Matrox Design Assistant Tools

Character recognition steps

Matrox Design Assistant X provides two steps for character recognition: SureDotOCR and StringReader. These steps combine to read text that is engraved, etched, marked, printed, punched, or stamped on surfaces.

SureDotOCR step

The SureDotOCR step is uniquely designed for the specific challenge of reading dot-matrix text produced by inkjet printers and dot peen markers. Its use is straightforward, just needing to specify the dot size, the number of characters in a text string, and the dimension—but not the location—of the text region. The step reads strings located at any angle, with varying contrast, and on an uneven background. It interprets distorted characters and handles some variability to character scale. The step recognizes punctuation marks and blank spaces. It includes pre-defined fonts that can be edited. The step automatically reads multiple lines of text where each line can be in a different font. It supports user-defined constraints, overall and at specific character positions, to further enhance recognition rates. The SureDotOCR step provides greater robustness and flexibility than case-specific techniques that convert dot-matrix characters into solid ones for reading with traditional character recognition tools.

StringReader step

The StringReader step is based on a sophisticated technique that uses geometric features to quickly locate and read text made up of solid characters in images where these characters are well separated from the background and from one another. It handles text strings with a known or unknown number of evenly or proportionally spaced characters. The step accommodates changes in character angle with respect to the string, aspect ratio, scale, and skew, as well as contrast reversal. It accepts strings located across multiple lines and at a slight angle. The step reads from multiple pre-defined or user-defined Latin-based fonts. It supports user-defined constraints, overall and at specific character positions, to further increase recognition rates.

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