OCR Accuracy Estimator
Estimate how accurate OCR will be from your scan settings and document type. Get an OCR accuracy rate, expected error density, and a clear recommendation—rescan, preprocess, or use AI enhancement. Built for operations teams, digitization projects, and government tenders.
Scan & document settings
Scan & document settings
Best scan resolution for OCR: 300 is ideal for archive; 72 is screen-only.
Overall clarity: blur, noise, contrast.
Typical text size on the page.
Printed text is easier for OCR than handwriting.
Major = e.g. English, Spanish; minor = rare scripts; mixed = multiple languages.
Get a vision-based estimate
Upload a sample page for an AI assessment of OCR accuracy.
Estimated OCR accuracy
77%
Expected error density
medium
Recommendation
Preprocess (deskew, clean)
Deskew, denoise, and normalize contrast before running OCR.
About this calculator
Use this calculator to estimate OCR accuracy before you commit to a digitization run. Enter DPI, scan quality, font size, and whether the content is printed or handwritten, plus language mix. You get an approximate accuracy percentage, error density (low/medium/high), and a recommendation: rescan at higher quality, preprocess images, or use AI-enhanced OCR.
For PDF-level complexity (when to use OCR vs layout parsing), use the PDF Complexity Score Calculator. For document processing cost, use the Document Processing Cost Calculator.
Recommendations and when to use them
| Recommendation | When it appears |
|---|---|
| Rescan | Estimated accuracy is low (e.g. below 60%). Improve DPI and scan quality, then try again. |
| Preprocess | Accuracy in the middle range. Deskew, clean contrast, and remove noise before OCR. |
| Use AI enhancement | Accuracy is acceptable but document is complex. Vision or LLM-based OCR can improve results. |
Frequently asked questions
Related calculators
- PDF Complexity Score Calculator — When to use OCR vs layout parser.
- Document Processing Cost Calculator — Estimate OCR and processing cost.