Optical character recognition (OCR) and document conversion and solutions enable users to turn hard-copy and electronic documents into text-searchable files that can be incorporated into a company’s digital workflow. Paper documents can be scanned into the system using industry-standard scanners or MFPs, and the engine in the OCR solution can convert the printed text into the corresponding font in a digital document, such as a word-processing file (usually Microsoft Word) or PDF. Some modern OCR engines also are able to retain the formatting of forms such as invoices, so they can be incorporated into a digital workflow.

Many OCR and conversion solutions also allow users to import files that already exist in digital form, such as e-mail, and convert them into a chosen file format so they can be incorporated into the system and combined with other documents. Conversion and OCR solutions may also contain elements of (or interface with) a full-blown document management solution designed to aggregate and share content created in nearly any software application into a single, collaborative repository.