Want to save time when typing text? A scanner will be an indispensable assistant. After all, it takes 5-10 minutes to type a page of text, but scanning will take only 30 seconds. For high-quality and fast scanning, you will need an auxiliary program. Its functions should include: working with text and graphic documents, editing copied images and saving in the required format.
Among the programs in this category ScanLite It has a small set of functions, but it is possible to scan documents in large volumes. With the press of one key, you can scan a document and then save it as PDF or JPG.
Scanitto Pro
The next program is Scanitto Pro free program for scanning documents.
The downside to this program is that it does not work with all types of scanners.
Naps2
Application Naps2 has flexible parameters. When scanning Naps2 uses TWAIN and WIA drivers. There is also the ability to specify the title, author, topic and keywords.
Another positive function will be the transfer PDF file and by e-mail.
PaperScan
PaperScan is a free program for scanning documents. Compared to other similar utilities, it can remove unnecessary border marks.
It also has handy features for more in-depth image editing. The program is compatible with all types of scanners.
Its interface has only English and French languages.
Scan Corrector A4
Interesting feature Scan Corrector A4 is to set the boundaries of the scanning area. Scanning a full A4 format ensures that the file's proportions are preserved.
Unlike other similar programs Scan Corrector A4 can remember 10 consecutive entered images.
VueScan
Program VueScan is universal application for scanning.
The simplicity of the interface allows you to quickly get used to it and learn how to make quality color correction. The application is compatible with Windows and Linux OS.
WinScan2PDF
WinScan2PDF is an excellent program for scanning documents into PDF format. The utility is compatible with Windows OS and does not take up much space on the computer.
The disadvantages of the program are its limited functionality.
Using the presented programs, the user can choose the one that suits him. When choosing, you should pay attention to the quality, functionality and price of the program.
Probably everyone is familiar with the situation when a scan of a document, for example, a page of a book, needs to be converted into printed text. For this there are special programs, but most of them are known to very few people. Everyone probably knows only ABBYY FineReader. Indeed, FineReader is beyond competition. This is the best program for scanning and text recognition in Russian, but it is available exclusively in paid versions and is very expensive. How many people are willing to pay almost 7,000 rubles for the most budget license if they plan to process one or two books a year?
If you consider the purchase of an expensive commercial product unjustified, why not use analogues, some of which are free? Yes, they are not so rich in functions, but they cope quite successfully with many tasks that many believe only FineReader can handle. So let's take a look at some of the available alternatives. And at the same time let’s see how they differ from the generally accepted standard.
To compare other programs with ABBYY FineReader, let's find out why it is so good. Here is a list of its main functions:
- Working with photographs, scans and paper documents.
- Editing the contents of pdf files - text, individual blocks, interactive elements, etc.
- Convert pdf to Microsoft format Word and back. Create pdf files from any text documents.
- Compare the content of documents in 35 languages, for example, scanned paper and electronic (not in all editions).
- Recognition and conversion of scanned texts, tables, mathematical formulas.
- Automatic execution routine operations(not in all editions).
- Supports 192 national alphabets.
- Spell checking of recognized text in Russian, Ukrainian and 46 other languages.
- Supports 10 graphic and 10 text formats input files, not counting pdf.
- Saving files in graphical and text formats, and also in the form e-books EPUB and FB2.
- Reading barcodes.
- Interface in 20 languages, including Russian and Ukrainian.
- Supports most existing scanner models.
The program's capabilities are excellent, but for home users who do not process documents on an industrial scale, they are redundant. However, for those who need to recognize only a few pages, ABBYY provides services for free - through the FineReaderOnline web service. After registration, you can process 10 pages of scanned or photographed text, and then 5 pages per month. More - for an additional fee.
The cost of the most inexpensive FineReader license for installation on a computer is 6,990 rubles (Standard version).
A tiny and extremely simple free utility, of course, is not able to compete with the monster, but it solves the main task - recognizing scanned text - as expected. Moreover, for this it does not even require installation on a PC (portable). And it is controlled by only three buttons.
To recognize text using WinScan2PDF, click “Select source” and specify the connected scanner (the program, unfortunately, does not work with ready-made files). Place your document in the scanner and click Scan. If you want to cancel the operation, click Cancel. That's all the instructions.
