Using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) in DMS

What's in this article?

How to search using OCR

Using a colon shortcut to search only OCR

Using the 'OCR Content' filter

Using the 'Search Artefact Content' filter (less specific)

How to populate metadata using OCR extract

To OCR your artefact

OCR stands for Optical Character Recognition – a process by which RedEyeDMS scans the artefact to extract information. This happens when an artefact is uploaded and it can also be run (or re-run) via the Tools menu using the OCR Extract Tool. Information extracted using OCR is made available for you to use to populate metadata fields or search. 

How to search using OCR

Searching using OCR is easy - OCR allows you to search within an artefact, which can be particularly useful when you aren’t sure of the title or the metadata but you know a specific part or serial number that may be in the drawing. 

To run an OCR search, you have a few options listed as below

Using a colon shortcut to search only OCR

When you preface your search term with a colon, RedEyeDMS will execute a search using only the contents of the drawing. For example, a search for :1K5-2 will find artefacts where 1K5-2 is somewhere within the drawing but it will not locate drawings where 1K5-2 is in the artefact title, artefact number or any other metadata field. 

Using the 'OCR Content' filter

This metadata filter lets you specify the text you want to match against within the artefact (same as using the : shortcut but some find it easier to use this filter)

Choose OCR Content from the dropdown filter and build the criteria you wish to search by. The filter becomes available by clicking in the top search field.

Using the 'Search Artefact Content' filter (less specific)

When you tick the Search Artefact Content filter, RedEyeDMS will execute a broader search across metadata fields, CAD Tag data and will also search the OCR contents of the drawing to match your keywords. For example, a search for 1K5-2 with Search Artefact Content ticked will find artefacts where 1K5-2 is somewhere within the drawing and artefacts and may appear in the the artefact title, artefact number or any other metadata fields.

How to populate metadata using OCR extract

You might notice in your bucket that some artefacts have got a target icon right next to the Drawing Number, Title or Metadata fields. That means the artefact has been OCR'd.
If the target icon isn't there, you can manually run OCR on your artefacts via the tool we've got in the artefact page.

To OCR your artefact

1. Click on an artefact

2. In the artefact page, click on the Tools tab on the right hand side.

3. Select the OCR Extract in the Toolkit drop down

4. After you run the OCR Extract you will see target icon appearing right next to your metadata fields.

5. Click on the target icon to select the specific metadata field you wish to populate.

6. Drag the corresponding green outlined information on the drawing to populate the fields.

Note:
There are existing limitations with document artefact type and OCR. All of the OCR'd artefacts (regardless of artefact types) are searchable using the above methods. However, Document artefact type metadata cannot be populated using the OCR drag and populate method. OCR'd documents do not show the Target icons that are displayed as per drawing artefacts.