---
dataset_info:
  features:
  - name: text
    dtype: string
  - name: image
    dtype: image
  - name: font_path
    dtype: string
  - name: bg_color
    list: int64
  - name: font_color
    dtype: string
  - name: font_size
    dtype: int64
  - name: image_width
    dtype: int64
  - name: image_height
    dtype: int64
  - name: image_dpi
    dtype: int64
  - name: text_vertical_alignment
    dtype: string
  - name: text_horizontal_alignment
    dtype: string
  splits:
  - name: train
    num_bytes: 1618863509
    num_examples: 64261
  - name: test
    num_bytes: 202367385
    num_examples: 8033
  - name: validation
    num_bytes: 202367385
    num_examples: 8033
  download_size: 1958221906
  dataset_size: 2023598279
configs:
- config_name: default
  data_files:
  - split: train
    path: data/train-*
  - split: test
    path: data/test-*
  - split: validation
    path: data/validation-*
license: apache-2.0
task_categories:
- image-to-text
language:
- is
size_categories:
- n<1K
tags:
- ocr
- synthetic-data
- icelandic
---

# Icelandic Synthetic OCR Dataset

## Dataset Description

This dataset contains synthetically generated images of Icelandic text for Optical Character Recognition (OCR) tasks. It was created to address the lack of publicly available, large-scale OCR datasets for the Icelandic language. The images are generated from a corpus of Icelandic text, rendered with various settings to create a diverse set of training examples.

The key feature of this dataset is its focus on Icelandic, including all special characters such as `ð, þ, æ, ö, á, é, í, ó, ú`.

## Project Status: Work in Progress

This is an ongoing project. The dataset is currently under development, and future versions may include more variety in:
*   Fonts and text styles
*   Backgrounds and textures
*   Real-world augmentations (e.g., noise, blur, perspective distortion)

Feedback and contributions are welcome.

## How to Use

You can load the dataset from the Hugging Face Hub like this:

```python
from datasets import load_dataset

dataset = load_dataset("Sigurdur/isl_synthetic_ocr")
```

## Dataset Structure

### Data Instances

A typical data instance consists of an image and its corresponding ground truth text.

```
{
  'image': <PIL.PngImagePlugin.PngImageFile image mode=RGB size=512x512>,
  'text': 'Íslenskur texti'
}
```

### Data Fields

-   `image`: A PIL image object containing the rendered text.
-   `text`: A string containing the ground truth text corresponding to the image.

### Data Splits

This dataset does not have pre-defined train/validation/test splits. It is provided as a single collection of generated examples. Users are encouraged to create their own splits as needed for their specific use case. This is subject for change later in the development process.

## Dataset Creation

### Curation Rationale

The primary motivation for creating this dataset was the scarcity of dedicated OCR training data for Icelandic. By synthetically generating images from a large text corpus, we can create a virtually unlimited amount of labeled data, which is crucial for training robust deep learning models for OCR.

### Source Data

The text used for generating the images is sourced from the `arnastofnun/IGC-2024` dataset, specifically the `wiki` subset, which contains a large collection of Icelandic text. I chose the `wiki` subset because it contains many domain specific words.

### Generation Process

The images were generated using a Python script leveraging the Pillow library. The script takes text from the source corpus and renders it onto a blank image. The generation process is configurable, allowing for variations in:
- Image dimensions (`width`, `height`, `dpi`)
- Font type, size, and color
- Text alignment (horizontal and vertical)
- Background color

The code used for generation is available in the dataset repository.

## Limitations and Bias

-   **Synthetic Nature**: The images are "clean" and do not feature real-world distortions like noise, blur, perspective shifts, or varied lighting conditions. Fine-tuning on real-world data may be necessary for robust performance.
-   **Font Variety**: The dataset was generated using a limited set of fonts (e.g., Arial). OCR models trained on this data may not generalize well to documents with different or more stylized fonts.
-   **Text Corpus Bias**: The dataset inherits any biases present in the source `arnastofnun/IGC-2024`. The content is primarily from news and web text, and may not represent all styles of written Icelandic.

## Citation

If you use this dataset in your research, please consider citing it:

```bibtex
@misc{isl_synthetic_ocr,
  author    = {Sigurdur Haukur Birgisson},
  title     = {Icelandic Synthetic OCR Dataset},
  year      = {2025},
  publisher = {Hugging Face},
  journal   = {Hugging Face repository},
  howpublished = {\url{https://huggingface.co/datasets/Sigurdur/isl_synthetic_ocr}}
}
```