Frequently Asked Questions

Handwriting OCR is a document automation service that specialises in digitizing documents containing handwriting. It uses a form of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) developed especially for reading handwriting.

We support PDF, JPG, PNG, GIF, HEIC, and TIFF. For multi-page documents, PDF is recommended. Multi-page TIFFs are also supported.

Yes. We handle a wide range of languages and writing systems, including all major European languages, Cyrillic, Arabic, and many Asian scripts.

Accuracy varies based on handwriting style and document quality. Clean cursive or consistent handwriting works well, but extremely messy, irregular, or stylized writing can reduce accuracy. This is normal even for humans reviewing the same text. The best way to understand how well it works for your specific handwriting is to test it with a representative sample — we provide free trial credits when you create an account so you can evaluate it risk-free.

Yes, but the quality of the original material makes a big difference. Faded ink, bleed-through, degraded paper, and antique handwriting styles can impact accuracy. Many users successfully process historical letters, diaries, and records, while more damaged pages may need manual correction. Because historical documents vary so widely, the best approach is to test a few representative pages using the free trial credits included with new accounts.

We support many languages, but accuracy can drop when a document mixes languages, switches scripts, or contains uncommon names and abbreviations. Some multilingual pages work well, while others are more challenging. The simplest way to confirm expected accuracy is to upload a representative sample — free trial credits are provided automatically so you can test without commitment.

No. The system is designed for flat, paper-like documents. Curved surfaces, textured backgrounds, shadows, or reflective materials usually prevent accurate recognition. If you need OCR for non-paper surfaces, results may be unreliable regardless of the language or handwriting style.

Accuracy improves with clean, high-quality scans. We recommend scanning at 300 DPI or higher, using strong contrast, flattening pages, and avoiding shadows. For handwritten notes, larger, more consistent handwriting and darker ink can help. If you want to understand performance on your specific material, try a few representative pages — free trial credits are available to evaluate accuracy before starting a larger project.

Yes. Individual uploads must be 20 MB or smaller. Very large PDFs — such as full books or large notebooks — may need to be split to ensure complete processing. When files exceed internal limits, results may be partial or incomplete. Splitting large projects into manageable segments provides the most reliable results.

Often yes, but large volumes may require splitting into smaller files. Books with uneven writing, mixed layouts, or highly variable page quality may show inconsistent accuracy. Before committing to processing hundreds of pages, upload several representative samples first — free trial credits are included so you can test without cost.

Common causes include difficult handwriting styles, poor scan quality, mixed languages, faded ink, unusual layouts, or overlapping text. Even small quality issues can lead to misinterpretation. If accuracy seems unexpectedly poor, try rescanning the document or upload a few representative pages using your free trial credits so you can assess how well the system handles your specific material.

We support many languages and writing systems, but accuracy varies depending on script complexity, handwriting style, and availability of high-quality training data. Rare scripts or niche historical styles may perform less reliably. Because results differ widely across languages, the best approach is to upload a representative sample — free trial credits are included with every new account so you can test quickly.

Yes. Our handwriting models use machine learning to improve accuracy on difficult, messy, or varied handwriting.

Your documents and results are stored securely for a short retention period to allow download and review. You can shorten this window or delete files manually at any time.

Typical processing time is around 5–10 seconds per page, and pages are processed in parallel. That means a multi-page document usually finishes in roughly the time it takes to process the slowest individual page, plus a small overhead. Complex layouts or very high upload volumes may take slightly longer.

Partial results can occur when the source file is unusually large, contains corrupted pages, or includes sections that exceed internal processing limits. Very large books or scans stitched together into a single oversized PDF are the most common cause. Splitting the document into smaller batches usually resolves this. If accuracy is a concern, upload a few representative pages using the free trial credits provided with new accounts to confirm expected performance.

Upload failures typically come from oversized files, unsupported formats, poor internet connectivity, or documents containing corrupted pages. Processing failures can happen if the document has extremely low contrast, heavy artifacts, or incompatible layouts. Try re-exporting or rescanning the file, or splitting it into smaller sections. Testing a few representative pages with your free trial credits can help confirm that the document is compatible with the system.

Individual uploads must be 20 MB or smaller. PDF files with very high-resolution images or large multi-page scans may need to be split to avoid hitting this limit. Uploads that exceed internal size thresholds may fail or produce incomplete results. Breaking large projects into smaller files generally provides smoother processing.

Yes. The system automatically handles exposure correction, de-warping, straightening, contrast optimization, and other preprocessing steps. In most cases, you do not need to modify your files beforehand. However, if a page is extremely faint or distorted, a cleaner scan may still improve accuracy. You can test a few representative pages with your included trial credits to see whether your current scan quality is sufficient.

