OCR Manga Reader is a free and open source Android app that allows you to quickly OCR and lookup Japanese words in real-time. It does not have ads or telemetry/spyware and does not require an Internet connection. Supports EDICT J-E dictionary, ENAMDICT name dictionary (optional), kanji dictionary, and up to 4 EPWING dictionaries. Requires Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) or higher.
Confused about which .apk file to download? Users with relatively new devices should try OCR_Manga_Reader_v9.8_arm64-v8a.apk. The most compatible variant is OCR_Manga_Reader_v9.8_armeabi-v7a.apk. For PC emulators, you should download one of the x86 files.
By default, only the meanings of the kanji will be shown in the definition area. To set a custom format:
Token | Description |
---|---|
${Freq} | Kanji frequency. |
${Grade} | Jouyou Kanji grade level. |
${Halpern} | Kanji index number in "New Japanese-English Character Dictionary" by Jack Halpern. |
${HalpernKkd} | Kanji index number in "Kodansha Kanji Dictionary" by Jack Halpern. |
${Heisig} | Kanji index number in "Remembering The Kanji" by James Heisig. |
${Heisig6} | Kanji index number in "Remembering The Kanji, Sixth Ed." by James Heisig. |
${Henshall} | Kanji index number in "A Guide To Remembering Japanese Characters" by Kenneth G. Henshall. |
${KanjiLearnersDictionary} | Kanji index number in "Kanji Learners Dictionary" (Kodansha) edited by Jack Halpern. |
${KanjiLearnersDictionary2} | Kanji index number in "Kanji Learners Dictionary" (Kodansha), 2nd edition (2013) edited by Jack Halpern. |
${Meanings} | Meanings of the kanji. |
${Nelson} | Kanji index number in "Modern Reader's Japanese-English Character Dictionary" by Andrew N. Nelson. |
${NewNelson} | Kanji index number in "The New Nelson Japanese-English Character Dictionary" by John H. Haig. |
${Readings} | Readings of the kanji. |
${ReadingsNanori} | 名乗り readings of the kanji. |
${SkipPattern} | The "SKIP" coding of the kanji, as used in Halpern. |
${Strokes} | Stroke count. |
${TuttleKanjiAndKana} | Kanji index number in "Japanese Kanji & Kana: A Complete Guide to the Japanese Writing System" by Wolfgang Hadamitzky and Mark Spahn. |
${TuttleKanjiDic} | Kanji index number in "The Kanji Dictionary" by Mark Spahn and Wolfgang Hadamitzky. |
${Unicode} | Unicode/ISO 10646 code. |
Example format:
${Meanings}.<br />Strokes: ${Strokes}. Heisig: ${Heisig}.
How to OCR a word
Tap the button in the top right corner and then either tap the word that you want to OCR or draw a box over the word(s) to OCR. You may resize the box as necessary by placing your finger next to an edge or corner and dragging. For example, to resize the box horizontally to the right, place your finger to the right of the right edge of the box and drag. To move the box, place your finger inside of the box and drag it around. A brief moment later, the definition of the OCR'd word will appear. You may tap the arrows in the upper-right to lookup the previous/next word. To toggle text orientation (vertical, horizontal, or auto), tap the Vert/Horiz/Auto button in the lower left. To exit OCR mode and continue reading, press the Exit button in the lower-right.
How to manually correct OCR errors
Tap the Send button and select OCR Error Correction Editor.
How to specify an EPWING dictionary
Select Settings > OCR > EPWING Dictionaries > Paths to EPWING dictionaries, tap one of the 4 dictionary slots, and finally locate the CATALOGS file of your EPWING dictionary in the file browser.
How to customize the behavior of buttons, swipes, etc.
Select Settings > Controls > Custom controls, select an action, such as "Long press", and then select the the action that will be performed, such as "Zoom". To unmap an action, select "None". Unmapped Corner/edge buttons will be hidden.
How to hide the buttons in the corners/edges
Select Settings > Visual > Invisible corners. The buttons will still be tap-able (assuming they are mapped to an action).
