Take the following steps to create and run a program that shows how to interactively draw zones on an OCR page and how to recognize these zones. Remember, the purpose of the tutorials is to provide you with a quick and easy way to generate an OCR program:
Start Visual Studio 2005 or 2008
Choose File->New->Project from the menu
In the New Project dialog box, choose either "Visual C# Projects" or "Visual Basic Projects" in the Projects Type List, and choose "Windows Application" in Visual Studio 2005 or "Windows Forms Application" in Visual Studio 2008 from the Templates List
Type the project name as "OcrTutorial2" in the Project Name field, and then choose OK. If desired, type a new location for your project or select a directory using the Browse button, and then choose OK.
In the "Solution Explorer" window, right-click on the "References" folder, and select "Add Reference..." from the context menu. In the "Add Reference" dialog box, select the ".NET" tab and browse to LEADTOOLS For .NET "\LEAD Technologies\LEADTOOLS 16.5\Bin\DotNet\Win32" folder and select the following DLLs:
Leadtools.dll Leadtools.Codecs.dll Leadtools.WinForms.dll Leadtools.Forms.dll Leadtools.Forms.DocumentWriters.dll Leadtools.Forms.Ocr.dll Leadtools.Forms.Ocr.Plus.dll Leadtools.Codecs.Bmp.dll Leadtools.Codecs.Cmp.dll Leadtools.Codecs.Tif.dll Leadtools.Codecs.Fax.dll
Note: The Leadtools.Codecs.*.dll references added are for the BMP, JPG, CMP, TIF and FAX image file formats. Add any additional file format codec DLL if required in your application.
Drag and drop a text box to your form. Leave the name as default (textBox1) and change the following properties:
Property Value Dock Top Multiline True ScrollBars Both Size 460, 100 If you have not added the RasterImageViewer control to the Visual Studio toolbox, then select Tools->Choose Toolbox Items... from the menu, in the dialog box that show up, select the .NET Framework Components tab, click the Browse button and browse to LEADTOOLS For .NET "\LEAD Technologies\LEADTOOLS 16.5\Bin\DotNet\Win32" folder and select Leadtools.WinForms.dll. Hit OK to add the Leadtools.WinForms controls to your Visual Studio Toolbox (Including the RasterImageViewer control).
Drag and drop an instance of the RasterImageViewer control to your form. Leave the name as default "rasterImageViewer1" and change the following properties:
Property Value Dock Fill InteractiveMode None UseDpi True Using the Visual Studio designer, right click on rasterImageViewer1 and select Properties. Select the Events tab and add handlers to the following events:
Event Handler MouseDown rasterImageViewer1_MouseDown MouseMove rasterImageViewer1_MouseMove MouseUp rasterImageViewer1_MouseUp KeyDown rasterImageViewer1_KeyDown Switch to Form1 code view (Right-click Form1 in the solution explorer then select View Code) and add the following lines at the beginning of the file after any
Imports
orusing
section if there are any:[Visual Basic]
Imports Leadtools Imports Leadtools.WinForms Imports Leadtools.Forms Imports Leadtools.Forms.DocumentWriters Imports Leadtools.Forms.Ocr
[C#]
using Leadtools; using Leadtools.WinForms using Leadtools.Forms; using Leadtools.Forms.DocumentWriters; using Leadtools.Forms.Ocr;
Add the following private variable to the Form1 class:
[Visual Basic]
' The OCR engine instance Private _ocrEngine As IOcrEngine ' The OCR document Private _ocrDocument As IOcrDocument ' Are we currently rubber banding Private _isRubberBanding As Boolean ' The current rubber band rectangle Private _rubberBandingRectangle As Rectangle ' Flag to indicates if the rubber band rectangle is drawn Private _isRubberBandingRectangleDrawn As Boolean ' Did we clip the cursor? Private _saveClipRectangle As Rectangle
