---
id: KB-DI-015
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/documents-and-ai/handwritten-documents
idioma: en
categoria: documentos-ia
subcategoria: lectura
audiencia: usuario
nivel: intermedio
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-DI-004, KB-DI-007, KB-DI-020]
citadoPor: [KB-DI-013]
---

# Handwritten documents

_Job sheets, delivery notes and pen annotations: what can be extracted and what is better typed._

**Responde a:** reading a handwritten document · ocr cannot read handwriting · delivery note filled in by hand · digitising paper job sheets

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.

> [!WARNING]
> 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

**En corto**

- If your own team fills in the sheet, signing on a phone removes the handwriting entirely.
- If a third party fills it in, asking for the form digitally is easier than it sounds.
- And if paper is unavoidable, at least put key fields in separate boxes.

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.

> [!NOTE]
> 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.

## Ejemplos

**A warehouse uploads delivery notes with quantities corrected in pen and invoices from the read value.**

- Types the final quantity after checking the image
- Asks the supplier for digital notes

→ Quantity differences stop appearing in the month's invoices.

**A handwritten document reads only partially.**

- Reviews by hand whatever is flagged

→ You correct the little that fails.

**The handwriting is difficult and everything is retyped.**

- Uses what did come out and corrects the rest

→ Keying is reduced.

**A manuscript is photographed in poor light.**

- Redoes it with better light and contrast

→ Reading improves considerably.

**A handwritten form repeats every week.**

- Considers replacing it with direct capture

→ The problem disappears at source.

**What was read is approved without checking the manuscript.**

- Compares with the image before approving

→ The stored figure is what the paper says.