The utility supports 23 languages, including Russian, and works with multi-page files. The finished result is saved in pdf format, a scan of the document is saved in jpg.
Web service Free-OCR.com
Free-OCR.com (OCR - Optical character recognition) is a free Internet service for recognizing scanned or photographed texts saved in graphic image format (jpg, gif, tiff, bmp) or pdf. Supports 29 languages, including Russian and Ukrainian, and the user can select not one, but several, if the source text contains them.
Free-OCR does not require registration and does not have any restrictions on the number of uploaded documents. Only the file size is limited - up to 6 Mb. The service does not process multi-page documents; more precisely, it ignores everything except the first sheet.
The scanned text recognition speed is quite high. An A4 sheet with a fragment of a book in Russian was processed in about 5 seconds, but the quality was not satisfactory. It recognizes large fonts - like in children's books - 100%, and medium and small fonts - about 80%. With English-language documents, things are somewhat better - small and low-contrast font was recognized correctly by about 95%.
Free Online OCR web service
- another free web service, very similar to the previous one, but with expanded functionality. He:
- Supports 106 languages.
- Processes multi-page documents, including those in multiple languages.
- Recognizes texts on scans and photo documents of many types. In addition to 10 graphic image formats, it processes documents pdf, djvu, doxc, odt, zip archives And compressed files Unix.
- Saves output files in one of 3 formats: txt, doc and pdf.
- Supports recognition of mathematical equations.
- Allows you to rotate the image 90-180° in both directions.
- Correctly recognizes text in multiple columns on one page.
- Can recognize one selected fragment.
- After processing, it offers to copy the file to the clipboard, download it to your computer, upload it to Google Docs, or publish it on the Internet. You can also immediately translate text into another language using Google Translate or Bing Translator.
We must give Free Online OCR credit for the fact that it reads low-resolution and low-contrast images quite well. The result of recognizing all Russian-language texts fed to him was 100% or close to it.
Free Online OCR is, in our opinion, one of the best FineReader alternatives, but it only processes 20 pages for free (though it doesn't say for what period). Further use of the service costs from $0.5 per page.
Microsoft OneNote
The note-taking program Microsoft OneNote, excluding the very old and latest version 17, also contains OCR functionality. It is not as advanced as in specialized applications, but still suitable for use if there are no other options.
To recognize text from an image using OneNote, insert the picture into the file (“Picture” - “Insert”), right-click on it and select “Copy text from picture”.
After that, paste the copied text anywhere in the note.
By default, the recognition language is set to English. If you need Russian or any other, change the setting manually.
The quality of Russian text recognition in Microsoft OneNote leaves much to be desired, so it cannot be called a full replacement for FineReader. And processing large multi-page documents in it is very inconvenient.
SimpleOCR
The old free program SimpleOCR is also a very worthy tool for recognizing texts from electronic images and scans, but, unfortunately, without support for the Russian language. But it has a unique function for reading handwritten words, as well as an editor that allows you to correct errors before saving the finished result.
Other SimpleOCR features:
- Spell checking with the ability to update the dictionary manually.
- Reading documents in low resolution and with marks (there is an option to clear “noise”).
- The closest possible selection of fonts and the transfer of writing styles (bold, italics). If desired, the function can be disabled.
- Simultaneous processing of several sheets or a separate fragment.
- Selection possible errors in the finished text for manual editing.
- Supports many modifications of scanners.
- Input formats of electronic documents: tif, jpg, bmp, ink, as well as scans.
- Saving finished text in txt and doc formats.
The recognition quality of both printed texts and manuscripts is quite high.
The program could be called universal if not for the limited language support. Latest version It only supports English, French and Danish; there are probably no plans to add others. The interface is entirely in English, but is easy to understand. In addition, in the main window there is a “Demo” button, which launches a training video on working with SimpleOCR.
The program of the Belgian development company I.R.I.S is truly a real competitor to the Russian ABBYY FineReader. Powerful, fast, cross-platform, based on the proprietary OCR engine used by Adobe, HP and Canon, it perfectly recognizes even the most difficult to read texts. Supports 137 languages, including Russian and Ukrainian.
Features and functions of Readiris:
- The highest file processing speed among applications of this class, designed for large volumes.
- Preserving the formatting of the source text (fonts, size, writing style).
- Single and batch file processing, support for multi-page documents.
