We've all been there — scribbled notes, classwork, ideas on paper that we wish we could instantly convert into editable, clean text without spending hours of typing. That pain inspired me to build something I believe many people could find useful: a web platform that converts handwritten notes to digital text, and then lets you edit, format, and download them just like you'd do with MS Word or Google Docs.
🔧 What It Does
My app allows users to:
- Upload handwritten images
- Convert them into editable text using OCR
- Edit the output in a document editor (like a mini Word processor)
- Save, export, and manage documents easily
Whether you're a student digitizing class notes or a professional turning quick sketches into polished reports — this tool bridges the analog and digital world.
🔍 The Stack I Used
Frontend: React + Tailwind CSS
Backend: Node.js + Express
Editor: Rich text editor integration (Onlyoffice)
🎯 Challenges I Faced
OCR Accuracy: Handwriting is tricky. I had to experiment with contrast, image preprocessing, and different OCR models.
Document Editing UX: Making the editor feel fluid and responsive took time — especially getting text formatting to feel natural.
File Handling & Security: Ensuring uploaded images were safely stored and accessible only by the uploader.
✅ What I Learned
- User expectations are high when it comes to text editors!
- Performance optimization for OCR is key — image size matters.
- UI/UX makes or breaks the user’s trust in the output . 🧠 Future Plans Add handwriting style training so it learns your handwriting better over time. Support for math notation (LaTeX output!)
If you're curious to test it or want to help contribute, feel free to drop me a message or leave a comment 👇
TRY IT OUT: Copywrite
Building this was both technically and emotionally rewarding. It's one of those projects where you're solving your own problem — and it feels great knowing it could help others too.
