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Ask Slashdot: Automated Tool To OCR CCGs Like Magic: the Gathering?

An anonymous reader writes I buy massive collections of trading card games, Magic:The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokemon, Weiss Schwarts, Cardfight Vanguard, etc, etc. And I've gotten the process fairly streamlined as far as price checking, grading, sorting, etc. Part of my process involves using higher-quality web cams positioned over the top of the cards which are in a stack. I keep a cam window on the screen to show a larger, brighter version of the card. What I'm wondering: Is there is an OCR solution out there that will look at the same spot on the screen, capture, ocr, dump to clipboard, etc.? I've tried several open source solutions but none of them quite fit my needs. What I'd really like is to be able to hit a hotkey, and have my clipboard populated with the textual data of the graphics in a pre-set x,y window range. All this should be done via a hotkey. I may be asking for a lot, but then again, I'm sure someone out there has had need of this type of set-up before. Anyone have any recommendations?

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  1. The point of open source by jones_supa · · Score: 0, Troll

    I've tried several open source solutions but none of them quite fit my needs.

    Then modify the source yourself, or sponsor someone else to do it. That's the reason you tried open source solutions, right?

    If that was not your motivation, then I do not see why you couldn't try closed source solutions as well. Provided that they actually solve your problem, of course. Maybe there would be a freeware one, or another one appropriately priced that it would bring you good value.