Scan/Fax Search

A scanner connected to your computer can help you easily convert a picture or document into its virtual counterpart on the PC. In most cases, the result of a scan operation is a picture file, but you might be interested in the text inside. In this regard, Scan/Fax Search comes with the technological means to read pictures and help you extract text.

Specify search location, text, and file

Before you go off installing the application to see what it can do for you, it’s best to check whether .NET Framework is a part of your operating system, because it’s required for proper functionality. The interface makes sure you don’t spend too much time wondering what each field or function is used for, letting anyone quickly accommodate.
Unfortunately, the application doesn’t support dragging files over the main window to target them, so you need to use the provided methods to load it. This can be done by using the browse dialog to target an entire folder, with the additional possibility to also write down file name to narrow down results.

Multiple text view modes

In case you’re interested in a particular text string, a dedicated field lets you write it down to use in the search operation. It usually takes a little while for items to be found, with a navigation panel enlisting all files that match your criteria.
Detected text is shown in plain format, with line numbering and neat highlighting for easy identification. Two view types let you switch to a text view, which also lets you copy it to an external editor. There’s the option to display only the hit paragraph, or entire text. There’s a preview of the image as well, with a button to view highlighted characters according to search conditions.

A few last words

Taking everything into consideration, we can say that Scan/Fax Search is a powerful application that’s based on OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to read text in pictures and help you identify custom text strings, or even extract all characters. It’s intuitive, easy to use, and sure to correctly detect text in most cases.