Document-to-Document

Transcription work is not limited to converting audio content into text. Ditto Transcripts also offers accurate and high-quality document-to-document transcription and conversion services. Let’s dive into the process of document-to-document transcription and discuss its potential benefits so you can see if the service is right for your needs. 

What is document to document transcription?

Document-to-document transcription involves converting written text into other formats. For example, transcriptionists handle handwritten, typewritten, or printed documents and convert them into digital text. This preserves the original document by creating a digital copy. 

What are the benefits of document-to-document transcription?

Ditto’s document conversion service brings a lot of benefits, including:

• Quick and easy access and retrieval: No need to scramble to your document drawer and pull up the required file; just check your device and see the contents. 
• Save on physical storage: Say goodbye to your document drawer, actually. Any document that doesn’t need a physical copy can be discarded, and the digital copies can be stored in computers, the cloud,  laptops, phones, flash drives, or external hard drives instead.
• Portability: Everyone’s got a smartphone these days, which means everyone can bring copies of important documents everywhere they go without having to lug unwieldy document cases around. 
• Better security: Digital documents and folders can be password protected, or access can be restricted to only those who need it. 
• Easy replication: Copying files is infinitely faster than walking to the copy machine. Need more printed copies? Just connect to the network printer and hit “print.”
• Improving legibility issues: Document-to-document conversions are often done by expert transcriptionists. They have experience handling documents that have legibility issues, turning them into easy-to-read documents.
• Searchability: Converted documents can be easily searched for specific keywords or phrases. This enhances the efficiency of information retrieval and is particularly useful when dealing with large volumes of text. 
• Expanded use: Electronic documents can be published online and indexed by search engines, which can help businesses and website owners increase their search rankings and online visibility.
• Preservation: With effective file management, digital format documents can be kept for long periods without being subjected to physical damage.

What are the rates per page?*

*Disclaimer: Prices displayed are for regular documents and are subject to change depending on word density, legibility, and other factors. Please send samples of your documents for more accurate pricing

Different Types of Document Transcription

Transcribing Handwritten Documents

Transcribing handwritten documents, notes, or other kinds of files often needs converting to Microsoft Word or Google Docs format. Now they can be easily edited, saved, emailed, searched, or put into a database system.

Simply scanning a document saves it in the original format digitally, as this document still isn’t searchable by keywords or phrases yet. They can often prove to be illegible, depending on the quality of the scan. Plus, it obviously cannot be edited.

Transcribing handwritten documents into Word expands its uses and makes it more universally accessible.

Historical Text to Text

The National Archives Transcription Project stands as a great example of text-to-text transcription. Historical handwritten documents are typed by volunteers whenever they can so that the National Archives can create an online database that’s searchable for all to see and use for educational and research purposes. Once the database is completed, a student, for example, researching the Civil War could use it to search through thousands of documents by entering in the keywords “Civil War” (or “Battle of Gettysburg” or “Lincoln” or anything else they want to research). Access to this firsthand source material is unprecedented, and document-to-document transcription is proud to make this happen.

Handwritten Text-to-Text Services

Other document-to-document transcription projects could include typing handwritten client notes, memoirs, transferring a PDF document into Microsoft Word (if you don’t have the expensive conversion program) or entering past sales records into Word or Excel.

Document-to-document transcription comes in handy for publishing companies, companies using faxes, book companies, or even new business setups.

Everyday Documents

Many people also get their personal documents transcribed like marriage and divorce, birth and death certificates, loan documents and agreements, driver’s licenses and mortgage papers. Almost anything you can think of.

Document to Document Transcription Done for You

Ditto also specializes in document-to-document transcription. Whatever kind of document you need transcribed, no matter how difficult the document is to decipher, our exceptionally talented team is here to help.

What are the rates per page?*

*Disclaimer: Prices displayed are for regular documents and are subject to change depending on word density, legibility, and other factors. Please send samples of your documents for more accurate pricing

Ditto Transcripts offers text-to-text transcription services as well.

