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Converting '.tif' format documents to editable Word '.doc' files requires Optical Character Recognition - OCR - services or software.

by Leo A. Notenboom, © 2011

To convert in the opposite direction, click here to convert from DOC to TIFF: DOC to TIFF converter. Try the DOC conversion with a TIFF test file. Click on the following link to convert our demo file from TIFF to DOC: TIFF to DOC conversion with our TIFF example file. TIFF, Tagged Image File Format (.tiff). This online tool lets you convert PDF documents into multipage TIFF files completely for free. All the pages in a PDF file will be rasterized and then combined into a single TIFF file. You can upload multiple PDF files at once, each up to 50MB in size.

Is there a way to convert a file received as a .tif file back to a .doc file? That's what it was originally.

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Yes and no.

The problem is that your '.tif' file may have started out as a Worddocument, but it's not a Word document any more.

Not even close.

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'.tif' files

TIF stands for 'Tagged Image Format'. As the name implies it's a format forstoring images, or pictures, much like the '.jpg' images you might get off ofyour digital camera.

It's a common file format produced by digital copiers and fax machines.These devices don't transmit documents in their original form, but ratherphotographs of the documents.

Regardless of exactly how a '.tif' might be created from a Word documentit's the equivalent of taking a photograph of the document.

OCR is the answer

OCR stands for optical character recognition and is a process that analyzesa photograph of text looking for things that 'look like' numbers and letters,and produces a document that can then be edited.

The good news is that it doesn't matter much whether the image is '.jpg','.tif' or any of the other photograph or image formats.

The bad news is that OCR is rarely perfect and often quite error prone.

I've spoken about OCR recently when someone asked about scanning adocument into Excel. OCR software takes a look at the picture of yourdocument, examining the picture of each letter in that document, and attemptsto determine what letter that picture represents. Advanced OCR software mayeven try to automatically figure out where paragraphs are and more.

The problem is that OCR is exceptionally difficult to get right. For example'1' (the number one) and an 'l' (a lower case L) look very much alike. If thephoto of the document is blurry or distorted, or even if the characters on thepage use different fonts and styles, the OCR algorithm can get confused andproduce the wrong results. Often close results, but still wrong results.

OCR software and services

A great new on-line solution to getting your TIF image converted into a Worddocument is BetterOCR. BetterOCRoffers both free and paid conversion - the accuracy and speed goes up with thepaid options.

BetterOCR accepts not only '.tif', but '.pdf', '.png', '.jpg', and '.gif'files, as well as '.zip' for multiple file submission.

If you're looking for software to install on your machine to perform OCRnotable packages include OmniPage 17 and Abbyy Finereader.

(This is an update to an article originally published May 2, 2007.)

Article C3012 - January 22, 2011 «»

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Sir,

I am scaning some text in *.tif file, How can i convert *.tif file word file with out contants changeing

Do let me know whether there is and free trail software through which i can convert tif files into microsoft waord without changing itts contents & formatting.

Plz help me out

that bit of information was useless. First I did not convert the file to tiff. I have the tiff file already created and wanted to know how to convert it to word. Saying that I have to start at OCR does me no good. Tell me how do i find OVR and give me the steps to convert it using OCR. you just dont leave someone with more questions not even answering the original question

I have a tif file of a blue print. How can I select a small portion of it and inlarge that portion?

some problem in converting the tif image file into word file & then getting the HTML taging .
Is there any free software for that purpose .
please send me the proper solution for that file . its and urgent requirment.

i have to convert pdf to word or tif to word plz help me

I have a .tif file, i want to convert it into notepad .txt extension? How can i do it? Please let me know.

I have a .tif file, i want to convert it into notepad .txt extension? How can i do it? Please let me know

Sir,

I am scaning some text in *.tif file, How can i convert *.tif file word file with out contants changeing

I want to convert the .tiff image to a editable word document

Hi sir,

please tell me how to compare tif files and notepad files (or) word document files.

Thank you

sir i want to convert the tif file in to note pad ...how i have to do sir

Would you be kind enough to send me a few links to download OCR Freeware? Please and thanks.

some problem in converting the tif image file into word file & then getting the HTML taging .
Is there any free software for that purpose .
please send me the proper solution for that file . its and urgent requirment.

i read ur article, its really interesting. i need tif to word convertor. can u provide me the link or else where can i get this software?