Yes. Higher-quality scans produce significantly better results, especially for handwriting. We recommend scanning at 300 DPI or higher, ensuring strong contrast, and avoiding shadows or reflections. Low-resolution photos, skewed pages, or pages with uneven lighting may lead to dropped characters or errors. When in doubt, test a representative sample using the free trial credits available on new accounts.

Yes. You can process very large batches without any issue. As long as each uploaded file is within the 20 MB file size limit, we can handle documents with any page count. For extremely large projects, you can upload multiple files, use the API to automate batch submissions, or use our managed processing service if you prefer to offload the entire workflow. If you want to confirm accuracy for a specific type of document, use your free trial credits to test a representative sample.

Documents that mix languages, combine handwriting with printed text, or contain tables, stamps, or irregular layout elements can confuse the model and may lead to unpredictable results. If your document includes mixed elements, upload a representative sample first using your free trial credits to determine how well the system handles your specific layout.

No. While pages are processed in parallel internally, the system preserves the correct page order in downloaded results. If a document appears out of order, it usually indicates that the original PDF or image set was incorrectly ordered or contained corrupted pages.

Yes - all users can access our API. Ideal for automating bulk workflows or integrating OCR into your own software. Our API is fully documented here.

Yes. We offer bulk pricing, enterprise plans, and custom integrations. For large projects, we provide full managed processing, where our team handles the entire workflow from start to finish and tailors the process to your exact document type - often delivering higher-quality results than standard processing.

You can upload documents directly through the dashboard or send them through the API. The dashboard is best for one-off or small batches, while the API is ideal for automating larger workflows or integrating Handwriting OCR into your own systems.

For high volumes, the API is the fastest and most efficient method. It allows automated uploads, status checks, and result retrieval without manual steps. If you'd like to completely offload the process, our managed processing service handles everything for you—from ingestion to result delivery.

Yes. In the dashboard, you can select multiple processed documents and download them as a single merged output. This is useful for assembling multi-part scans or grouping related pages into a unified file.

Yes. Custom Extractors let you define fields and automatically extract structured data from handwritten or printed forms. Outputs are available in CSV, XLSX, and JSON formats. They’re ideal for processing invoices, order forms, surveys, and other repeatable layouts.

Yes. You can choose the 'tables' extraction option to detect and extract tabular data directly into structured formats like XLSX and JSON. This works for both handwritten and printed tables.

Yes. The API allows you to process documents without using the dashboard at all. You can integrate OCR directly into your application, automate workflows, or run batch jobs without manual interaction.

We support automation through the API, which can be integrated with most workflow tools and platforms. Direct processing via email or platforms like Make.com is not supported yet, but many users create automations around the API endpoints to achieve the same effect.

Yes. Your results remain available until the auto-deletion period you choose expires. You can download them again at any time before that point. You can also manually delete documents whenever you like.

Check whether the source PDF or image contains any corrupted or blank pages. If the issue persists, try re-uploading the document or splitting it into smaller files. If you run into repeated issues, upload a few sample pages and contact support—we can quickly determine what’s causing the problem.

Each page or image costs one credit. Subscriptions and higher-volume plans offer significant savings.

Yes. We’re happy to create custom high-volume plans tailored to your workload. Please get in touch with your requirements.

Subscription credits do not currently roll over. Each plan renews monthly with a fresh credit balance. We are evaluating rollover options for future updates based on user feedback.

Yes. If you prefer not to subscribe, you can purchase a one-off block of credits instead. This is ideal for project-based work or situations where a subscription doesn't fit your needs.

We do not currently have a dedicated discount program for academic or research institutions. However, if you're working on a project for historical preservation, community documentation, or similar initiatives, contact us and we can discuss options.

Yes. Our Pay-as-you-go credits are valid for 12 months, so they’re a good option if you need longer usage periods. For large academic or enterprise projects, we can also extend credit validity as part of a custom plan.

Yes. You can upgrade to a higher plan whenever you need more volume.

Yes. You can change to a lower plan at any time. The new plan will take effect on your next billing cycle. If you accidentally upgraded or downgraded, support can help correct it.

You can cancel anytime from your subscriptions page. Cancellation stops future renewals, and your current plan remains active until the end of the billing period.

Refunds are issued for billing errors, duplicate charges, or unintended plan changes. For standard subscription periods, refunds are not typically provided, as capacity is provisioned based on active subscriptions. If something seems wrong with your billing, reach out and we’ll take care of it.

Yes. All invoices and receipts can be downloaded from your billing page at any time. This includes subscription payments and one-off credit purchases. You can add your business details including tax ID to the invoice as required.

Yes. For high-volume academic, business, or archival projects, we can offer custom pricing based on expected volume and workflow. If you know your approximate page count, we can create a tailored proposal.

No. All processing actions—transcription, tables, and extractors—use the same credit system. Each page counts as one credit regardless of how you process it.

You authenticate by including your API token in the Authorization header as a Bearer token. You can generate or regenerate your token from your dashboard. If an API call returns an unauthorized error, double-check that the header is formatted correctly and that the token hasn't been replaced or revoked.

This usually means the API token is missing, malformed, or expired. Ensure you are including Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN exactly as specified. If you recently regenerated your token, make sure your application is using the new one. If the issue persists, regenerate the token again and update your workflow with the new value.

The default rate limit is 2 requests per second per account. This is sufficient for most workflows. If you're working at very high volume or need sustained throughput above this limit, contact us—enterprise plans can support higher dedicated limits.

Yes. The API is designed for batching and automation. You can upload documents, poll for completion, and retrieve results programmatically. Many users process thousands of documents by queueing uploads and downloading results as each job finishes.

Yes. Webhooks allow your system to receive a callback when a job is complete, so you don't need to poll for status. You can configure webhook URLs in your dashboard or through API parameters.

At the moment we provide a well-documented REST API that works with any language or platform. Code examples are available for Python, JavaScript, cURL, and more. If you need help integrating the API into your preferred environment, our team is happy to assist.

Direct integrations are not currently available, but you can use custom HTTP steps or scripts to interact with the API. Many users integrate the API into their workflow tools this way. If you want a fully supported integration, let us know—it's a common feature request.

Yes. The API supports text transcription, table extraction, and Custom Extractors, all of which return structured data in JSON. You can also retrieve tables and extractor outputs in CSV or XLSX formats through the dashboard.

After uploading a document, the API returns a job ID that you can use to query its status. You can check whether it is queued, processing, or complete, and then retrieve the results or download files once ready.

Yes. You can upload individual images one by one, or you can combine multiple images into a single multi-page PDF before uploading. Processing speed and accuracy are the same in both cases, so choose whichever format best fits your workflow.

Yes. API uploads follow the same limits as the dashboard: each file must be 20 MB or smaller. Aside from that, you can upload as many files as you like, and documents with any number of pages are supported as long as they remain within the size limit.

Yes. Results can be downloaded programmatically through the API. Many users pipe results straight into S3, Google Cloud Storage, or on-premise systems via their own scripts or integration layers.

Yes. All API processing is asynchronous. You upload a document, receive a job ID, and check the job status or wait for a webhook callback. This allows you to process large files or many files in parallel without blocking your application.

Yes. Every new account includes free trial credits that you can use to test the API with real documents. This lets you evaluate accuracy, integration workflows, and response formats before choosing a plan.

All documents are encrypted in transit using HTTPS and encrypted at rest using industry-standard encryption. Only you can access your documents, and our team can view them only if you explicitly grant permission for support purposes. Security audits are performed regularly to ensure all safeguards remain up to date.

Documents are stored only for the duration of your selected retention window. The default is 7 days, but you can shorten it or delete documents manually at any time. Once a document is deleted—either automatically or manually—it is permanently removed from our systems.

Your data is stored in secure datacenters. European customers have the option to store and process all data exclusively within the EU to comply with data residency requirements. Enterprise customers may request region-specific storage options.

Yes. We routinely sign NDAs for enterprise, research, and high-sensitivity projects. If your organization requires one, simply contact us and we’ll provide an NDA or review yours.

Yes. We can offer an on-premise deployment option for organizations with strict data-sovereignty requirements. This deployment requires dedicated hardware and carries a high minimum commitment due to its complexity. Contact us if you need a fully self-hosted solution.

Yes. Our platform is designed for highly sensitive workloads, including healthcare, legal, and enterprise document pipelines. Additional security protocols and isolation layers can be enabled for projects that require elevated protections. Contact us if your project involves classified or exceptionally sensitive material.

No. We do not inspect, analyze, or use your document contents for analytics, training, or product improvement. Logs contain only operational metadata such as timestamps and job statuses, never the text or images from your documents.

No. Your documents are never used for training. Our models are trained on licensed and public datasets only, ensuring your data remains completely private.

Yes. Our security and privacy framework aligns with major international data-protection standards. For enterprise customers, we can support additional compliance requirements or review your organization’s specific obligations.

Yes. Our enterprise plans support high-volume processing, advanced security requirements, SLAs, custom integrations, and dedicated support. They are ideal for organizations that need to process large quantities of documents or require enhanced compliance measures.

Yes. We work with large organizations on continuous and high-volume workloads. You can process documents through the dashboard, the API, or our managed processing service, where we handle the full workflow for you. If you’re unsure how well the system handles your specific document type, use your free trial credits to test a representative sample.

