[Public] Why does the IronOCR output not maintain the correct line breaks in a Windows Forms TextBox, and how can I fix it?

How to Ensure Correct Line Breaks in OCR Text for Windows Forms Application

When using IronOCR in a Windows Forms application, you may encounter an issue where the extracted OCR text does not maintain the correct line breaks when displayed in a TextBox. This often happens because the OCR engine might only use line feed characters (\n), whereas Windows expects both a carriage return and a line feed (\r\n) to indicate line breaks. This discrepancy can lead to improper text formatting in the TextBox.

In this article, we'll explain how to resolve this issue and ensure that the OCR text displays with proper line breaks in a Windows Forms TextBox.

Steps to Ensure Correct Line Breaks

1. Use IronOCR.Extensions.AdvancedScan and Ensure 64-bit Mode: Before we address the line break issue, make sure you're using the IronOCR.Extensions.AdvancedScan package, which provides more robust OCR functionality. Also, ensure that your application is running in 64-bit mode to avoid potential compatibility issues.

2. Handle Line Breaks in OCR Output: The key issue is that OCR engines like IronOCR may return text with line feed (\n) characters, but Windows requires both carriage return and line feed (\r\n) for proper line breaks. To fix this, you can replace all occurrences of \n with \r\n.

   Here's an example of how to modify your code to handle this:

   ocr.Language = OcrLanguage.ChineseSimplifiedBest;
using (var ocrInput = new OcrInput())
{
    ocrInput.LoadImage(txtPath.Text);
    ocrInput.Deskew();
    var result = ocr.ReadScreenShot(ocrInput);
    // Replace line feed with carriage return and line feed
    string ocrText = result.Text.Replace("\n", "\r\n");
    // Display the corrected text in a TextBox
    textBox1.Text = ocrText;
}

3. Test and Verify: After modifying your code, the OCR text should now display correctly in your Windows Forms TextBox with proper line breaks. You can verify by testing the text extraction and checking if the content matches the original format, including line breaks.
   
   

Original Image:

Before:

After:

Conclusion

By replacing \n with \r\n in your OCR results, you ensure that line breaks are handled correctly for Windows Forms applications. Additionally, using IronOCR.Extensions.AdvancedScan and running your application in 64-bit mode can improve OCR accuracy and performance. This solution should resolve any issues related to line break formatting in the TextBox.

If you still encounter any issues or have additional questions, feel free to reach out for further assistance.