Documents and AI
Handwritten documents
Job sheets, delivery notes and pen annotations: what can be extracted and what is better typed.
Much of the paper still circulating is filled in by hand: the delivery note with the corrected quantity, the technician's job sheet, the control log with the shift's temperatures. It can and should be uploaded, but it helps to know what to expect from it.
What reads well and what does not
| Element | Reads | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| The pre-printed form | Well | Printed text is ordinary text |
| Clear, separated digits | So-so | A 1 and a 7 blur depending on the writer |
| Running handwriting | Badly | Real handwriting is not the textbook kind |
| Signatures and scrawls | Not text | They are visible, but say nothing by themselves |
Important
The nuance you cannot deduce from the screen: when handwriting reads badly, the result **usually comes back wrong rather than empty**. A scanned form returns the printed text perfectly and, in the handwritten box, a plausible value that may not be what is written. That is more dangerous than reading nothing, because it looks right.
How to work with them without losing time
- 1
Upload them anyway, always
Even with imperfect reading, the document is stored, dated and findable through its matter.
- 2
Type the two or three values that matter
Quantity, date, batch number. Thirty seconds that prevent a claim.
- 3
Check figures before using them
If a handwritten value feeds an invoice or a mandatory record, check it against the image.
- 4
And photograph straight on and well lit
With handwriting, scan quality changes the outcome more than in any other case.
Watch out
Beware pen corrections on a printed form: a crossed-out quantity rewritten beside it reads as two numbers, and not always the right one wins. When paper arrives corrected, that value gets typed, not inherited.
What is worth changing at source
That last point is free and changes a lot: a number written inside a box reads considerably better than the same number on an open line.
Worth knowing
A badly read handwritten document is not a lost document: it is still there, still visible and still evidence of what it said. All it loses is content search, and that is offset by typing the few values you actually consult.
›Can it be reprocessed if reading improves?
Yes, and it does not need re-uploading.
›Does it work for field logbooks or registers?
As an archive yes; to answer quickly, type the values you will be asked about.
›What if the document is old with no digital original?
That is exactly the case for uploading it and noting the essentials by hand.
A real case
The situation
A warehouse uploads delivery notes with quantities corrected in pen and invoices from the read value.
What you do
- Types the final quantity after checking the image
- Asks the supplier for digital notes
What you get
Quantity differences stop appearing in the month's invoices.
The situation
A handwritten document reads only partially.
What you do
- Reviews by hand whatever is flagged
What you get
You correct the little that fails.
The situation
The handwriting is difficult and everything is retyped.
What you do
- Uses what did come out and corrects the rest
What you get
Keying is reduced.
The situation
A manuscript is photographed in poor light.
What you do
- Redoes it with better light and contrast
What you get
Reading improves considerably.
The situation
A handwritten form repeats every week.
What you do
- Considers replacing it with direct capture
What you get
The problem disappears at source.
The situation
What was read is approved without checking the manuscript.
What you do
- Compares with the image before approving
What you get
The stored figure is what the paper says.
This article answers
- reading a handwritten document
- ocr cannot read handwriting
- delivery note filled in by hand
- digitising paper job sheets