- Recognition of mathematical equations, special characters and barcodes.
- Clearing text from “noise” - lines, blots, etc.
- Integration with various cloud services — Google Docs, Evernote, Dropbox, SharePoint and some others.
- Supports all modern scanner models.
- Input data formats: pdf, djvu, jpg, png and others in which they save graphic images, as well as received directly from the scanner.
- Output formats: doc, docx, xls, xlsx, txt, rtf, html, csv, pdf. Conversion to djvu is supported.
The program interface is Russian-language, use is intuitive. It does not provide users with the ability to edit the contents of pdf files, like FineReader, but, in our opinion, it does an excellent job with the main task - text recognition.
Readiris comes in two paid versions. Price Pro licenses is 99.00€, Corporate - 199€. Almost like ABBYY.
Freemore OCR
Freemore OCR - (! program website http://freemoresoft.com/freeocr/index.php may be blocked by antiviruses due to advertising “garbage” built into the installer) - another simple, compact and free utility that also recognizes texts well, but by default only in English. Other language packages must be downloaded and installed separately.
Other features and capabilities of Freemore OCR:
- Simultaneous work with several scanners.
- Supports many graphic data formats, including proprietary ones like psd (file Adobe Photoshop). All standard graphics formats are supported.
- PDF support.
- Saving the finished result in pdf, txt or docx format, and to export text to Word, just click one button on the toolbar.
- Built-in editor (unfortunately, the program does not save the formatting of the source document).
- View document properties.
- Print recognized text directly from the main window.
- Password protection of pdf files.
At first glance, the program's interface may seem complicated, but in fact it is very easy to use. Tools are divided into groups, like on a tape Microsoft Office. If you look at them more closely, the purpose of this or that button will quickly become clear.
To download electronic document into the Freemore OCR window, first select its type - image or pdf file, and then click the corresponding “Load” button. To start the recognition process, click on the “OCR” button in the group of tools of the same name next to the image magic wand(shown in the screenshot).
The result of scanning English texts from both well-readable and hard-to-read images turned out to be quite satisfactory. The only thing I didn’t like was that along with the program, all sorts of garbage is installed on the computer - some fake antivirus scanners, optimizers and other unnecessary things, and without the ability to refuse them during installation. In a word, if not for this drawback, the application could be recommended as a good one. free alternative FineReader.
Creation electronic copies images or documents requires a scanning operation. Hardware and software for this purpose constitute a separate industry computer equipment. By combining printers and scanners, a new class of digital devices was created - multifunctional devices(MFP). To create a high-quality copy of a photograph and decrypt a document received during the scanner operation, you need a scanning program that works with different types devices and creates the final file in any format required by the user.
What is a scanning program
The software required to work with the scanner should make it easier for the user to work with different types of source materials, support work with all major brands of scanners, MFPs, and provide the choice of the desired format, quality, and size of the final file. Some of these properties are found in standard Windows operating system tools. Eat third party programs, capable of converting scanned material into graphic or PDF format. Of all the utilities, text recognition programs are the most valuable.
Standard Windows tools
The Windows operating system has built-in functions for working with scanning devices. It contains standard drivers for most of these devices different manufacturers. The choice of your model is made when accessing the scanning utilities. You can check its presence by opening “Device Manager”, section “Image processing devices”. If your device is not in the list of available devices, its driver must be downloaded from the Internet and installed. To switch to scanning mode you must:
- Click Start->Control Panel->Scanners and Cameras;
- click on the icon of your device or the corresponding driver name;
The Digital Camera or Scanner Wizard window will open, click “Next”; - if necessary fine tuning You can click “Adjust” to select brightness, contrast, image resolution;
- select the image type and click View to preview the result;
- after clicking “Next” in the new window, select the name of the final file and its location;
- The next click on the “Next” button will start the scanning process.
Starting with Windows 7, the standard functionality of the scanning device program has been improved and combined with fax printing. To start the work, you must select “Device Manager” -> “Image Processing Devices” -> “Faxes and Scan” -> “New Scan”. Further steps for setting up, previewing, running the process and saving the results are similar to those indicated above.
Programs for scanning documents into a simple graphic file
Specialized scanning programs aim not only to obtain high-quality copies of originals, but also to make it easier for users of varying levels of understanding with computers to work with them. To get a simple copy in the form of a graphic file, you need to:
- download, install and run the program;
- select the model of your MFP, insert the original image into it;
- click the “Scan” button;
- The program will prompt you in dialog mode to select the type of graphic file, save location, and options for further actions with the result obtained.
