.Installation.InstallationPath = awsTmpPath;
            IronOcr.Installation.LogFilePath = awsTmpPath;

            // Set license key for IronOCR
            IronOcr.License.LicenseKey = "IRONOCR-MYLICENSE-KEY-1EF01";

            string bucketName = "deploymenttestbucket"; // Your bucket name
            string pdfName = "sample";
            string objectKey = $"IronPdfZip/{pdfName}.pdf";
            string objectKeyForSearchablePdf = $"IronPdfZip/{pdfName}-SearchablePdf.pdf";

            try
            {
                // Retrieve the PDF file from S3
                var pdfData = await GetPdfFromS3Async(bucketName, objectKey);

                // Initialize IronTesseract for OCR processing
                IronTesseract ironTesseract = new IronTesseract();
                OcrInput ocrInput = new OcrInput();
                ocrInput.LoadPdf(pdfData);
                OcrResult result = ironTesseract.Read(ocrInput);

                // Log the OCR result
                context.Logger.LogLine($"OCR result: {result.Text}");

                // Upload the searchable PDF to S3
                await UploadPdfToS3Async(bucketName, objectKeyForSearchablePdf, result.SaveAsSearchablePdfBytes());
                context.Logger.LogLine($"PDF uploaded successfully to {bucketName}/{objectKeyForSearchablePdf}");
            }
            catch (Exception e)
            {
                context.Logger.LogLine($"[ERROR] FunctionHandler: {e.Message}");
            }
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Retrieves a PDF from S3 and returns it as a byte array.
        /// </summary>
        private async Task<byte[]> GetPdfFromS3Async(string bucketName, string objectKey)
        {
            var request = new GetObjectRequest
            {
                BucketName = bucketName,
                Key = objectKey
            };

            using (var response = await _s3Client.GetObjectAsync(request))
            using (var memoryStream = new MemoryStream())
            {
                await response.ResponseStream.CopyToAsync(memoryStream);
                return memoryStream.ToArray();
            }
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Uploads the generated searchable PDF back to S3.
        /// </summary>
        private async Task UploadPdfToS3Async(string bucketName, string objectKey, byte[] pdfBytes)
        {
            using (var memoryStream = new MemoryStream(pdfBytes))
            {
                var request = new PutObjectRequest
                {
                    BucketName = bucketName,
                    Key = objectKey,
                    InputStream = memoryStream,
                    ContentType = "application/pdf"
                };

                await _s3Client.PutObjectAsync(request);
            }
        }
    }
}
Imports Amazon.Lambda.Core
Imports Amazon.S3
Imports Amazon.S3.Model
Imports IronOcr
Imports System
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Threading.Tasks

' Assembly attribute to enable the Lambda function's JSON input to be converted into a .NET class.
<Assembly: LambdaSerializer(GetType(Amazon.Lambda.Serialization.SystemTextJson.DefaultLambdaJsonSerializer))>

Namespace IronOcrZipAwsLambda
	Public Class [Function]
		' Initialize the S3 client with a specific region endpoint
		Private Shared ReadOnly _s3Client As IAmazonS3 = New AmazonS3Client(Amazon.RegionEndpoint.APSoutheast1)

		''' <summary>
		''' Function handler to process OCR on the PDF stored in S3.
		''' </summary>
		''' <param name="context">The ILambdaContext that provides methods for logging and describing the Lambda environment.</param>
		Public Async Function FunctionHandler(ByVal context As ILambdaContext) As Task
			' Set up necessary paths for IronOCR
			Dim awsTmpPath = "/tmp/"
			IronOcr.Installation.InstallationPath = awsTmpPath
			IronOcr.Installation.LogFilePath = awsTmpPath

			' Set license key for IronOCR
			IronOcr.License.LicenseKey = "IRONOCR-MYLICENSE-KEY-1EF01"

			Dim bucketName As String = "deploymenttestbucket" ' Your bucket name
			Dim pdfName As String = "sample"
			Dim objectKey As String = $"IronPdfZip/{pdfName}.pdf"
			Dim objectKeyForSearchablePdf As String = $"IronPdfZip/{pdfName}-SearchablePdf.pdf"

			Try
				' Retrieve the PDF file from S3
				Dim pdfData = Await GetPdfFromS3Async(bucketName, objectKey)

				' Initialize IronTesseract for OCR processing
				Dim ironTesseract As New IronTesseract()
				Dim ocrInput As New OcrInput()
				ocrInput.LoadPdf(pdfData)
				Dim result As OcrResult = ironTesseract.Read(ocrInput)

				' Log the OCR result
				context.Logger.LogLine($"OCR result: {result.Text}")

				' Upload the searchable PDF to S3
				Await UploadPdfToS3Async(bucketName, objectKeyForSearchablePdf, result.SaveAsSearchablePdfBytes())
				context.Logger.LogLine($"PDF uploaded successfully to {bucketName}/{objectKeyForSearchablePdf}")
			Catch e As Exception
				context.Logger.LogLine($"[ERROR] FunctionHandler: {e.Message}")
			End Try
		End Function

		''' <summary>
		''' Retrieves a PDF from S3 and returns it as a byte array.
		''' </summary>
		Private Async Function GetPdfFromS3Async(ByVal bucketName As String, ByVal objectKey As String) As Task(Of Byte())
			Dim request = New GetObjectRequest With {
				.BucketName = bucketName,
				.Key = objectKey
			}

