Grab text with iPhone/iPad camera and copy/translate/read it aloud

Versions

• Do you plan to release Prizmo Go for other mobile phones?

  Creaceed is specialized in Mac and iPhone development. We started over 12 years ago to work with all Mac-related technologies (Cocoa, Swift, Metal...), and we have no announcements to make on other platforms at this time.
  
  

• Is Prizmo Go also available on computers?

  There is a Prizmo version for Mac available on computers supporting macOS 10.12 Sierra or higher. More information here.
  

Supported Devices

• Will Prizmo Go work with my iPad?

  Yes, it will. Prizmo Go is a universal iOS application, working on both iPhone and iPad. However, Prizmo Go will only work on devices running iOS 12.2 or later.
  
  

• Can I use Prizmo Go on iPod touch?

  Yes, if you have an iPod touch running iOS 12.2 or later.
  
  

Scanning

• Can I process multipage documents?

  No, that is not possible with Prizmo Go which only recognizes one document at a time. Multipage document scanning and PDF generation are possible with the standard version of Prizmo. More information here.
  

Export

• Which export options are available?

  Prizmo Go allows to export the recognized text using iOS built-in Share sheet. There is also a quick "Copy to clipboard" shortcut.
  Note that Prizmo Go supports the Universal Clipboard (requires a Mac running macOS Sierra that is compatible with Universal Clipboard). Information that is present in the text such as a phone number, a physical address or URL can be directly accessed respectively for dialing, navigating, or browsing. Finally, text can also be translated to another language or read aloud with text-to-speech.
  
  

• Which Cloud storage services can I export to?

  You can send the recognized text to any service supporting iOS standard share sheet. Here are a few examples of these applications: Dropbox, Evernote, Google Drive,…
  
  

• Can I export documents in PDF?

  No, Prizmo Go only interacts with the text and there is therefore no document created. If that's what you need, please refer to the standard version of Prizmo.
  

Optical Character Recognition (OCR)

• I tried Prizmo Go's OCR but I got poor results. What can I do?

  The accuracy of the OCR engine in the available languages has been checked. Even with pictures taken in poor circumstances (document over several other documents, picture taken in front of the document rather than above…), we got pretty good results.
  
  Here are some recommendations for improved OCR results:

  • make sure the picture you've taken is not blurry, as this decreases OCR accuracy.
  • you should be right above the document you want to photograph.
  • use the camera flash when you take a picture.
  • choose the accurate language of the document you in the list.(*)
  • try using the Cloud OCR as it is usually more accurate than the built-in OCR.

  
  (*) The Cloud OCR will automatically recognize the language, there is no upfront language selection to do.
  
  

• Is the quality of my images good enough to perform OCR?

  Image quality is a major issue indeed. OCR results will most likely be disappointing if the input image quality is poor. Here are a few examples of what should be avoided:
  
  

  • The image is blurry. Check you are able to read the text on the picture. You can't in this example. Please take a new picture of better quality.
    
    
  
  
  • The ticket is crumpled.
    
    
  
  
  • It is a double-sided document. Characters, lines and colors which are printed on the other side could hinder OCR.
    
    
  
  

• When to use the Cloud OCR?

  Cloud OCR provides improved accuracy and also handles more languages. Cloud OCR requires an internet connection to run and the purchase of the Premium Plan subscription.
  
  Languages available: Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian Bokmål, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian (Cyrillic), Serbian (Latin), Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian.
  
  Pricing:
  
  

  • Premium Plan: $0.99 / €0.99 (monthly) - $7.99 / €7.99 (yearly)
  
  

  Note that there is a 10-Pack Trial that can be activated once within the app for testing purpose.
  
  

• Are you going to add new languages for OCR?

  Yes, we are constantly monitoring availability of new languages. If more languages become available and have passed our quality tests, we will certainly add them to the list.
  
  

• Is OCR performed on the iPhone itself or on your servers?

  When you use the built-in OCR, the images are only processed locally on your device unlike the Cloud OCR where the images are sent to the Cloud service of Microsoft that sends back the recognized text to Prizmo Go (a link to Microsoft's Privacy Statement can be found within the app).
  
  

• What are the smart interactions?

  When text is recognized, several data types can be detected (email addresses, phone numbers, website URLs, physical addresses) and specific actions can be triggered by tapping or 3D Touching them (writing to email, dialing a number, opening an address and opening URLs).
  
  

• Can Prizmo Go recognize handwritten notes?

  Prizmo Go is indeed capable of recognizing handwritten notes, only in English at the moment, when using the Cloud OCR option.
  
  In order to activate the function, you have to first select the Cloud OCR in the top-right corner while in Prizmo Go’s camera view then toggle the handwritten text toggle at the bottom of the camera view. Now you are ready to shoot your handwritten text.
  
  
  Note that the quality of the recognition can vary according to the neatness of one’s handwriting, you may thus need to adapt your style to get the best results.
  