[C#]
// The OCR engine instance private IOcrEngine _ocrEngine; // The OCR document private IOcrDocument _ocrDocument; // Are we currently rubber banding private bool _isRubberBanding; // The current rubber band rectangle private Rectangle _rubberBandingRectangle; // Flag to indicates if the rubber band rectangle is drawn private bool _isRubberBandingRectangleDrawn; // Did we clip the cursor? private Rectangle _saveClipRectangle;
Add the following code to the Form1 constructor (in Visual Basic, you can copy/paste the whole Sub New code from here):
[Visual Basic]
Sub New() ' This call is required by the Windows Form Designer. InitializeComponent() ' Add any initialization after the InitializeComponent() call. ' Unlock the OCR support RasterSupport.Unlock(RasterSupportType.OcrPlus, "Replace with your own key here") ' Unlock Document support (For ScaleToGray) RasterSupport.Unlock(RasterSupportType.Document, "Replace with your own key here") ' Initialize the OCR engine _ocrEngine = OcrEngineManager.CreateEngine(OcrEngineType.Plus, False) ' Startup the engine _ocrEngine.Startup(Nothing, Nothing, Nothing, Nothing) ' Create the OCR document _ocrDocument = _ocrEngine.DocumentManager.Create() ' Load an image into the OCR document Dim fileName As String = "C:\Users\Public\Documents\LEADTOOLS Images\Ocr1.tif" Dim page As IOcrPage = _ocrDocument.Pages.AddPage(fileName, Nothing) ' Enable ScaleToGray painting on the viewer ' This will greatly enhance how the image looks Dim props As RasterPaintProperties = RasterImageViewer1.PaintProperties props.PaintDisplayMode = props.PaintDisplayMode Or RasterPaintDisplayModeFlags.ScaleToGray RasterImageViewer1.PaintProperties = props ' We cannot handle the LostFocus event from the designer, so we will do it here AddHandler RasterImageViewer1.LostFocus, AddressOf rasterImageViewer1_LostFocus ' Show this image in the viewer RasterImageViewer1.Image = page.GetRasterImage() Text = "Use +/-/Enter on the keyboard to zoom in/out on the image. Use the mouse to draw a zone and recognize it" End Sub
[C#]
public Form1() { InitializeComponent(); // Unlock the OCR support RasterSupport.Unlock(RasterSupportType.OcrPlus, "Replace with your own key here"); // Unlock Document support (For ScaleToGray) RasterSupport.Unlock(RasterSupportType.Document, "Replace with your own key here"); // Initialize the OCR engine _ocrEngine = OcrEngineManager.CreateEngine(OcrEngineType.Plus, false); // Startup the engine _ocrEngine.Startup(null, null, null, null); // Create the OCR document _ocrDocument = _ocrEngine.DocumentManager.Create(); // Load an image into the OCR document string fileName = @"C:\Users\Public\Documents\LEADTOOLS Images\Ocr1.tif"; IOcrPage page = _ocrDocument.Pages.AddPage(fileName, null); // Enable ScaleToGray painting on the viewer // This will greatly enhance how the image looks RasterPaintProperties props = rasterImageViewer1.PaintProperties; props.PaintDisplayMode |= RasterPaintDisplayModeFlags.ScaleToGray; rasterImageViewer1.PaintProperties = props; // We cannot handle the LostFocus event from the designer, so we will do it here rasterImageViewer1.LostFocus += new EventHandler(rasterImageViewer1_LostFocus); // Show this image in the viewer rasterImageViewer1.Image = page.GetRasterImage(); Text = "Use +/-/Enter on the keyboard to zoom in/out on the image. Use the mouse to draw a zone and recognize it"; }
Override the Form1 closed event to add the code necessary to shutdown the OCR engine when the application terminates:
[Visual Basic]
