---
title: Handwritten Text-Recognition comes to PastView! (Preview)
description: Discover how PastView is revolutionising digital collections with Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR). Unlock the potential of your archives with enhanced searching capabilities for your handwritten materials.
image: https://blog.townswebarchiving.com/hubfs/htr-blog-banner-small.jpg
---

[![TownsWeb-Archiving-Logo-Black-Stacked](https://blog.townswebarchiving.com/hs-fs/hubfs/TownsWeb-Archiving-Logo-Black-Stacked.png?width=260&name=TownsWeb-Archiving-Logo-Black-Stacked.png)](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/)

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- [Digitisation](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/digitisation/) 
    - [Bound Volume Collections](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/digitisation/bound-volume-collections/)
    - Registers, guard books, journals, diaries and more
    - [Archive Collections](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/digitisation/archive-collections/)
    - From index cards, maps, posters and reports to letters
    - [Photograph Collections](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/digitisation/photograph-collections/)
    - All 35mm slides, glass plates, transparencies & photos
    - [Film Collections](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/digitisation/film-collections/)
    - Including aperture cards, microfilm and microfiche
    - [Audio Visual Collections](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/digitisation/audio-visual-collections/)
    - From Betamax, compact audio cassette and CD to VHS
    - [3-Dimensional Collections](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/digitisation/3-dimensional-collections/)
    - Including 3D and 2D object photography and VR tours
- [Data Capture](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/datacapture/) 
    - [Audio Visual Transcription](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/datacapture/audio-transcription/)
    - Make audio searchable by transcribing content to text
    - [Handwritten Text Recognition](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/datacapture/handwritten-text-recognition-htr/)
    - Make handwritten text searchable through automatic text recognition
    - [Optical Character Recognition](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/ocr-scanning-service/)
    - Make typed text searchable with accurate data capture
    - [Data Entry](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/datacapture/data-entry/)
    - Make ambiguous records fully searchable with data entry
    - [Handwritten Transcription](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/metadata-transcription-service/)
    - Make handwritten text searchable through transcription
- [Publishing](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/publishing/) 
    - [Digital Collections](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/archive-management-software/pastview/welcome-to-pastview)
    - Manage, publish and share digital collections online
    - [Digital Records](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/archive-management-software/chronicle-cemetery-management/)
    - Reimagine the digital management of cemetery records
    - [Virtual Tours](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/virtual-reality-tour/)
    - Bring internal spaces to life digitally with a VR Tour
- [Industry](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/industry/) 
    - [Academic](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/industry/academic/)
    - Futureproof education with digitally enabling online resources
    - [Bereavement Services](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/industry/bereavement/)
    - Counter operational costs with digital control and management
    - [Business and Corporate](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/industry/business-and-corporate/)
    - Protect brand value & discover the power of digital management
    - [Cultural Heritage](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/industry/cultural-heritage/)
    - Harness the value of collections with financial autonomy
    - [Public Sector](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/industry/public-sector/)
    - Combat damage and loss with robust digital duplicates
    - [Military](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/industry/military/)
    - Respectfully and globally mark significant figures and conflicts
- [About](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/about) 
    - [Our Vision & Mission](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/about-us#vision-mission)
    - Supporting collections to thrive in the digital landscape
    - [Our Values](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/about-us#values)
    - Integrity, Empathy and Truth – Our commitment to you
    - [Meet The Team](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/about-us#team)
    - Dedication with a personal touch – names and faces!
    - [Careers](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/recruitment/)
    - Passionate about culture and heritage? Join the team!
    - [TWA Digitisation Grant History](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/digitisation-funding-grant/grant-history/)
    - From our very first winners to our latest success stories
    - [Partners](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/partners)
    - Trusted organisations offering associated services
- [Our Work](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/our-work)
- [Blog](https://blog.townswebarchiving.com/)
- [Contact](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/contact/)

[![USE QUOTE CALCULATOR](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2351684/56d4945e-1152-47db-9f08-37cd61531382.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2351684/56d4945e-1152-47db-9f08-37cd61531382)

[![TownsWeb-Archiving-Logo-Black-Stacked](https://blog.townswebarchiving.com/hs-fs/hubfs/TownsWeb-Archiving-Logo-Black-Stacked.png?width=260&name=TownsWeb-Archiving-Logo-Black-Stacked.png)](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/)