I have a .tif file, i want to convert it into notepad .txt extension? How can i do it? Please let me know

I HAVE .TIF IMAGE..I WANT TO CONVERT THIS .TIF INTO NOTPAD .TXT OR WORD .DOC FILE

Got it! Right click the file and click OPEN WITH and select MICROSOFT OFFICE DOCUMENT IMAGING. Then press the logo with the little arrow and W that exports to Word. Worked great!

Hi, thanks for all the information. now it is easy to convert any image to editable and searchable doc, pdf, html files using ocr software. however, good quality ocr software are not available for download. The only ocr software I was able to freely download and try was Image to OCR Converter available at http://products.softsolutionslimited.com/img2ocr/index.htm It does a fairly good job of ocr processing.

Hi

Is there will be any difference between the text converted from the image using a OCR technology and normal typed text except for the errors in the text converted using ocr?

i want to convert tiff image to notpad?
can any one help me

i have 1 file in TIF format and like to convert in txt file format

hi
i have a tif file please tell me [links removed] how can i convert it in notpad ??

I have .tif docs and i want to convert it to .txt docs. How can i do that? I have tried using varios OCR tools but i m not getting any satisfactory results. none of the text is matching from the .tif file to .txt file. plz help me out.

Hi,

I have a tif file in Tahoma format, performing OCR gives junks only, how can i change it to doc.

I was going to submit a long post to try and help explain why this
simple request is actually quite a complex problem, but let me be
brief instead ;)

There is no way to simply 'convert' an image (tif) into a text based
file (ie doc or txt). The formats are not compatible.

Sorry it's that simple.

You can, however, make a new document and put the picture into it
if you don't need editable text, the other option is that you have
to re-type it with (or without) the 'help' of OCR.

If it's short I would suggest you re-type it yourself, if it's long...

Yes can use an OCR program but you will have a lot of work to do
correcting the errors that the OCR program will make. If you are a
business it may be best to get a proper typist to re-type it for you.

I work in the printing business and I have had to do this and a big
(120 page) document can take 40-60 hours of work after OCR-ing it.
A properyly skilled typest can be faster but then you will
have to re-format as well so it will still take a lot of time.

It is, simply, a very time consuming process as you are creating a
whole new document :(

PS if it some kind of legal document I would suggest that you need
to use a program that will let you insert the tif image into it as
re-creating it can cause serious legal problems if any errors are
caused when it's re-typed.

Yes this is the short post :)

Hi, thanks for all the information. now it is easy to convert any image to editable and searchable doc, pdf, html files using ocr software. however, good quality ocr software are not available for download. The only ocr software I was able to freely download and try was Image to OCR Converter available at http://products.softsolutionslimited.com/img2ocr/index.htm It does a fairly good job of ocr processing.

Hi. the article was good, but i ve another problem. i want to convert a jpeg scanned file to a doc/docx format. is that possible? can u do it?

The author must be a very good teacher with a passion to teach! Wonderful explanation.

'How do I convert a French Script MT font.tif' file to a Word '.doc' file or a txt file?':

hi..

i want read french script mt text from tiff image..

help me//
if u have this type software knowledge send me details

thanks

'How do I convert a French Script MT font.tif' file to a Word '.doc' file or a txt file?'

Hi, thanks for all the information. now it is easy to convert any image to editable and searchable doc, pdf, html files using ocr software. however, good quality ocr software are not available for download. The only ocr software I was able to freely download and try was Image to OCR Converter available at http://products.softsolutionslimited.com/img2ocr/index.htm It does a fairly good job of ocr processing.

i would like to know about the software which converts tiff file to word document then we should be able to make changes in word document

Hi Leo,

In answer the the person who asked, 'How can I convert a TIF file to a DOC file?' this is exactly the problem I faced. I scanned a 435 page typed document into my computer, ending up with 435 TIF files. My attempts to convert them to an editable document were as frustrating as you describned in your answer. UNTIL...after about three days of Googling, I came across www.convertfiles.com I followed their prompts, uploaded my TIF files by Chapter (15 chapters) and presto I had a highly accurate WORD document that I could edit and work on. Better than any OCR program, of which I had tried at least five. Larry Christenson

Hi,
i got scanned tiff file i want to make it as editable document in word. i tried to convert by using abbyy fine reader but i can't is there any way to convert plz suggest

Hi, Please let me to know how to convert tiff image file as into the word.doc file. So that I can able to edit the word file.

