Bilingual OCR (Optical Character

Recognition) for English and Gujarati

[PS000056]

Project Report
📄🔍Synopsis Abstract
The digitization of historical records, administrative documents, and business archives in
Gujarat necessitates a robust bilingual OCR system capable of processing both English and
Gujarati scripts. Despite advancements in OCR technology, challenges persist in handling
low-quality scanned images, handwritten text, and multilingual content. This project
aims to develop a high-accuracy OCR solution targeting over 95% accuracy for printed and
handwritten text extraction. By leveraging modern machine learning frameworks and
preprocessing techniques, the system will empower local governments and businesses to
streamline digitization workflows, reduce manual effort, and enhance accessibility.

📚📖Literature Review / Existing Innovations & Technology

Current OCR Solutions

●​ Tesseract OCR: Open-source and widely adopted but struggles with handwritten
text and low-resolution images.

●​ Google Cloud Vision OCR: High accuracy for printed text but limited support for
regional languages like Gujarati.

●​ EasyOCR: Lightweight and multilingual but lacks fine-tuned models for Indic scripts.

●​ Microsoft Azure OCR: Scalable for enterprise use but cost-prohibitive for
small-scale applications.

Gaps Addressed by This Project

●​ Handwritten Text Recognition: Existing tools prioritize printed text, with minimal
focus on cursive or stylized handwriting.

●​ Local Language Support: Gujarati-specific challenges (e.g., compound characters,

diacritics) are under-rese

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💡🔬Research Papers Supporting the Problem Statement:
1.OCR for Low-Resource Languages: Studies indicate that OCR performance is
significantly lower for underrepresented languages due to the lack of large, labeled datasets
(link: https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.11290).

2.Transformer-Based OCR Models: Research on TrOCR has shown the potential for
improved recognition accuracy in handwritten and printed text, reinforcing the need for
deep-learning-based solutions (link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2109.10282 ).

3.CRNN-Based Handwritten OCR: Recent developments suggest that CRNN architectures

can improve the recognition accuracy of handwritten texts, especially when trained on
domain-specific datasets (link: https://arxiv.org/abs/1507.05717).

4.Hybrid OCR Models for Indian Languages: Studies highlight the effectiveness of hybrid
models combining rule-based preprocessing and machine learning for Indian scripts (link:
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3126686.3126711).

5.Dataset Augmentation Techniques for OCR: Research suggests that synthetic dataset
generation and data augmentation techniques can help overcome the scarcity of labeled
training data for OCR models (link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.11237).

Even though these solutions offer text extraction capabilities, yet they struggle with
handwritten text and local language. The aim of this project is to bridge the gap developing
robust bilingual OCR for printed as well as handwritten English and Gujarati text.

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⚙️🤖Proposed Technical Approach
Data Collection & Preprocessing:

●​ Gather datasets of printed/handwritten English and Gujarati texts from scanned

documents.
●​ Augment data with varied font styles, sizes, noise levels, and distortions to enhance
robustness.
●​ Apply OpenCV-based preprocessing (denoising, binarization, deskewing) to simulate
real-world conditions.

Model Selection & Training:

●​ Implement CRNN (Convolutional Recurrent Neural Networks) for

sequence-to-sequence text recognition.
●​ Fine-tune transformer-based vision models (e.g., TrOCR) using transfer learning
from Tesseract/EasyOCR.
●​ Train custom LSTM networks with attention mechanisms for Gujarati script
dynamics.

Feature Engineering & Language Processing:

●​ Develop Gujarati-specific language models to handle compound characters and

diacritics.
●​ Integrate NLTK/SpaCy for post-processing (spelling correction, grammar
validation).
●​ Implement script identification algorithms to auto-switch between English/Gujarati.

Handwritten Text Recognition:

●​ Deploy RNNs with CTC loss for sequential handwriting prediction.

●​ Train transformer models on annotated Gujarati handwriting datasets.
●​ Address cursive writing and overlapping characters using contour analysis.

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Evaluation & Optimization:

●​ Validate models on real-world documents using CER (Character Error Rate) and
WER (Word Error Rate).
●​ Optimize hyperparameters via grid search to achieve >95% printed text accuracy.
●​ Implement confidence scoring and error correction modules for reliability.

Deployment & Integration:

●​ Containerize the OCR engine using Docker for API deployment (Flask/FastAPI).
●​ Develop a React-based web interface with drag-and-upload functionality.
●​ Enable batch processing and export to CSV/PDF formats for enterprise workflows.

🧠🧩Mind Map

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🗓️🗺️Roadmap

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🛠️💻Tools and Technologies
Category Tools & Frameworks

Programming Languages Python

OCR Frameworks​ TensorFlow, PyTorch, EasyOCR, Tesseract, Google Cloud

Vision API

Image Preprocessing​ OpenCV, PIL (Python Imaging Library), Scikit-image

NLP Libraries​ NLTK, SpaCy (for post-processing and validation)

Database/Storage​ MongoDB (for unstructured data), SQL (structured

metadata), Cloud Storage (AWS/GCP)

Deployment​ Flask/FastAPI (REST API), Docker, Kubernetes (scalability)

⚠️🌪️Challenges/Risks
●​ Handwriting Recognition Complexity: Variability in handwriting styles reduces
model generalizability.
●​ Low-Quality Scans: Noise, skew, and low contrast degrade OCR accuracy.
●​ Multilingual Complexity: Switching between English and Gujarati scripts mid-text
requires contextual awareness.
●​ Dataset Scarcity: Limited annotated datasets for Gujarati handwriting.
●​ Computational Requirements: Training deep learning models demands high GPU
resources.
●​ Accuracy vs. Speed Trade-off: Real-time processing may require model
optimization.
●​ Privacy Concerns: Sensitive government/business data requires secure storage and
processing.

🎯✨Possible Outcomes of Your Work

●​ High-Accuracy Bilingual OCR Model: Achieve >95% accuracy for printed text and
>85% for handwritten Gujarati.

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 ●​ Enhanced Handwriting Recognition: Custom CNNs + Transformers to address
cursive and overlapping characters.
●​ User Credential Management: Role-based access control with drag-and-select
features for document annotation.
●​ Scalable Architecture: Cloud-native deployment supporting batch and real-time
processing.
●​ User-Friendly Interface: Intuitive dashboard with language toggle, batch upload,
and export options (PDF, DOCX).

🖼️📸Output Demonstration
Input (English)

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Output (English)

Input (Gujarati)

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Output (Gujarati)

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