You have data embedded in an image: a scanned invoice, a table scan, a report printout. The numbers are visible, but you can’t use them. It can be tedious and error-prone. There is also a way by which one can be vicariously. Just importing the image straight to Excel loads the data into the cells, which can be edited, in less than a minute. No account needed, no software to install, no cost!
Why does the image-to-Excel conversion go wrong?
Most will only be able to do it once, get bad results, and continue to retype images. The problem is more with the image than the software.
Taking pictures at angles, in low light conditions, or with too much information in the picture on the table will lead to poor input to the OCR engines. The outcome is merged columns, lost rows, and incorrect numbers.
Too often, even changing tools does not solve the problem. Better pictures will do.
What should you do before uploading?
These three things will change the way a change is uploaded:
- Camera position is important – level and straight above the document.
- Even light from across the page (shadows obscure data from OCR)
- Only take the picture to the table — the rest will on confuse to the tool
Thirty seconds is the time needed for good preparation. Much more efficient than having to clean up a poorly performed conversion later.
What types of images convert well?
Variations in results will occur with different documents. Let’s do a quick breakdown:
- Well-lit, high-contrast pictures from printed invoices and receipts — Printed and well-lit and contrasted images are good to convert.
- Digital scans and clear photos of bank statements and financial records are reliable.
- Printed tables and reports — Clean borders between columns produce the best output.
- Screenshots of data — The easiest to convert accurately
- Handwritten documents – OCR wasn’t designed for handwriting. Be prepared for mistakes and make allowances for the fact that things will need to be corrected by hand.
- Worn or faded documents — Enhance the contrast before upload. Continue to thoroughly review the results.
Ease of use. As they say, you know what you’re facing at the start is half the battle. If you have more challenging minds to work with, you must create a review stage in your process.
How to convert an image to Excel for free using WPS
WPS has a free browser-based image to excel tool. Open it, upload your file, and download the result. No registration, no installation, nothing to configure.
- Open the WPS converter in the browser.
- Upload your image; it can be a simple JPG or PNG.
- The tool automatically reads the information from the table
- First, download the XLSX file and then open it with MS Excel or Google Sheets.
- This converted file will open as a true spreadsheet file. Cells, rows, and columns contain numbers. Not a photograph falling on a piece of paper.
What makes WPS different from basic OCR tools?
Basic OCR identifies characters from shapes and prints out the identified characters. That’s typically sufficient for simple and clean files.
WPS scans the table as a whole. It positions values for the layout, rather than left to right down the page. Supports bordered and borderless tables. Basic OCR treats all the information in a borderless table as one column, where spacing is used to determine the columns. WPS reads the space and alignment to reconstruct correctly.
That distinction makes itself apparent every time for those who print out financial statements or invoices on a regular basis.
What makes a good free conversion tool?
Not all free tools are created equal. It is important that a dependable one:
- No installation required, works in the browser.
- Accept pictures as JPG and PNG with no size limits.
- Generate a correctly formatted XLSX file to use right away
- Use both bordered and borderless tables while avoiding column collapse
- Process files without having to create an account. Hassles in any regular workflow come from tools that need to be signed up for or have daily limits. There is no better way to use a browser-based tool with no restrictions.
What to check after conversion?
Two minutes after conversion, the review eliminates errors in reports or the accounting system. Look at these 4 things every time:
- Numbers — Use the numbers column, and view the status bar. A sum is a list of numbers. A count will display if the cell has text. Convert to a number to correct it.
- Dates — Make a few comparisons of dates with the original image. If a formula breaks, there will be some errors, but if it doesn’t break, EE will handle it correctly, at least in a regional format such as DD/MM versus MM/DD.
- Totals — Calculate the sum of elements in the spreadsheet and check with the total that was found in the source image. A mismatch indicates that there is an error in the column at some point.
- Reference numbers: Incorrect Invoice numbers and product codes with the wrong number of characters do not interfere with any lookups or imports, but they silently fail.
This saves trouble in hours of tracking errors after the fact.
Which documents are harder to convert accurately?
Typical business documents render nicely with any good free software. Some circumstances require extra attention regularly.
The handwritten parts are not easily converted using a standard OCR. The shapes of characters are too diverse for pattern-matching engines to read. Manual entry is faster than fixing bad OCR on a fully handwritten document.
Originals that were heavily degraded do not contain information that could be retrieved by conversion. Examples may include worn copies, photocopies, receipts that have faded, and records that have been damaged by water. Increasing the contrast on the source before uploading helps, but not enough to rectify poor source quality.
Basic OCR is getting its limits with complex layouts with merged cells and multi-level headers. A tool that has better structure detection does better in this case, but still requires a post-conversion review.
For invoices, bank statements, expense reports, and printed tables, free convert image to excel tools handle the job reliably when the image is prepared correctly.
Who uses image-to-Excel conversion daily?
Use cases are more extensive than most realize. AP teams extract the data from supplier bills and bank statements and move it to finance teams without manual entry.AP teams extract data from supplier bills and bank statements and move it to the finance teams without manual entry. Field forms and delivery records are converted to operations teams on the day they are collected.
Researchers scan older publications that do not have digital versions and convert the data into tables. Researchers scan older publications that are not digital and convert data tables. Sales staff scan printed price lists and competitor catalogs from trade events to create sales. Sales teams take photos of printed price lists and competitor catalogs at trade events to generate sales data. In both, the process is equivalent. Take a picture of the document or scan the document. Convert it. Review the output. Use the data.
Conclusion
It can also be easy and affordable to convert images to Excel. Images above should be cleaned before upload. Utilize a free tool that supports bordered and borderless tables and works in a web browser. Conduct a two-minute review following conversion.
So on any business document, those three steps yield good results without retyping, without manual error, and without wasted time.
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FAQs
Does the conversion of a WPS image to Excel really cost nothing and require no sign-up?
Yes. There is no requirement to register or pay for use of the online tool. There are no limits on daily conversions. Upload the image and download the XLSX file straight away.
What is the accuracy of the free image-to-Excel conversion?
95% or higher on clean, well-lit representations of standard documents. The primary factor is the image quality. Switching tools is not as effective as good lighting, straight angles, and tight cropping.
How to freely convert images to Excel on my phone?
Yep. Simply open your phone browser, pick an image from the photos folder, and download the fully converted image to your phone! Does not require app installation.
What image formats are supported in converting free images to Excel?
Most tools support both JPG and PNG. PNG retains more information for repeated saves than JPG does, as it is not degraded as JPG is.
After converting an image to Excel, why are numbers appearing in text?
The default setting for all content is to be read as text strings with OCR. Click on the cells, pay attention to the green triangle warning, and choose Convert to Number. If you’re looking for a longer range run, Text to Columns from the Data tab using General format.