Program for scanning to pdf and digitizing documents
Existing programs are capable of not only scanning an image, but also performing all the necessary actions to process it. At the same time there is a possibility manual settings fast autofeed of a large number of pages, saving them in PDF format. The convenience of this format is explained by the wide range of possible manipulations with digitized documents, including:
- automatic page orientation;
- scaling and positioning;
- document counter;
- creating a password;
- changing order, improving quality
- desired output file size;
- group corrective operations – trimming, contrast and other operations.
Photo scanning utility
Professional photo processing requires tools with a large number of settings for resolution, color rendering, and shades. One of the best interfaces for scanning photographic materials is the ControlCenter utility. It provides the ability to process photographs, one- and two-sided documents, and save them in JPEG format, PDF. This utility works with all versions of Windows. It is possible to send the result by email directly from its interface.
How does the scanner program work?
The principle of operation of the scanner is based on the difference in the light flux reflected by the scanned surface from a strong light source. The reflected signal through the prism hits the photosensitive element, which determines the image characteristics of this point. The higher the resolution, the better the quality of the copy. The scanner program receives a signal about each point of the scanned image, converts it into a digital code, and stores the data for each point in the computer’s memory.
Scanning Interfaces
To standardize image recognition processes for scanners, the TWAIN (English “two”) standard was proposed in 1992. It provides excellent coordination between the computer and scanner functions. Since 2000, a standard for their interaction with the operating room has been introduced Windows system, which was called WIA (Windows Image Acquisition). Windows images) . It differs from TWAIN in that it supports basic scanning and preview functions. Its advantage is that it supports all types of scanning devices and versions of Windows.
Used by professional industrial scanners GUI ISIS (Image and Scanner Interface Specification), which includes additional effects. operating room Linux system a simplified dialogue is used with the ability to access the MFP over the network based on the SANE standard (Scanner Access Now - simple access to the scanner). When working with a regular scanner or MFP, the TWAIN interface is more suitable; when working with a camera, it is more convenient to use the WIA standard.
Which application is better for scanning documents?
The choice of application for working with the scanner depends on your needs. Simple copying of documents and saving in PDF format or sending by mail can be done by any free scanning program. There are many free OCR systems based on Tesseract with text recognition. If you need to process a document with complex formatting while maintaining its structure, removing unnecessary shadows or errors, you will need a powerful FineReader level system.
ABBYY FineReader 10 Home Edition
The most famous, widespread and powerful program for scanning and text recognition is ABBYY FineReader 10 Home Edition. With its help the following tasks are solved:
- transfer of any materials into electronic form while maintaining the appearance and structure;
- sending work results by email or publishing on the Internet;
- receiving an image from a scanning device, MFP, digital camera or mobile phone with built-in camera;
- accurate recognition, preservation of document formatting;
- digital image recognition;
- high quality recognition, saving it in a text format convenient for you;
- support for 178 languages, including Cyrillic;
- The program is paid, but after registration there is a trial period.
OCR CuneiForm – converting scanned material into a printed file
One of best utilities OCR (Optical Character Recognition) family is CuneiForm. It is a system for recognizing text and text fragments in graphic files. A huge advantage is the ability to work with any type of printed products, typewritten documents, bad photocopies. The program uses unique algorithms and has a built-in test editor that will provide the user with the opportunity to:
- working with tables of any format, structure or hierarchy;
- automatic or manual fragmentation of texts;
- identifies more than 20 most common languages;
Scanner program for high-quality text decoding Scanitto Pro
Among the programs for working with scanned material there are utilities whose focus is clearly indicated. The proposed Scanitto Pro program has simple settings, clear interface, works with many scanner models. It has the ability to save the work result in any format such as PDF, BMP, JPG, TIFF, JP2 or PNG. But its main purpose is to decipher complex texts into DOCX, RTF, TXT formats. This utility is implemented on the TWAIN driver of the scanning device, which ensures high quality of the final material.
ScanLite for high volume documents
To work with a large number of monotonous documents that require processing with the same settings, there is the ScanLite utility. It has more than 25 settings, access to which is in one window. To start the process, you need to click on the “Scan documents” button and select a location to save the work results. It is possible to automatically adjust the quality and size of files, and reduce their size for sending by email.
