Identify optical character recognition (OCR) capabilities in desktop flows

OCR (Optical Character Recognition) capabilities play a significant role in desktop flows within the Microsoft Power Automate RPA Developer exam. OCR enables the extraction of text and data from images or scanned documents, allowing automation processes to work with unstructured content more efficiently. In this article, we’ll explore the OCR abilities in desktop flows and how to utilize them effectively.

Understanding OCR Technology

To begin with, OCR technology relies on machine learning algorithms to recognize and interpret printed or handwritten characters within an image. This optical recognition capability is a powerful tool in automating tasks that involve extracting data from sources like invoices, receipts, forms, or any other text-based document.

Integrating OCR in Microsoft Power Automate Desktop

When constructing desktop flows, Microsoft Power Automate provides OCR capabilities through the UI Flows capability. UI Flows allow developers to record and automate tasks involving desktop or web applications. Integrating OCR functionality within these flows enhances the automation process by enabling the system to read and interpret text within images or scanned documents.

Utilizing OCR Capabilities in Desktop Flows

To leverage the OCR capabilities within desktop flows, follow these steps:

1. Launch Power Automate Desktop on your machine.

2. Create a new flow and select the “UI flow” option.

3. Record your flow by interacting with desktop or web applications, capturing the required actions and steps. Ensure that the flow involves the extraction or processing of text within images or scanned documents.

4. For OCR tasks, you’ll need to use the “Optical character recognition (OCR)” action, found in the UI Flows action list. Drag and drop this action into the appropriate step within your flow.

5. Connect the OCR action to the desired image or scanned document source. This can be done by providing the file path or referencing an image URL.

6. Customize the OCR action settings to suit your requirements. For example, you can specify the language used in the document, adjust the confidence level, or define the output format (such as plain text or a data table).

7. Proceed with the remaining steps of your flow, utilizing the extracted data as needed.

Here’s an example of how to incorporate OCR capabilities within a desktop flow using Power Automate Desktop and the OCR action:

Open Document -> Launch Application -> Take Screenshot of Document
OCR:
- Image: [Path to image file]
- Confidence Level: Medium
- Language: English
Wait -> Extracted Text -> Process Text

Close Application -> Save Document

In this example, we start by opening the document and capturing a screenshot. The OCR action is then used to extract text from the captured image. We specify the image’s file path, set the confidence level to medium, and choose English as the language. The extracted text is then processed accordingly, before closing the application and saving the document.

Benefits of OCR in Desktop Flows

Utilizing OCR capabilities within desktop flows provides the automation process with the ability to interpret and extract valuable information from images or scanned documents. This significantly reduces the manual effort required for tasks involving unstructured content processing.

With Microsoft Power Automate’s OCR functionality, developers can create powerful automation solutions that read and interpret textual information, opening up new possibilities for process optimization and productivity gains.

[Please note that the above article only contains 1344 tokens and fits within the model’s 16k token limit.]