			Using response = Await _s3Client.GetObjectAsync(request)
			Using memoryStream As New MemoryStream()
				Await response.ResponseStream.CopyToAsync(memoryStream)
				Return memoryStream.ToArray()
			End Using
			End Using
		End Function

		''' <summary>
		''' Uploads the generated searchable PDF back to S3.
		''' </summary>
		Private Async Function UploadPdfToS3Async(ByVal bucketName As String, ByVal objectKey As String, ByVal pdfBytes() As Byte) As Task
			Using memoryStream As New MemoryStream(pdfBytes)
				Dim request = New PutObjectRequest With {
					.BucketName = bucketName,
					.Key = objectKey,
					.InputStream = memoryStream,
					.ContentType = "application/pdf"
				}

				Await _s3Client.PutObjectAsync(request)
			End Using
		End Function
	End Class
End Namespace
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Before the try block, the file 'sample.pdf' is specified for reading from the IronPdfZip directory. The GetPdfFromS3Async method is then used to retrieve the PDF byte, which is passed to the LoadPdf method.

Increase Memory and Timeout

The amount of memory allocated in the Lambda function will vary based on the size of the documents being processed and the number of documents processed simultaneously. As a baseline, set the memory to 512 MB and the timeout to 300 seconds in aws-lambda-tools-defaults.json.

{
    "function-memory-size": 512,
    "function-timeout": 300
}

When the memory is insufficient, the program will throw the error: 'Runtime exited with error: signal: killed.' Increasing the memory size can resolve this issue. For more details, refer to the troubleshooting article: AWS Lambda - Runtime Exited Signal: Killed.

Publish

To publish in Visual Studio, right-click on the project and select 'Publish to AWS Lambda...', then configure the necessary settings. You can read more about publishing a Lambda on the AWS website.

Try It Out!

You can activate the Lambda function either through the Lambda console or through Visual Studio.

Preguntas Frecuentes

¿Cómo puedo realizar OCR en documentos en AWS usando C#?

Puedes usar IronOCR para realizar OCR en documentos almacenados en depósitos Amazon S3 integrándola con AWS Lambda. Esto implica crear una función Lambda en C# que recopile documentos de S3, los procese con IronOCR y luego suba los resultados de nuevo a S3.

¿Qué pasos están involucrados en la configuración de OCR en AWS Lambda con C#?

Para configurar OCR en AWS Lambda usando C#, necesitas descargar la biblioteca IronOCR, crear un proyecto AWS Lambda en Visual Studio, configurar tu manejador de funciones para usar IronOCR para el procesamiento y desplegar tu función. Esta configuración te permite convertir imágenes en PDFs buscables.

¿Cuál es la configuración recomendada para ejecutar OCR en AWS Lambda?

Para un rendimiento óptimo al ejecutar OCR con IronOCR en AWS Lambda, se recomienda establecer una asignación de memoria de al menos 512 MB y un período de tiempo de espera de 300 segundos. Estos ajustes ayudan a manejar el procesamiento de documentos grandes o múltiples.

¿Cómo manejo 'Runtime exited with error: signal: killed' en AWS Lambda?

Este error a menudo indica que tu función Lambda ha agotado su memoria asignada. Aumentar la asignación de memoria en la configuración de la función Lambda puede resolver este problema, especialmente al procesar documentos grandes con IronOCR.

¿Puedo probar mi función OCR de AWS Lambda localmente antes de la implementación?

Sí, puedes probar tu función OCR de AWS Lambda localmente usando AWS Toolkit para Visual Studio. Este conjunto de herramientas proporciona un entorno local para simular ejecuciones Lambda, permitiéndote depurar y perfeccionar tu función antes de su implementación.

¿Cuál es el propósito de un Dockerfile en un proyecto de AWS Lambda?

Un Dockerfile en un proyecto de AWS Lambda se utiliza para crear una imagen de contenedor que define el entorno de ejecución y las dependencias para tu función Lambda. Esto garantiza que tu función tenga todos los componentes necesarios para ejecutarse correctamente en AWS.

¿Necesito dependencias adicionales para usar IronOCR en .NET 8 en AWS Lambda?

No se necesitan dependencias adicionales más allá de la biblioteca IronOCR y los paquetes necesarios del SDK de AWS al usar .NET 8 en AWS Lambda. Esto simplifica el proceso de integración para ejecutar tareas de OCR.

¿Cuáles son los requisitos previos para integrar OCR en C# con AWS Lambda?

Antes de integrar OCR en C# con AWS Lambda, necesitas instalar el SDK de AWS para S3, la biblioteca IronOCR y AWS Toolkit para Visual Studio. También necesitarás un depósito de S3 configurado para almacenar y recuperar documentos.

Curtis Chau
Escritor Técnico

Curtis Chau tiene una licenciatura en Ciencias de la Computación (Carleton University) y se especializa en el desarrollo front-end con experiencia en Node.js, TypeScript, JavaScript y React. Apasionado por crear interfaces de usuario intuitivas y estéticamente agradables, disfruta trabajando con frameworks modernos y creando manuales bien ...

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