Free PaperScan program
The PaperScan utility is free to download, free of charge, and has good functionality. She doesn't demand powerful computer, has a small size, supports a large number of scanner models and MFPs. The program works with equipment on TWAIN and WIA interfaces and provides high quality scanning. Its main features are:
- automatic feeding;
- erasing traces of punching;
- black and white mode and color modes for processing photographs and pictures;
- editing brightness, contrast and other characteristics;
- There is a gallery of effects for images.
Windows-compatible WinScan2PDF utility
For fast work in any Windows versions portable and free utility WinScan2PDF. It works quickly and converts documents directly into PDF files. Its main advantages are:
- automatic scanning and conversion of data into multi-page PDF format;
- saving all pages into one file.
- the ability to create documents from a large number of source pages.
VueScan with a large number of supported scanner models
The VueScan utility can use all the capabilities of scanning devices. It will provide the opportunity to make hardware settings for scanning parameters, color correction, and batch scanning. VueScan's interface supports over 100 film types, making it easy to work with negatives and slides. Direct mask selection and manual adjustment of color components are provided. You can create an individual profile and save all the necessary settings. VueScan can work with multiple scanners simultaneously using centralized management.
RiDoc with the ability to convert documents into image format
With RiDoc it is possible to scan and adjust the result to a preset size, which is convenient when compiling large catalogs. This utility works perfectly with HP and Canon scanners and is capable of:
- work with the submission of paper documents in automatic mode;
- create galleries of scanned materials;
- exporting documents to graphic formats using the RiDoc virtual printer;
- adding a watermark;
- save results in graphic formats tiff, bmp, jpeg, png;
- export electronic versions in MS Word and PDF file.
Multilingual program for the NAPS2 scanner
The NAPS2 utility is completely free application, does not contain intrusiveness for many free products advertising or unwanted software modules. It will provide one-click work with easy configuration of profiles for different devices. Its advantages are:
- save function with selection PDF format, JPEG, PNG, multi-page TIFF and others;
- compatible with WIA and TWAIN standards;
- easy setting of all necessary parameters - DPI, page size, color depth.
- glass plate reading, automatic document feeder (ADF), duplex support;
- optical character recognition (OCR) in any of 100 languages.
Scan Corrector A4
Often in business there is a need to copy or save in digital form copies of documents in A4 format. In this case, it is convenient to use the Scan Corrector A4. If original file of low quality, the page must be cleaned before decoding. This utility will do all this without using graphic editor. In addition, the utility has:
- saving and printing scanned images;
- the possibility of sequentially obtaining several copies;
- high scanning speed and saving documents in any format;
- choice of natural colors or shades of gray;
- image adjustment.
Pros and cons of document and photo scanning programs
ABBYY FineReader 10 Home Edition is the flagship software for scanning, has many settings. This professional program has its pros and cons. Minus - paid version with a trial period of two weeks or a limit of 55 scanned pages. Pros:
- recognizes texts in pictures;
- supports automatic batch mode;
- clear interpretation of texts;
- recognizes any languages;
- allows you to scan pictures, texts, low-quality photos.
The program for working with the OCR scanner CuneiForm has the following advantages:
- The utility is free;
- the text is corrected using dictionaries;
- deciphers low-quality images;
- preserves the structure and formatting of texts.
- there are errors in the texts;
- support 24 languages.
A special program for Windows, WinScan2PDF, has one drawback - the text is saved only in document format. Pros:
- fast decoding of texts;
- minimalist, user-friendly interface.
The free SimpleOCR utility has a minus - there is no Russian-language support. Pros:
- correct functioning with high accuracy;
- removes noise from graphics;
- editing received texts.
Freemore OCR is a free, easy-to-use utility, with the downside that it requires a language download to decrypt Russian texts. There are several advantages:
- encrypts and decrypts files;
- provides viewing of document properties;
- simple interface;
- correct output result;
- works simultaneously with several scanning devices.
Video
To obtain high-quality scans, it is not necessary to use proprietary Canon scanning software.
Although they give a very positive result, among the software products presented to users, there are many good analogues that deserve attention.
Some of them are distributed free of charge, while others require some costs depending on the functionality they provide.