Protected Overrides Sub OnFormClosed(ByVal e As FormClosedEventArgs) ' Destroy the document _ocrDocument.Dispose() ' Shutdown and dispose the engine _ocrEngine.Dispose() MyBase.OnFormClosed(e) End Sub
[C#]
protected override void OnFormClosed(FormClosedEventArgs e) { // Destroy the document _ocrDocument.Dispose(); // Shutdown and dispose the engine _ocrEngine.Dispose(); base.OnFormClosed(e); }
Add the following code to rasterImageViewer1
MouseDown
event handler:[Visual Basic]
Private Sub RasterImageViewer1_MouseDown(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.MouseEventArgs) Handles RasterImageViewer1.MouseDown RasterImageViewer1.Focus() ' Cancel rubber banding if it is on If (_isRubberBanding) Then EndRubberBanding() Else If (e.Button = MouseButtons.Left) Then ' See if the click is on the image Dim rect As Rectangle = RasterImageViewer1.PhysicalViewRectangle If (rect.Contains(e.X, e.Y)) Then ' Start the rubber banding BeginRubberBanding(Rectangle.FromLTRB(e.X, e.Y, e.X, e.Y)) End If End If End If End Sub
[C#]
private void rasterImageViewer1_MouseDown(object sender, MouseEventArgs e) { rasterImageViewer1.Focus(); // Cancel rubber banding if it is on if(_isRubberBanding) EndRubberBanding(); else { if(e.Button == MouseButtons.Left) { // See if the click is on the image Rectangle rect = rasterImageViewer1.PhysicalViewRectangle; if(rect.Contains(e.X, e.Y)) { // Start the rubber banding BeginRubberBanding(Rectangle.FromLTRB(e.X, e.Y, e.X, e.Y)); } } } }
Add the following code to the rasterImageViewer1
MouseMove
event handler:[Visual Basic]
Private Sub RasterImageViewer1_MouseMove(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.MouseEventArgs) Handles RasterImageViewer1.MouseMove ' If we are rubber banding, erase the old rectangle, update the position and draw the new rectangle If (_isRubberBanding) Then DrawRubberBandRectangle() _rubberBandingRectangle = Rectangle.FromLTRB( _ _rubberBandingRectangle.Left, _ _rubberBandingRectangle.Top, _ e.X, _ e.Y) DrawRubberBandRectangle() End If End Sub
[C#]
private void rasterImageViewer1_MouseMove(object sender, MouseEventArgs e) { // If we are rubber banding, erase the old rectangle, update the position and draw the new rectangle if(_isRubberBanding) { DrawRubberBandRectangle(); _rubberBandingRectangle = Rectangle.FromLTRB( _rubberBandingRectangle.Left, _rubberBandingRectangle.Top, e.X, e.Y); DrawRubberBandRectangle(); } }
Add the following code to the rasterImageViewer1
MouseUp
event handler:[Visual Basic]
Private Sub RasterImageViewer1_MouseUp(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.MouseEventArgs) Handles RasterImageViewer1.MouseUp ' If we are rubber banding, end it If (_isRubberBanding) Then EndRubberBanding() Dim bounds As RectangleF = _rubberBandingRectangle ' This rectangle is in physical coordinates, convert it to logical Using matrix As System.Drawing.Drawing2D.Matrix = RasterImageViewer1.GetTransformWithDpi() Dim t As New Transformer(matrix) bounds = t.RectangleToLogical(bounds) End Using ' Add the zone and recognize it AddAndRecognizeZone(bounds) End If End Sub
[C#]
private void rasterImageViewer1_MouseUp(object sender, MouseEventArgs e) { // If we are rubber banding, end it if(_isRubberBanding) { EndRubberBanding(); RectangleF bounds = _rubberBandingRectangle; // This rectangle is in physical coordinates, convert it to logical using(System.Drawing.Drawing2D.Matrix matrix = rasterImageViewer1.GetTransformWithDpi()) { Transformer t = new Transformer(matrix); bounds = t.RectangleToLogical(bounds); } // Add the zone and recognize it AddAndRecognizeZone(bounds); } }
Add the following code to the rasterImageViewer1
LostFocus
event handler:[Visual Basic]