  Take into account the following tips for better recognition of your handwriting:
  
  

  • Use a blank sheet of paper (not lined or checkered)
  • When it’s a longer text, make sure that the letters from the bottom and top lines do not intertwine in order to avoid OCR confusion
  • Use capital letters for proper nouns
  • Distance from the sheet when taking a picture is also important: try to have the whole page fit into the field of view of the camera

  
  As you can see in the images below showing two different handwritings, the OCR nearly managed a 100% accuracy when taking the above tips into account.
  
  

  

  Punctuation marks such as commas or periods at the end of sentences are still hard for the OCR to recognize, but we expect it to improve in the near future. New languages will be added when these become available.
  
  

• Can I recognize text from a screen / screenshot?

  Prizmo Go's OCR, as most OCRs on the market, only works with printed text and not text from a computer screen. It all depends on the pixels visible in the photo you took. It might work better on retina displays and if the Cloud OCR is activated, but even then results won't be as accurate as they are with a printed document.
  Using a screenshot of the iPhone/iPad screen that is made on the device itself (using the Home and Lock buttons) is supported, and typically leads to good results on devices with Retina displays.
  
  

• Does the Premium Plan offer unlimited handwriting recognition?

  Yes, it offers unlimited Cloud OCR to recognize handwriting. Note that this feature requires an internet connection. Rate limiting can however be applied so that the service remains available to everyone.
  
  

Text-to-Speech (TTS)

• Are there high quality voices available?

  You can download enhanced variant of voices by going to iOS Settings > General > Accessibility > Speech > Voices.
  
  

• Can I modify the reader's speaking rate?

  Of course. When you are in Text-to-Speech mode, tap on “1x” (which is the regular speed) at the lower right corner and adjust the speaking rate to your liking.
  

Accessibility

• I am a blind iPhone user. Can you tell me if Prizmo Go works with the VoiceOver screenreader on the iPhone?

  Yes, the app fully supports VoiceOver with an improved workflow for visually impaired and blind users. Prizmo Go also uses specific image processing to handle unaligned text and reversed configurations. Thanks to VoiceOver, you get spoken guidance prior to shooting which will help you to take the best picture possible for recognition. For instance, Prizmo Go will tell you if text is tilted or only partially visible, requiring a new shot. There is also a deep integration with Dynamic Type for improved and customisable text appearance.
  
  

• I would like the text that has been recognized by Prizmo Go to be read aloud directly after I take the picture. Is that possible?

  Of course, all you need to do is go to the app’s settings and activate “Read Text Automatically”. That way every time you take a picture, Prizmo Go will OCR the text and read it aloud immediately. This option is activated by default when using VoiceOver.
  

Automation

• Is it possible to invoke Prizmo Go from another app?

  Yes, Prizmo Go can be invoked from other apps like Shortcuts to perform a text recognition. This is handled with a custom URL scheme. Go to Settings > Automation for the documentation.
  Click here to download the Prizmo Go shortcut enabling the processing of screenshots.
  

Pricing

• What are the different purchase options in Prizmo Go and which features do they unlock?

  	Free Version	Export Pack	Premium Plan
  Text Recognition (built-in OCR)	✓	✓	✓
  Text Recognition (Cloud OCR, better accuracy)	-	-	✓
  Handwriting Recognition	-	-	✓
  Text Export/Sharing, Copy/Paste	-	✓	✓
  Smart Interactions	-	✓	✓
  Translation	-	-	✓

  
  
  

• I already purchased the Export Pack but now I would like to subscribe to the Premium Plan. Do you I receive any reduction?

  Yes, users who already purchased the Export Pack are offered a special introductory price which offers 60% off the first year of the yearly subscription.
  

• When I subscribed to the Premium Plan, I still had Cloud OCR units left from a previous purchase, but now they disappeared. How come?

  You cannot see them at the moment because you now have an unlimited use of Cloud OCR units thanks to the Premium Plan subscription. Should you later terminate the subscription, the number of Cloud OCR units will then reappear unchanged from the time the subscription started.
  

Business/Education

• Can your app be purchased in volume for schools or businesses in the Apple’s VPP store?

  Prizmo Go's app variant, Prizmo Go (Volume Ed.), can indeed be purchased through Apple's volume purchase program (VPP). It is available at $9.99 / €10.99 on the App Store and at $4.99 / €5.49 on the VPP Store for a minimum of 20 units.
  
  The app is functionally equivalent to Prizmo Go with Export Pack. Note that it doesn’t support the Cloud OCR.
  
  

Issues

• I'd like to scan passages from my French textbook but it doesn't work properly. What can I do?

  If you are using the Built-in OCR, before taking the picture, make sure to choose the right OCR language. Tap the button in the upper right corner of the camera view, and select the language in the list.
  
  If you are using the Cloud OCR, language is then detected automatically. Also make sure you have enough units (each recognition equals one unit).
  
  

• The app seems to be using up a lot of energy. How can I avoid that?

  You can go to Prizmo Go’s settings and activate the "Low Power Mode". Live text overlay and some other features will be disabled to save battery. Text recognition accuracy is not affected. Note that activating the low power mode in iOS Settings will automatically activate the one in Prizmo Go.
  
  

• I want to keep the pictures I take with Prizmo Go. How can I do that?

  Just activate “Save Pictures to Album” in Prizmo Go’s settings. Make sure to allow Prizmo Go access to the Photos app.
  

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