Variety of assortment and special requirements for it
Document recognition various types Recently it has become a real necessity due to the fact that they have become more in demand than paper originals.
This is due to the fact that they are much more convenient to store, transmit, and sometimes process.
That is why the quality of the resulting digital copies becomes the main criterion for selecting software used, including with popular Canon brand equipment.
Unfortunately, not all software manufacturers can please users.
One of the most common problems among products is the lack of regional settings, such as a Russian-language interface, which is a special criterion in the domestic space.
And there are quite a lot of similar criteria.
Some products handle processing better graphic information, others are more suitable for working with texts, including those containing several different ones.
In parallel with them, there are other programs and utilities, including those that cope “excellently” with information presented in tabular form.
We have already identified a number of full-fledged software packages and quite simple utilities that satisfy a number of user requirements and, as a result, this list includes:
Canon MF Toolbox
It’s worth starting the review of models with a proprietary application of the Canon brand, namely MF Toolbox. Its main drawback is that there is no Russian version.
The entire interface through which the user interacts with data is in English.
However, this disadvantage is more than compensated by its advantages. software product, and he has a lot of them.
Firstly, this is the light weight of the application, which is only 9.5 MB, which has a positive effect on its loading and operating speed.
Secondly, the application is free and is supplied with the hardware by the manufacturer, which guarantees compatibility testing.
The application works in conjunction with Windows OS, which will be noted by the lion's share of office equipment users.
Despite this, working with it happens quite quickly, and a couple of clicks are enough to scan.
An additional advantage of the program is the ability to save .
This functionality provides an advantage, first of all, not even in convenience, but in saving time spent on converting from one file format to another.
The set of formats consists of the most popular ones, so MF Toolbox allows you to cover a large number of basic user needs.
In case the document needs to be corrected, you can use a customized set of editors, and to quickly transfer scans, you can use the fast sending option.
It allows without starting third party applications digitize data, edit it and directly print it, which makes it simply indispensable in emergency working conditions.
The program quickly connects to the scanner and has a couple of versions, depending on what the user needs.
Each of them has its own advantages.
PaperScan Free version is different free license, but somewhat limited in the basic set of supported functions, but the PaperScan version of the Scanner Professional Edition will delight you with a more extensive toolkit, but the user will have to pay for it.
Both versions allow you to achieve high data compression rates up to the JBIG2 level, which facilitates their transfer and does not affect the quality of the final image.
At the same time, both versions have a common drawback - the lack of Russian-language menu commands. However, this will not be a significant problem if you own English language at a basic level.
A bonus for any user will be the function of auto-rotating and aligning documents without the need to rescan them, as well as support operating systems families
Rice. 7 – PaperScan Professional Edition
RiDoc
Some utilities designed for digitization have one drawback - even if they have a Russian-language interface, they are unable to accurately recognize Russian-language texts; RiDoc is not one of them.
She perceives text in both Russian and other languages quite well.
It is also worth noting that the utility can leave watermarks on digitized copies and can be used for free during a one-month trial period.
After this, you will need to pay for a license, but as a result the user will receive even greater functionality.
The advantages include data compression after digitization without loss of quality, as well as the ability batch processing documents.
After scanning, the data can be converted and then saved or sent to the recipient by email. ABBYY FineReader, providing the widest range of functions and operations with digitized data.
In it users will find software both for high-quality digitization of photographs and for fast text recognition in any language.
However, it is not necessary to pay for such software products.
Some of them are distributed with a free license, which is especially important for users who are engaged in digitization non-professionally.
Canon has many MFP models that do the job perfectly. But often, when installing and connecting such a printer with a scanner to a computer, there is no scanning program. In this article we will talk about it and also provide a download link from the official website.
Scanning software - Canon MF Toolbox
This application is official from Canon. It works with any models Canon MFP. With its help, you can scan a color or black and white document in a few clicks.
The program has a minimum of settings, among which it is worth noting the installation of a directory for saving scanned documents.
Canon MF Toolbox is completely in Russian, and the interface is very simple, which will allow you to easily understand it.
Selecting an OS and downloading Canon MF Toolbox from the official website
Downloaded file and unpacked folder
We find the file in it Setup.exe, launch it and follow the instructions of the installation wizard to install the Canon MF Toolbox scanning program on your computer.
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