Private Sub RasterImageViewer1_LostFocus(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) ' If we are rubber banding, cancel it If (_isRubberBanding) Then EndRubberBanding() End If End Sub
[C#]
private void rasterImageViewer1_LostFocus(object sender, EventArgs e) { // If we are rubber banding, cancel it if(_isRubberBanding) EndRubberBanding(); }
Add the following code to the rasterImageViewer1
KeyDown
event handler:[Visual Basic]
Private Sub RasterImageViewer1_KeyDown(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.KeyEventArgs) Handles RasterImageViewer1.KeyDown ' Zoom in and out using the mouse keys Const zoomRatio As Double = 1.2 Dim scaleFactor As Double = RasterImageViewer1.ScaleFactor Select Case (e.KeyCode) Case Keys.Add, Keys.Oemplus ' Zoon in scaleFactor *= zoomRatio e.Handled = True Case Keys.Subtract, Keys.OemMinus ' Zone out scaleFactor /= zoomRatio e.Handled = True Case Keys.Enter scaleFactor = 1 e.Handled = True End Select Const minimumScaleFactor As Double = 0.05 Const maximumScaleFactor As Double = 11 scaleFactor = Math.Max(minimumScaleFactor, Math.Min(maximumScaleFactor, scaleFactor)) ' Check if scale factor has changed If (scaleFactor <> RasterImageViewer1.ScaleFactor) Then RasterImageViewer1.BeginUpdate() ' Yes, zoom keeping the center of the image ' Get what you see in physical coordinates Dim rc As Rectangle = Rectangle.Intersect(RasterImageViewer1.PhysicalViewRectangle, RasterImageViewer1.ClientRectangle) ' Get the center of what you see in physical coordinates Dim center As New PointF(rc.Left + rc.Width \ 2, rc.Top + rc.Height \ 2) Using matrix As System.Drawing.Drawing2D.Matrix = RasterImageViewer1.GetTransformWithDpi() Dim t As New Transformer(matrix) ' Get the center of what you see in logical coordinates center = t.PointToLogical(center) End Using RasterImageViewer1.ScaleFactor = scaleFactor ' Bring the original center into the view center Using matrix As System.Drawing.Drawing2D.Matrix = RasterImageViewer1.GetTransformWithDpi() Dim t As New Transformer(matrix) ' Get the center of what you saw before the zoom in physical coordinates center = t.PointToPhysical(center) End Using ' Bring the old center into the center of the view RasterImageViewer1.CenterAtPoint(Point.Round(center)) RasterImageViewer1.EndUpdate() End If End Sub
[C#]
private void rasterImageViewer1_KeyDown(object sender, KeyEventArgs e) { // Zoom in and out using the mouse keys const double zoomRatio = 1.2; double scaleFactor = rasterImageViewer1.ScaleFactor; switch(e.KeyCode) { case Keys.Add: case Keys.Oemplus: // Zoon in scaleFactor *= zoomRatio; e.Handled = true; break; case Keys.Subtract: case Keys.OemMinus: // Zone out scaleFactor /= zoomRatio; e.Handled = true; break; case Keys.Enter: scaleFactor = 1; e.Handled = true; break; } const double minimumScaleFactor = 0.05; const double maximumScaleFactor = 11; scaleFactor = Math.Max(minimumScaleFactor, Math.Min(maximumScaleFactor, scaleFactor)); // Check if scale factor has changed if(scaleFactor != rasterImageViewer1.ScaleFactor) { rasterImageViewer1.BeginUpdate(); // Yes, zoom keeping the center of the image // Get what you see in physical coordinates Rectangle rc = Rectangle.Intersect(rasterImageViewer1.PhysicalViewRectangle, rasterImageViewer1.ClientRectangle); // Get the center of what you see in physical coordinates PointF center = new PointF(rc.Left + rc.Width / 2, rc.Top + rc.Height / 2); using(System.Drawing.Drawing2D.Matrix matrix = rasterImageViewer1.GetTransformWithDpi()) { Transformer t = new Transformer(matrix); // Get the center of what you see in logical coordinates center = t.PointToLogical(center); } rasterImageViewer1.ScaleFactor = scaleFactor; // Bring the original center into the view center using(System.Drawing.Drawing2D.Matrix matrix = rasterImageViewer1.GetTransformWithDpi()) { Transformer t = new Transformer(matrix); // Get the center of what you saw before the zoom in physical coordinates center = t.PointToPhysical(center); } // Bring the old center into the center of the view rasterImageViewer1.CenterAtPoint(Point.Round(center)); rasterImageViewer1.EndUpdate(); } }