Ditto Transcripts is committed to providing guidance and support to every customer, ensuring that we remain consistent, exceed expectations, and always hold ourselves accountable. We provide excellent document-to-document transcription services, and you can never go wrong in choosing us. Here’s why:

• We comply with the highest ethical standards: Our highly qualified typists are trained to handle every project with the utmost confidentiality. They also sign non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements before starting work for us.
• Our team has extensive experience: Our staff have 10+ years of experience and have acquired a deep knowledge and understanding of specialized terminology in these industries: academia, finance, law enforcement, legal, medical, and research.
• We offer unmatched accuracy rates: We guarantee 99% accuracy for all document-to-document typing services. Once we deliver your electronic files, they are ready to be shared. No need for further quality checks—we have done them all.
• We deliver documents in your preferred format: Whether you want your converted files in PDF, MS Word (.doc, .docx), RTF, text file (txt), Excel Sheet, Google Doc, or Google Sheet form, we can do it for you.
• We hire people you can trust: All our typists have passed extensive screening, testing, and criminal background checks.
• We have rapid turnaround times: Our document-to-document professional typing services are lightning-fast. We guarantee a 24-48 hours turnaround time for rush requests.
• We offer affordable rates: Document-to-document typing services don’t have to cost an arm and a leg. That’s why we offer ours at affordable prices, starting at $0.50 per page.
• We provide excellent customer service: As one of the fastest-growing online typing services providers, customer satisfaction is our priority. Our customer support specialists are dedicated to answering any of your queries via phone or email.
• We offer a free trial: If you’d like to take us for a test drive, you can try us out using our free trial—no credit card required.

Document to document transcription services Vs. document scanning

People might look at the description above and think, “This is just document scanning with extra steps.” Well, it’s not. Document scanning involves digitizing the file using images, while document-to-document conversion creates a full-text file that reflects the documents. 

Simply scanning documents creates an image file (.jpg, .png, etc.) or PDF that is not digitally searchable. They also cannot be edited, and the resulting copy often has lower quality than the original. Additional scans can further degrade the image. Also, any problems with the source document — hard-to-read handwriting, blotches, damages, printed material errors, etc. — are ported over to the scanned documents. 

Document-to-document transcription creates a fresh new copy with corrections, proofreading, and all the bells and whistles available in word-processing softwares like Microsoft Word or a Google Doc. The document is now an editable text file, perfect for further improvement. They can be Microsoft Word documents or plain text files. 

Handwriting transcription also requires skill and finesse. Cursive and stylized handwriting can be difficult to decipher without the proper experience. That’s why most text-to-text transcription services have humans transcribe their documents since automated solutions can’t think for themselves. 

Is Optical Character Recognition a Viable Choice?

Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is the process of scanning a physical document using specialized software to create a digital PDF file. Text transcription can be faster this way; however, OCR has several limitations that most businesses will find too restrictive. 

First of all, accuracy is a concern. Take Project Gutenberg, for example. The global initiative aims to convert physical books into ebook format and is currently the largest digital library in the world. The project heavily utilizes OCR technology, but here’s the thing: after book pages are scanned using OCR, the resulting scans are then subjected to several rounds of human proofreading and editing. That means the resulting scans are likely inaccurate and are not good enough for immediate use. 

Secondly, OCR is sensitive to image quality. Poor image quality, low resolution, or distorted text can result in more character recognition errors, leading to more document processing time. Additionally, OCR systems may have limitations in recognizing characters from languages with complex scripts or special characters, as with unconventional fonts or stylized text. OCRs can also take a lot of time to process high-quality images, potentially lasting more than if a human transcriber had worked on the document. 

Lastly, OCR systems and equipment are not cheap. The bill reaches thousands of dollars even if you go for OCR providers. Human document transcription services, meanwhile, offer the same service at perhaps longer (but reasonable) turnaround times at a fraction of the cost. 

Notable Institutions That Use Document Transcription

The National Archives Transcription Project stands as a great example of text-to-text transcription. Historical handwritten documents are typed by volunteers whenever they can so that the National Archives can create an online database that’s searchable for all to see and use for educational and research purposes. Once the database is completed, a student, for example, researching the Civil War, could use it to search through thousands of documents by entering in the keywords “Civil War” (or “Battle of Gettysburg” or “Lincoln” or anything else they want to research).  

The Smithsonian Institution — the world’s largest museum and research complex — also uses volunteer document-to-document transcription that handles diaries, ledgers, logbooks, currency proof sheets, historic audio recordings, and many more historical documents. Like Project Gutenberg, their process provides transcribers with digital images to convert. 

The Library of Congress also enlists volunteer transcriptionists to transcribe and review U.S. historical documents. The initiative’s main goal is to improve readability and searchability for all historical materials in their collection and promote accessibility of such documents for people with disabilities or those who require assistive technology. Volunteers can freely choose what campaigns they want to participate in and even look through the collection to see whichever document or material interests them. 

Contact us for a free quote!

Ditto Transcripts handles anything to everything to ensure accurate, timely, and affordable documents for any and all of your projects. Our professional transcriptionists are trained in handwriting transcription and text conversion. Contact us at (720) 287-3710 for a free quote on our text conversion services.