OCR Program

Suggest to specifiy why you need a GUI if the program does the job.

Suggest to use the programs that work without GUI if keeping the format is the requirement.

So far I haven't been able to get either to work, with or without GUI. Cuneiform downloaded, but poops out when I run it. It complains about not being able to update the registry, not being able to save the image, and that I don't have MS Word installed--I do have MS Word starter Edition, but that must not count. Tesseract hasn't successfully downloaded yet.

I used to have ABBYY, which apparently came with a now-broken printer, thus no installation disc. But it "went away" when I switched from XP to Win 7. Interest in Free is because retirement has had negative effects on available $$.

Retired means more time at hand (at least so I hope).

What from the format do you need to preserve? Usually the text is picked more or less out without touching the format. The only thing I experience is that it does not get converted into a usable word format or such. It puts every text piece into a own text box.

Do you try to get an document out that is easy to edit?

I havent come across one yet- paid or unpaid.

Good luck!

Logic. In the end it is always Logic, machine lingo .. the ones and the zeros.

Look at some of the PDF converters: they can take a photograph and determine what is text, what is vector graphics and what is dither graphics; then it will search for a similar font on your system and if it cannot find one it can create a font to match. The temp font file is for use while editing the document in the PDF editor. OR you can make a global change to the temp font to one that is on your system and resave the file in a new document format such as MS Word or WordPerfect (also depends on the PDF converters Save As document capabilities). You can also change, move, resize, and /or remove graphics. Total edit capabilities, of course depending on the version and type of converter that you get. I myself like the products that have been published by Docudesk. Their products are not free, but they do offer a free trial and if you do buy, they cost MUCH less than Adobe. I have been using their Studio X for about 20 years (it has been upgraded a few times) and it works GREAT. I also have Adobe Acrobat X and I prefer Studio X. I also have Adobe Creative Studio 6 and Light Room 5; I prefer the UI and ease of operation of the Studio X when working a PDF. I also have MS Word 2014 with PDF edit capabilities, but for PDF I go with the Studio X.

I have also found several freeware OCR Programs on ZDnet and Cnet that do a decent job not great put will do in a pinch.

there is another 14 day trial of paperPort Pro you can try then you gane get it ate numerous places form the net

http://www.nuance.com/for-business/by-product/paperport/paperport-trial-download/index.htm

that range in price for $2.00 for omniPage Version 10 to $149.00 for OmniPage Ver 18

to $199.00 for PaperPort Pro after Trial.

Hewlett Packard used to give away an OCR program with its higher end printers (for office printers, etc.).

Don't forget, you get what you pay for!

Why the obsession with getting a program for free? Do you fancy giving away hundreds of your working hours for no pay? (I know of a few charities that might use your expertise).
ABBYY Finereader and ReadIRIS are both high quality OCR programs which preserve formatting (albeit by using a lot of text boxes for positioning). Either is worth paying for.