Add the following private methods to Form1 to handle the rubber banding:
[Visual Basic]
' Begins the rubber banding operation Private Sub BeginRubberBanding(ByVal rect As Rectangle) _rubberBandingRectangle = rect _isRubberBanding = True RasterImageViewer1.Capture = True ' Clip the cursor ClipCursor(True) DrawRubberBandRectangle() End Sub ' Ends the rubber banding operation Private Sub EndRubberBanding() ' Stop clipping the cursor ClipCursor(False) RasterImageViewer1.Capture = False _isRubberBanding = False If (_isRubberBandingRectangleDrawn) Then DrawRubberBandRectangle() End If End Sub ' Draws the rubberband rectangle on the viewer Private Sub DrawRubberBandRectangle() Dim rect As Rectangle = FixRectangle(_rubberBandingRectangle) rect.Width = rect.Width + 1 rect.Height = rect.Height + 1 rect = RasterImageViewer1.RectangleToScreen(rect) ControlPaint.DrawReversibleFrame(rect, Color.Transparent, FrameStyle.Thick) _isRubberBandingRectangleDrawn = Not _isRubberBandingRectangleDrawn End Sub ' Clips the mouse cursor on the dimension of the image in the viewer Private Sub ClipCursor(ByVal clip As Boolean) If (clip) Then Dim rect As Rectangle = Rectangle.Intersect(FixRectangle(RasterImageViewer1.PhysicalViewRectangle), RasterImageViewer1.ClientRectangle) rect = RasterImageViewer1.RectangleToScreen(rect) Dim prnt As Control = RasterImageViewer1.Parent Do While (Not prnt Is Nothing) rect = Rectangle.Intersect(rect, RasterImageViewer1.Parent.RectangleToScreen(RasterImageViewer1.Parent.ClientRectangle)) If (TypeOf prnt Is Form) Then Dim f As Form = CType(Parent, Form) If (f.IsMdiChild) Then If (Not f.Owner Is Nothing) Then rect = Rectangle.Intersect(rect, f.Owner.RectangleToScreen(f.Owner.ClientRectangle)) ElseIf (Not f.Parent Is Nothing) Then rect = Rectangle.Intersect(rect, f.Parent.RectangleToScreen(f.Parent.ClientRectangle)) End If End If End If prnt = prnt.Parent Loop rect.Height = rect.Height + 1 rect.Width = rect.Width + 1 _saveClipRectangle = Cursor.Clip Cursor.Clip = rect Else Cursor.Clip = _saveClipRectangle _saveClipRectangle = Rectangle.Empty End If End Sub ' Fox the rectangle coordinates is inverted (its right or bottom value greater than its left or top) Private Shared Function FixRectangle(ByVal rect As Rectangle) As Rectangle If (rect.Left > rect.Right) Then rect = Rectangle.FromLTRB(rect.Right, rect.Top, rect.Left, rect.Bottom) End If If (rect.Top > rect.Bottom) Then rect = Rectangle.FromLTRB(rect.Left, rect.Bottom, rect.Right, rect.Top) End If Return rect End Function
[C#]
// Begins the rubber banding operation private void BeginRubberBanding(Rectangle rect) { _rubberBandingRectangle = rect; _isRubberBanding = true; rasterImageViewer1.Capture = true; // Clip the cursor ClipCursor(true); DrawRubberBandRectangle(); } // Ends the rubber banding operation private void EndRubberBanding() { // Stop clipping the cursor ClipCursor(false); rasterImageViewer1.Capture = false; _isRubberBanding = false; if(_isRubberBandingRectangleDrawn) DrawRubberBandRectangle(); } // Draws the rubberband rectangle on the viewer private void DrawRubberBandRectangle() { Rectangle rect = FixRectangle(_rubberBandingRectangle); rect.Width++; rect.Height++; rect = rasterImageViewer1.RectangleToScreen(rect); ControlPaint.DrawReversibleFrame(rect, Color.Transparent, FrameStyle.Thick); _isRubberBandingRectangleDrawn = !