- [Digitisation](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/digitisation/) 
    - [Bound Volume Collections](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/digitisation/bound-volume-collections/)
    - Registers, guard books, journals, diaries and more
    - [Archive Collections](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/digitisation/archive-collections/)
    - From index cards, maps, posters and reports to letters
    - [Photograph Collections](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/digitisation/photograph-collections/)
    - All 35mm slides, glass plates, transparencies & photos
    - [Film Collections](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/digitisation/film-collections/)
    - Including aperture cards, microfilm and microfiche
    - [Audio Visual Collections](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/digitisation/audio-visual-collections/)
    - From Betamax, compact audio cassette and CD to VHS
    - [3-Dimensional Collections](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/digitisation/3-dimensional-collections/)
    - Including 3D and 2D object photography and VR tours
- [Data Capture](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/datacapture/) 
    - [Audio Visual Transcription](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/datacapture/audio-transcription/)
    - Make audio searchable by transcribing content to text
    - [Handwritten Text Recognition](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/datacapture/handwritten-text-recognition-htr/)
    - Make handwritten text searchable through automatic text recognition
    - [Optical Character Recognition](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/ocr-scanning-service/)
    - Make typed text searchable with accurate data capture
    - [Data Entry](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/datacapture/data-entry/)
    - Make ambiguous records fully searchable with data entry
    - [Handwritten Transcription](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/metadata-transcription-service/)
    - Make handwritten text searchable through transcription
- [Publishing](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/publishing/) 
    - [Digital Collections](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/archive-management-software/pastview/welcome-to-pastview)
    - Manage, publish and share digital collections online
    - [Digital Records](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/archive-management-software/chronicle-cemetery-management/)
    - Reimagine the digital management of cemetery records
    - [Virtual Tours](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/virtual-reality-tour/)
    - Bring internal spaces to life digitally with a VR Tour
- [Industry](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/industry/) 
    - [Academic](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/industry/academic/)
    - Futureproof education with digitally enabling online resources
    - [Bereavement Services](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/industry/bereavement/)
    - Counter operational costs with digital control and management
    - [Business and Corporate](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/industry/business-and-corporate/)
    - Protect brand value & discover the power of digital management
    - [Cultural Heritage](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/industry/cultural-heritage/)
    - Harness the value of collections with financial autonomy
    - [Public Sector](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/industry/public-sector/)
    - Combat damage and loss with robust digital duplicates
    - [Military](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/industry/military/)
    - Respectfully and globally mark significant figures and conflicts
- [About](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/about) 
    - [Our Vision & Mission](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/about-us#vision-mission)
    - Supporting collections to thrive in the digital landscape
    - [Our Values](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/about-us#values)
    - Integrity, Empathy and Truth – Our commitment to you
    - [Meet The Team](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/about-us#team)
    - Dedication with a personal touch – names and faces!
    - [Careers](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/recruitment/)
    - Passionate about culture and heritage? Join the team!
    - [TWA Digitisation Grant History](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/digitisation-funding-grant/grant-history/)
    - From our very first winners to our latest success stories
    - [Partners](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/partners)
    - Trusted organisations offering associated services
- [Our Work](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/our-work)
- [Blog](https://blog.townswebarchiving.com/)
- [Contact](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/contact/)

[Home](https://blog.townswebarchiving.com/) » Handwritten Text-Recognition comes to PastView! (Preview)

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# Handwritten Text-Recognition comes to PastView! (Preview)

| **Published By:** [Marshall Parr](https://blog.townswebarchiving.com/author/marshall-parr) **Published:** August 16, 2023 **Last Updated:** September 4, 2023 |
| --- |

![htr-blog-banner-3](https://blog.townswebarchiving.com/hs-fs/hubfs/htr-blog-banner-3.jpg?width=1200&height=700&name=htr-blog-banner-3.jpg)

FEATURE RELEASE

## Enhance your digital collections with Handwritten Text Recongition

We are proud to be one of the first digital collection platforms to offer Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR)! 

Both [Optical Character Recognition (OCR)](https://pastview.townswebarchiving.com/features/management/optical-character-recognition-ocr/) and [Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR)](https://pastview.townswebarchiving.com/features/management/handwritten-text-recognition-htr/) are now available on the [PastView Platform](https://pastview.townswebarchiving.com/), providing users with the ability to automatically recognise text within typed and handwritten documents. Utilising AI, our Text Recognition service can recognise typed text and a huge array of handwriting styles from historical documents, automatically adding this information as metadata to support enhanced searching of digitised collections.

Digitised collections including handwritten documents are a common material found within most archive collections. These could be handwritten journals, diaries, letters or even notes beneath photographs.

Handwritten text has historically required the use of [manual transcription services](https://www.townswebarchiving.com/datacapture/metadata-transcription-service/) to extract text, which remains the preferable method in cases where some data must be redacted for data protection purposes or for materials such as registers which require information to be retained in structured fields for data such as Name, Address and Date of Birth. Although manual transcription services currently remain the best service for certain material types, the introduction of Handwritten Text Recognition provides an exciting, cost-effective opportunity for many collections. 

 

## Read the full article on the PastView Blog

Digital access & discovery made simple.

[Read the article](https://blog.townswebarchiving.com/pastview/2023/08/handwritten-text-recognition-comes-to-pastview)

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