Please reply me with the positive answer.

Thank you,
UDAY

Hallo lio !!!

just tell me how i can convert a tif file to word file...
i have a big problem in company for this purpose...
if this is possible than tell me which software convertor we can use ???/plz .. i hope u give a mail answer..

Hi, Mr. Leo,
Please let me to know how to convert tiff image file as into the word.doc file. So that I can able to edit the word file.

Regards,
Sebastin

hello, I've a .tif format image, but i want to convert it into text format I've tried so many software but i m not able to convert the page so plz give me suggestion for that

Converting a TIFF is very easy but u will get only 80-90% accuracy then you need to do manual correction for remaining 10-20% to get 100% accuracy.
If you need converter then you can contact me. (charges applicable)
{removed by moderator}@gmail.com

The best OCR program I've found is ABBYY Fine Reader. The home version costs $49 and you can click on the link that Leo posted. It comes free with many scanners.
If the image is at least 300 dpi and a common font you can expect pretty good accuracy. ABBYY does better with unusual fonts than other OCR programs but expect more mistakes than with normal serif and sans serif fonts.

If you only need it once, you can use the professional version for 15 days for free. http://finereader.abbyy.com/trial/

online, free converter.. upload the file.. convert.. and have it sent back to you. Should work just fine.

http://www.fileminx.com/

If its short enough I wouldnt bother with the OCR. It would take more time to correct the errors than to type it up by hand.

If you are an Acrobat Pro user the newest version X (10) has excellent OCR capabilities built in.

Hi Leo, I use an application called Open Office which
is a free version and uses OCR. As an alternative to
Microsoft Word. However images can get confused just as you say, and spoil the final result.

My favorite option for free online OCR services is a beta software offered by Ricoh Innovations. You can access it online at: http://beta.rii.ricoh.com/betalabs/content/document-conversion

i want .tif file to a word.doc without mistakes

i have the same problem. please help me anyone.

The document is typed using MS Word 2007 then saved as aDoc then emailed as an attachment. I receive it clicking on the atachment, it says the attached file is not an MS Document Image file and has opened the OCR page. I have to request it being sent exactly the same however with the docx extention, then no problem it opens . Isd there a swith or something in the program that I have missed. I have no problem opening the same file on another computer using Vista. Problem is in Pffice 2010 and Windows 7. Any easy answers ease

Hi, Please let me to know how to convert tiff image file as into the word.doc file. So that I can able to edit the word file. i have alson tried with abbyy but its is not recognising the tiff image font. Its very very ugrent for me leo. help me with your answers as soon as possible

Please reply me with the positive answer.

Thank you
jaikumar

Convert Tiff To Doc Online

Hi, Please let me to know how to convert tiff image file as into the word.doc file. So that I can able to edit the word file. i have alson tried with abbyy but its is not recognising the tiff image font. Its very very ugrent for me leo. help me with your answers as soon as possible

Please reply me with the positive answer.

Thank you
jaikumar

i have tried converting tiff image file having text written with hand by abbyy
to .doc but it is not recognising the text showing, some symbols .doc files can plz help me with software that will help me to solve this problem

@Jaikumar
If ABBYY won't recognize it, it may be that the font is from a language you haven't yet selected in FineReader. You can try clicking on Tools then Language editor and make sure you have the language checked that you want to OCR. If this doesn't work it's possible that the resolution is too low to work.

Mr. Leo
I want a gif file converter software that convert in word plz suggest me

@Sabir
It's basically the same answer for gif, jpg, png and tiff. OCR is the answer

How can i convert omnipage image doc to word(editable text).

@Pavan
Omnipage is an OCR program which converts images to text, so you would need to have the Omnipage program to be able to do that.

Convert Tiff To Doc Free

OmniPage is also available as a cloud service for developers. You may download the SDK and evaluate the service.
https://portal.nuancecomputing.com

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