How To Scan A Document Into Word

If you have a lot of important hard copies then someday you will inevitably wonder how to scan a document into Word. There are many reasons why this is wise. For one thing, digital copies can be stored on remote servers which will cover you if the physical hard copy is destroyed. Also, by utilizing OCR (optical character recognition) software, you will now be able to search the document which can be helpful if you are sifting through hundreds of pages. In order to scan a document into Word, you will need:

• A computer
• Scanner
• OCR software

1. Free software. Before you learn how to scan a document into Word, you might need some software. Most scanners come with OCR software so check there first. If not, for Mac you can try 'PDF OCR X Community Edition for Mac' and for Windows look for 'FreeOCR'. Follow the instructions and install.
2. Scan the document. Now that you have all the tools, go ahead and scan your document. Save the output as either a TIFF file or a PDF file. Windows users can get away with either file format but Mac users will want to save only as PDF.
3. OCR magic. Go ahead and launch your OCR software. Locate your saved scan and open it. Now you will be able to cut and paste the extracted text into Word or you can export it. Export works better for larger documents. In Word, you can edit, format and save the document.
4. Considerations. While robots are great, it is always wise to compare the document you have scanned into Word with the original hard copy. There might be some errors, especially if the hard copy was a little old.