Read text data in PDF files using OCR in UiPath

This article describes how to use UiPath’s OCR to extract text data from PDF files.

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Get OCR Text

To read text data in PDF files with OCR, use Get OCR Text and the OCR engine.

Get OCR Text setting items

Setup Location	Setting items	Configuration details
Output	Text	The string extracted from the indicated UI element.
	WordsInfo	The screen coordinates of each word found in the indicated UI element.
Misc	Private	If selected, the values of variables and arguments are no longer logged at Verbose level.
	Target.Selector	ext property used to find a particular UI element when the activity is executed.
	Target.TimeoutMS	Specifies the amount of time (in milliseconds) to wait for the activity to run before the SelectorNotFoundException error is thrown.
	Target.WaitForReady	Before performing the actions, wait for the target to become ready.
	Target.Element	Use the UiElement variable returned by another activity.
	Target.ClippingRegion	Defines the clipping rectangle, in pixels, relative to the UiElement, in the following directions: left, top, right, bottom.
Common	DisplayName	The display name of the activity.
	ContinueOnError	Specifies if the automation should continue even when the activity throws an error.

Uses Tesseract OCR as engine

Reads PDF files with the OCR engine as Tesseract OCR.

Tesseract OCR configuration items

Setup Location	Setting items	Configuration details
Options	AllowedCharacters	The OCR engine extracts the given string according to the characters specified here.
	DeniedCharacters	The OCR engine extracts the given string without taking into account the characters specified here.
	Invert	If this check box is selected, the colors of the UI element are inverted before scraping.
	Language	The language used by the OCR engine to extract the string from the UI element.
	ExtractWords	If this check box is selected, the on-screen position of each detected word is extracted.
	Profile	Choose a preprocessing profile for the specified image or UI element to achieve a better OCR read.
	Scale	The scaling factor of the selected UI element or image.
Output	Text	The extracted string.
	Result	The extracted words along with their on-screen position.
Input	Image	The image that you want to process.
Common	DisplayName	The display name of the activity.
Misc	Private	If selected, the values of variables and arguments are no longer logged at Verbose level.

sample process

Read PDF text and output to log

– workflow

– Target PDF

– Properties of “Get OCR Text ‘text It'”.

– Properties of “Tesseract OCR”

– variable

– Execution Result

Use UiPath Screen OCR as engine

Reads PDF files with the OCR engine as “UiPath Screen OCR”.

UiPath screen OCR setting items

Setup Location	Setting items	Configuration details
Common	DisplayName	The display name of the activity.
Input	Image	The image that you want to process.
Logon	ApiKey	The API key used to provide you access to the UiPath Screen OCR (not required for the Preview period).
	Endpoint	The endpoint for UiPath Screen OCR. The default project settings value is https://ocr.uipath.com/.
	Timeout (milliseconds)	Specifies the amount of time (in milliseconds) to wait for a response from the server before an error is thrown.
Misc	Private	If selected, the values of variables and arguments are no longer logged at Verbose level.
	UseLocalServer	Determines if a local server should be used.
Output	Result	Provides the extracted words along with their on-screen position.
	Text	Provides the extracted text.

sample process

Reads PDF text and outputs it to the log

– workflow

・Get OCR Text ‘document’ Properties

– UiPath Screen OCR Properties

– variable

– PDF to be read

– Execution Result Log

Uses OCR for Chinese, Japanese and Korean as engine

Read PDF files with OCR engine as OCR – Japanese, Chinese, Korean

OCR for Chinese, Japanese and Korean settings

Setup Location	Setting items	Configuration details
Common	DisplayName	The display name of the activity.
Input	Image	The image that you want to process.
Logon	ApiKey	The API key used to provide you access to Document Understanding, when the OCR for Chinese, Japanese and Korean is used with Document Understanding activities.
	Endpoint	The endpoint associated with your Document Understanding API key.
Misc	Private	If selected, the values of variables and arguments are no longer logged at Verbose level.
Output	Result	rovides the extracted words and information about their position on the screen.
	Text	Provides the extracted text. This field supports only String variables.

sample process

Reads PDF text and outputs it to the log.

– workflow

・Get OCR Text ‘client’ Properties

– OCR – Japanese, Chinese, Korean Properties

– variable

– PDF to be read

– Execution Result Log

Summary

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