OCR is producing gibberish from my scanned document
OCR is sensitive to skew, low resolution, and handwriting. Not every issue is fixable in software.
Try this first
- 1Scan at 300 dpi minimum for text, 600 dpi for small or tricky text. Below 200 dpi OCR always struggles.
- 2Use black-and-white for pure text. On greyscale or colour, OCR easily thinks shadow or colour is text.
- 3Enable de-skew in the scanner software. Or feed paper straight; it makes a huge difference.
- 4Handwriting or stamps? OCR is bad at that regardless of software. Expect typos or have a human check.
When to bring us in
For structural OCR work (e.g. automating invoice processing), a dedicated OCR tool like Klippa or AvidXchange beats scanner-OCR by miles. Ask us.
See also
- Printer suddenly not foundFor everyone at once: print server or network. For one person: local Windows driver or expired authorisation.
- Print job stuck in queue, nothing happensA stuck queue blocks all subsequent prints. Cleaning takes two minutes.
- Scanner no longer sends emails (scan-to-email)Almost always: the account the scanner uses had its password expire, or the mail provider blocks old protocols.
None of the above fits?
Describe your situation below. We pass your input plus the steps you already saw to our AI and return tailored next-step advice. If it's too risky to DIY, we'll say so.
Or skip the DIY entirely
Our Managed IT clients do not look these things up. One point of contact, a fixed monthly price, resolved within working hours.