Contact Point for Automated Text Recognition (ATR)
Through its Contact Point for Automated Text Recognition (ATR), the ULB Tirol provides a facility for consulting, support and networking in the field of digital humanities. We support researchers, projects and students at the University of Innsbruck throughout the ATR workflow – from the initial idea through to test runs and quality assurance, right up to the delivery of research outputs.
Projects are not carried out independently by ULB Tirol; instead, we provide advice and support on an ad hoc basis. It is best to contact us before submitting a project application – alternatively, we can agree on specific stages at which we will provide support throughout the course of the project. To this end, we are happy to make our expertise and internally used tools available, but we also work closely with the Digital Humanities Research Centre, the ZID service point Digital Research Services and the respective data stewards.
Are you interested or do you have a specific enquiry?
Please feel free to contact us with a brief description of your project, the source material and the support you require.
Contact: Mirjam El Attal | Digital Services Department | ulb-atr@uibk.ac.at

Infographic on the services provided by the ATR Contact Point
Infographic on the services provided by the ATR Contact Point .
1) Consultation at the start of the project: needs analysis, effort estimation and recommendations for key decisions throughout the ATR process.
2) Evaluation & quality assessment: conducting test runs, spot-check assessments, reviewing interim results, and providing advice on the creation of ground-truth material (scope, quality, documentation).
3) Tool selection & documentation: Guidance on ATR tools and best practices, provision of selected internal services and references to useful external resources; support with the selection of formats, parameters and workflow documentation.
4) Workshops & training: Introductory workshops, in-depth sessions on specific topics – e.g. model training in Transkribus – and tool-specific training as required.
5) Making data available: Advice on integrating research output into existing library services and on workflows that are as sustainable as possible to ensure long-term availability.
6) OCRmyPDF: A browser-based web service for all university members to make self-scanned files searchable. Link to the OCR web service: ulb-ocr.uibk.ac.at
OCRmyPDF – how it works
What is it? The service makes self-scanned files searchable using OCR.
Where to use it? ulb-ocr.uibk.ac.at Log in with your UIBK account and two-factor authentication.
What to upload? PDF scans or images that are as legible as possible (straight, not too dark or too light).
Select language: If your document contains multiple languages, add all the required languages in the Select which language to use field – a maximum of 5 languages can be selected.
Old-style typeface (Fraktur): Tick the Show all languages option and select a Fraktur font, e.g. German – Fraktur.
Start & Duration: Start the job using the Upload file button; depending on the file size, this may take a little time – maximum file size is 2GB per job.
Results: Download as a single PDF or word file (.docx). Alternatively, you can download a ZIP file containing all available output formats: DOCX, PDF, TXT, XML.
Important: Uploaded files are automatically removed from the server after 14 days. Please save the output files straight away.
Help: ulb-atr@uibk.ac.at