Help with erasing text from a JPEG

**ToyMan** · 03 August 2006, 04:54 PM

Ok So i have scanned an object ( a document ) and i need to replace some of the type on it (erase) and add new type what do i do next it is a JPEG image?
Thank you
Gary

**Intbel** · 03 August 2006, 05:13 PM

You have three options:

1. There is software available which will extract text from images.

2. If you have a good hi-res image you can edit it in Xara Xtreme or similar.

3. Type out the whole document from scratch.

**ToyMan** · 03 August 2006, 05:54 PM

Option 1 and 2 sound good, what is the software that can remove the text? or option 2 where in Xara would i be able to edit it? I amnew to all of this! So i could use a little direction Thanks in advance
Gary

**masque** · 03 August 2006, 06:01 PM

Hi
Abby Fine Reader is the best one I've used for OCR (Object Character Recognition) though there are others, often to be found for free with the Scanner software bundle, which might do the job for you.
I got Abby from the front of a magazine two years ago and use it regularly for the same as you seem to want to do, once it's scanned the document it opens the result in Word for editing or copying and pasting into another application, great time saver.
Derek

**Intbel** · 03 August 2006, 06:05 PM

Originally Posted by ToyMan

Option 1 and 2 sound good, what is the software that can remove the text? or option 2 where in Xara would i be able to edit it? I amnew to all of this! So i could use a little direction Thanks in advance
Gary

The text-recognition software such as ABBYY Fine Reader Pro works well.

Xara has no specific utility for doing this.
However, so long as you have a quality image to begin with and can match the font you can edit it as you would any graphic.

I dunno what you have, but assuming you have black text on a white background, all you have to do is enter a white rectangle over the text you want changing and then type your replacement text over that.

You do need a good image otherwise matching the background may be difficult. What often looks white is often a collection of various shades of grey.

The text recognition software is the probably the easiest.

**Soquili** · 03 August 2006, 06:09 PM

Hi Gary,

If you are wanting to edit text from an image you will need to use an OCR (Optical Character Recognition) program. As Derek mentioned there are many of them out there and most scanners have one or two as part of their software on the CD. Regardless of which one you use, they are between 70% and 80% accurate depending on the clearity of the text being scanner.

**Intbel** · 03 August 2006, 06:17 PM

Originally Posted by Soquili

Intbel's option #2 using Xara Xtreme is to cover the unwanted text with a shape and then use the Text Tool and the same font as the text in the image to enter the text you want. It doesn't create a text document from your image, just simulates it to a small degree.

This is very true. I was just covering all options as required output was not stated.
Editing as a graphic is useful if the output is to be an image and there is little editing to be done. Also, my reading accuracy is higher than Fine Reader's, LOL.

**SCync** · 03 August 2006, 06:19 PM

Replacing text in a rasterized document is always hit or miss. Once you fudge around to find the right font and size, the crispness of the text may vary, depending on the quality of the scan. If you have anything but a plain white background you're probably best to remove and add your text in a raster program, where cloning tools may be able to recreate a suitable background. In reality recreating the document (page) will probably yield the best result.

**Intbel** · 03 August 2006, 06:28 PM

Originally Posted by SCync

Replacing text in a rasterized document is always hit or miss. Once you fudge around to find the right font and size, the crispness of the text may vary, depending on the quality of the scan. If you have anything but a plain white background you're probably best to remove and add your text in a raster program, where cloning tools may be able to recreate a suitable background. In reality recreating the document (page) will probably yield the best result.

>grin< Option #3 is the best bet. Re-type the doc.

Trouble is, folks have got lazy and expect machines to do everything for 'em at the click of a switch.

**jnerf** · 03 August 2006, 09:49 PM

Hi you could always import the jpeg into photoshop
and use the clone stamp tool,
just sample a portion outside of the text, with shift alt, then use a small brush
to erase the text,while stamping the sampled portion
back over the picture,
save it then import into Xara, and retype your text.
do it all the time,works great!

Incidentally works great on removing scratches and messups in old photos.

Jeffery