How to take a photo and OCR it
Tap the button in the top left corner to show the menu and then select Take Photo.... This will temporarily transfer control to the camera app installed on your device. After taking a photo using the camera app, control will be transferred back to OCR Manga Reader and OCR mode will automatically be entered. This action may be mapped (see How to customize the behavior of buttons, swipes, etc. above).
How to display two-pages side-by-side
Tap the button in the top left corner to show the menu and then select Toggle Two-Page Layout.... This action may be mapped (see How to customize the behavior of buttons, swipes, etc. above).
How to change the color scheme
Select Settings > OCR > Colors, tap on the color to change, select a color from the palette, and finally tap the lower rectangle on the right that has an arrow pointing to it.
How to enable/disable the word frequency information
Select Settings > OCR > Misc > Show Frequency.
How to save an entry to a word list file
When viewing Manga:
Action | Shortcut(s) |
---|---|
Actual Size | 4 |
Browse | B |
Close | X |
First Page | Home |
Fit Height | 2 |
Fit Screen | 3 |
Fit Width | 1 or Backspace |
Last Page | End |
Menu | M |
Next Page | Left Arrow or Space |
OCR Mode | O or Enter |
Open File | F |
Previous Page | Right Arrow |
Rotate | R or Left Bracket or Right Bracket |
Scroll Down | S |
Scroll Left | A |
Scroll Right | D |
Scroll Up | W |
Settings | G |
Toggle two-page layout | P |
Zoom In | Plus or Up Arrow |
Zoom Out | Minus or Down Arrow |
When OCR mode is active, and TAB is pressed to remove focus from the Dictionary Panel:
Action | Shortcut(s) |
---|---|
Exit OCR Node | O or Enter |
Nudge active capture box corner down | S |
Nudge active capture box corner left | A |
Nudge active capture box corner right | D |
Nudge active capture box corner up | W |
Send Menu | N |
Swap active capture box corner | E |
Toggle Text Orientation (Vertical/Horizontal/Auto) | T |
Action | Shortcut(s) |
---|---|
Next Page | Middle Click |
OCR | * (see explanation below) |
Scroll Down | Scroll Wheel Down |
Scroll Up | Scroll Wheel Up |
Tap | Left Click |
Zoom In | Hold left button + Scroll Wheel Up |
Zoom Out | Hold left button + Scroll Wheel Down |
* To easily OCR text, you may either right-click on a word or hold the right mouse button down, drag the mouse to fit the capture box over the desired text, and finally release the right mouse button to OCR the desired text. To exit OCR mode, simply right-click outside of the Dictionary Panel.
Sometimes OCR Manga Reader consistently makes the same OCR mistakes.
By editing <sdcard>/Android/data/com.cb4960.ocrmr/files/substitutions.txt you may tell OCR Manga Reader to substitute one text string for another text string.
You may add one substitution per line in this format:
from_text=to_text
Example:
カゝ=か ︿=く |二=に
Special tokens and escape characters:
%eq% | Equals (=) |
%perc% | Percent sign (%) |
You may disable a substitution by adding a "#" in front.
When done editing substitutions.txt, restart OCR Manga Reader.
OCR Manga Reader will display an indicator to the right of a word's reading if that word appears in your list of known words or todo words (words that you don't know yet, but want to learn).
The list of known words must be named known_words.txt and must be placed at <sdcard>/Android/data/com.cb4960.ocrmr/files/known_words.txt.
The list of todo words must be named todo_words.txt and must be placed at <sdcard>/Android/data/com.cb4960.ocrmr/files/todo_words.txt.
By default, neither of these files exists. You will have to create them.
Place exactly one word on each line.
If the word appears in known_words.txt, a * indicator will appear.
If the reading of the word apears in known_words.txt, a *r indicator will appear.
If the word appears in todo_words.txt, a *t indicator will appear.
If the reading of the word appears in todo_words.txt, a *tr indicator will appear.
Example: