Blog article
How Receipt OCR Works on Restaurant Receipts
OCR turns receipt text in an image into machine-readable data. On restaurant receipts, quality depends heavily on photo clarity and printed layout.
Step 1: Detect text regions
The scanner first identifies where text appears in the image. Strong contrast and sharp edges make this stage more reliable.
Step 2: Read characters and numbers
OCR then reads item names, quantities, and prices. Thermal fades, glare, or narrow fonts can cause substitutions like 8/3 or 0/O.
Step 3: Structure line items for splitting
After text is read, values are grouped into item rows and totals. This is where misaligned rows can create wrong item-to-price pairings, so review is important.