TURNING A SCANNED DOCUMENT INTO A WORD DOCUMENT

TURNING A SCANNED
DOCUMENT INTO A WORD
DOCUMENT is fairly easy,
and this process will show
you how to turn a scan into
editable text. For the purposes of this step-by-
step procedure, I used
Microsoft Word 2003
running on Windows XP
Professional SP2, a
Lexmark scanner and Adobe Photoshop.
However, any scanner or
version of Word should be
fine, and Paint can be
substituted in lieu of a
more professional photo or image editor. INSTRUCTIONS THINGS YOU’LL NEED
Scanner
Microsoft Word
MS Paint or any photo editor
Microsoft Office Installation
CD (if needed). 1
Prepare your document to
be scanned. If possible,
select the option to scan a
black and white document.
It is not required, however this will allow for a more
accurate read of the text
later on. After this is
complete, scan the
document. 2
Open the file you’ve
scanned with any type of
image editor that can
save .TIFF files. Microsoft
Paint and Photoshop can both do this. Adjust the
picture so that it is upright,
if necessary. Click on
"File," then click
on "Save As,"
name your file, and next to "Format", save
the file as a
".TIFF." 3
Click on the
"Start" button.
Go to "Programs >
Microsoft Office >
Microsoft Office Tools" and select "Microsoft
Office Document
Imaging." 4
Click "File," then
"Open." Open
the folder where you saved
your scanned image, click
on the file, then click "Open." 5
Go to "Tools"
then click on "Send
text to Word." It will
prompt a message asking
where to save the file (click on "Browse" to
choose where you want it
to go), then click
"OK." At this
point, it may prompt a
warning that it will take a while to process. The overall
process shouldn’t take more
than a minute or two.
Additionally, it may prompt
to install the feature that
allows the Word conversion to work. In this instance,
you may need a copy of
your Microsoft Office
Installation CD, as it may
prompt for it as well. 6
Look for your file to open in
Word automatically once
the process is complete. If it
does not, go to the folder
where you saved it, and open the file from there. The
document will not be the
exact format of the original
document, but it will
recognize all the words and
lay them out for you automatically