Yes. Managed processing means our team handles everything: file intake, workflow setup, quality checks, structured extraction, and final delivery. We tailor the process to your document type and requirements, often producing higher accuracy than standard self-service processing.

Yes. We can integrate with existing business systems, document pipelines, and databases using custom endpoints or tailored data workflows. Enterprise clients can request specialized formats, API behavior, or automated delivery systems.

In some cases, yes. For large-scale or long-term projects, we can explore customized models or tuned extraction logic. This requires a significant volume of sample material and a long-term engagement. Contact us if you believe your documents require a specialized approach.

Yes. Enterprise accounts can choose custom retention schedules, immediate deletion workflows, or isolated storage environments. We can align with your internal policies or regulatory requirements.

Yes. Enterprise customers can receive SLAs covering uptime guarantees, support response times, and processing throughput expectations. These agreements can be tailored to your needs.

Yes. We support dedicated hosting environments and region-specific deployments for organizations with strict compliance or data-sovereignty requirements. This includes EU-only hosting, private environments, and fully isolated deployments.

Yes. For organizations requiring complete control of their infrastructure, we offer an on-premise version with full offline capability. This requires dedicated hardware and a high-volume commitment due to the complexity of deployment and maintenance.

Yes. Many enterprise clients require multi-step workflows—such as preprocessing, transcription, validation, structured extraction, and automated export. We can build or tune pipelines specifically for your use case.

Yes. Enterprise plans support multi-user teams with role-based access control, allowing administrators to manage permissions, audit usage, and control document access. This ensures your organization maintains full oversight of how the system is used.

Upload failures usually occur when the file exceeds the 20 MB size limit, is corrupted, or is saved in an unsupported format. Re-exporting the PDF or image, reducing resolution slightly, or splitting very large documents normally resolves the issue. If uploads consistently fail, try a different browser or test a smaller representative sample.

Poor input quality is the number one cause of inaccurate results. If the scan is blurry, low-resolution, skewed, faint, noisy, shadowed, or taken at an angle, the system can't magically recover detail that isn’t visible in the image. Even humans struggle with unclear handwriting. To get reliable output, the document must be clear: scan at 300 DPI or higher, ensure strong contrast, flatten the page, and avoid shadows or reflections. If you want to confirm performance for your specific documents, upload a clean representative sample using your free trial credits.

Missing text almost always comes from low-quality scans, faint ink, shadows, skewed pages, or handwriting that is very difficult to interpret. Mixed languages, overlapping text, and pencil markings can also reduce detection. Try rescanning at 300 DPI with strong contrast or upload a better-quality sample using your trial credits to confirm expected performance.

This usually happens when certain PDF pages are corrupted, contain incompatible encodings, or store content as non-image objects. Re-exporting the PDF from your scanner or splitting it into smaller files typically resolves the issue.

Random words appear when the system struggles to interpret unclear handwriting, low-contrast scans, unusual letter shapes, or mixed languages. Historical documents and stylized cursive are especially challenging. Uploading a clean representative sample using your free trial credits is the best way to understand performance on your specific handwriting style.

Handwriting OCR is designed to extract text, not reproduce layout. Irregular spacing, annotations, columns, and freeform handwritten structures are simplified in the output. If you need structured results such as tables or keyed fields, use a Custom Extractor or the table extraction option.

Some browsers—especially Safari—struggle with large uploads or multi-file selections. If you encounter freezing or unexpected behavior, switch to Chrome, Firefox, or Edge and try again. This resolves most upload interface issues.

The system preserves the original page order exactly as provided. If the output appears out of order, the source PDF was likely misarranged or contained hidden blank pages. Re-exporting or reordering pages in a PDF editor typically fixes the issue.

Hand-drawn borders, uneven grid lines, faint pencil marks, shadows, and inconsistent cell shapes can prevent the system from detecting a table. Higher-resolution scans with clearer contrast usually help. You can test a clean sample using your trial credits to check performance on your layout.

Forms often mix printed text, boxes, labels, and handwritten fields, which can confuse standard OCR. Inconsistent handwriting across different fields also affects accuracy. For forms, Custom Extractors provide far more predictable results by mapping each field explicitly.

Temporary slowdowns can happen during peak load or when processing pages with very complex content. Most documents still finish within seconds. If a document seems stuck, refresh the page or check your connection—processing continues even if you navigate away.

Blank outputs occur when scans are extremely faint, contain no legible text, or the PDF uses an unsupported encoding with no extractable image layer. Re-exporting the PDF as images or rescanning the page usually resolves the issue.

Some handwriting styles make characters look nearly identical—such as 1 and 7, 0 and O, 5 and S, or looping cursive letters. This affects both humans and OCR. Higher DPI scans, darker ink, and more consistent handwriting improve character accuracy. Testing a clean sample using your trial credits will give you a realistic baseline.