_isRubberBandingRectangleDrawn; } // Clips the mouse cursor on the dimension of the image in the viewer private void ClipCursor(bool clip) { if(clip) { Rectangle rect = Rectangle.Intersect(FixRectangle(rasterImageViewer1.PhysicalViewRectangle), rasterImageViewer1.ClientRectangle); rect = rasterImageViewer1.RectangleToScreen(rect); Control parent = rasterImageViewer1.Parent; while(parent != null) { rect = Rectangle.Intersect(rect, rasterImageViewer1.Parent.RectangleToScreen(rasterImageViewer1.Parent.ClientRectangle)); if(parent is Form) { Form form = parent as Form; if(form.IsMdiChild) { if(form.Owner != null) rect = Rectangle.Intersect(rect, form.Owner.RectangleToScreen(form.Owner.ClientRectangle)); else if(form.Parent != null) rect = Rectangle.Intersect(rect, form.Parent.RectangleToScreen(form.Parent.ClientRectangle)); } } parent = parent.Parent; } rect.Height += 1; rect.Width += 1; _saveClipRectangle = Cursor.Clip; Cursor.Clip = rect; } else { Cursor.Clip = _saveClipRectangle; _saveClipRectangle = Rectangle.Empty; } } // Fox the rectangle coordinates is inverted (its right or bottom value greater than its left or top) private static Rectangle FixRectangle(Rectangle rect) { if(rect.Left > rect.Right) rect = Rectangle.FromLTRB(rect.Right, rect.Top, rect.Left, rect.Bottom); if(rect.Top > rect.Bottom) rect = Rectangle.FromLTRB(rect.Left, rect.Bottom, rect.Right, rect.Top); return rect; }
Add the following private method to Form1 to add the zone to the page, recognize and show the results:
[Visual Basic]
Private Sub AddAndRecognizeZone(ByVal bounds As RectangleF) Dim page As IOcrPage = _ocrDocument.Pages(0) ' First clear any previous zones from the page page.Zones.Clear() ' Add a zone with the given coordinates to the page Dim zone As New OcrZone() zone.Bounds = New LogicalRectangle(bounds) ' Leave the rest of the zone properties as default page.Zones.Add(zone) ' Recognize the page now and get the results as a string Dim txt As String = page.RecognizeText(Nothing) ' Put the results in the text box TextBox1.Text = txt End Sub
[C#]
private void AddAndRecognizeZone(RectangleF bounds) { IOcrPage page = _ocrDocument.Pages[0]; // First clear any previous zones from the page page.Zones.Clear(); // Add a zone with the given coordinates to the page OcrZone zone = new OcrZone(); zone.Bounds = new LogicalRectangle(bounds); // Leave the rest of the zone properties as default page.Zones.Add(zone); // Recognize the page now and get the results as a string string txt = page.RecognizeText(null); // Put the results in the text box TextBox1.Text = txt; }
Build and Run the project to test it. After the program starts, you can use the +, - and Enter key to zoom in and out of the page. Use the mouse to draw a zone on the page, once a zone is drawn, the text inside will show up in the text box.
Save this project to use for testing other code samples.
Reference
OCR Tutorial - Working with PagesOCR Tutorial - Recognizing Pages
OCR Tutorial - Adding and Painting Zones
OCR Tutorial - Scanning to Searchable PDF
Introduction
Getting Started (Guide to Example Programs)
LEADTOOLS OCR .NET Assemblies
Programming with LEADTOOLS .NET OCR
An Overview of OCR Recognition Modules
Creating an OCR Engine Instance
Starting and Shutting Down the OCR Engine
OCR Spell Language Dictionaries
Working with OCR Languages
Working With OCR User Dictionaries
Working with OCR Pages
Working with OCR Zones
Recognizing OCR Pages
OCR Confidence Reporting
Using OMR in LEADTOOLS .NET OCR
OCR Languages and Spell Checking
OCR Engine-Specific Settings