The process of optical character recognition (OCR) involves converting an image of text into a text format that computers can read. An image file is created when you scan a receipt or a form, for example. An image file cannot be edited, searched, or counted with a text editor. By using optical character recognition software, you can convert an image into a text document with its contents stored as text. The most common application of OCR is to create PDF versions of hard-copy legal or historical documents. As if it had been created in a word processor, users can edit, style, and analyze the paper once it is saved in PDF format. For scanning images or texts, optical character recognition (OCR) is used.