Every paper in E-Porikkha starts with student text. There are two ways to get that text in: paste it directly, or let the OCR engine extract it from a scan. Both paths lead to the same grading studio.
Option 1 — Paste text (recommended for typed answers)
If students submit answers digitally — via a Google Form, a Word document, or any typed format — just copy the text and paste it into the upload modal. No OCR step, no waiting, no extra cost.
This is also the best path if you're processing a backlog of already-transcribed papers.
Option 2 — Upload a scan
Upload a JPEG, PNG, or PDF of the handwritten script. E-Porikkha runs OCR in the background (via Celery, asynchronously) and shows you a spinner. Typical extraction time is 10–30 seconds per page.
Once extraction finishes you can edit the text before grading — useful for fixing any [illegible] markers or obvious mis-reads.
Credit usage
One credit is charged when a paper is successfully graded — regardless of whether you used paste or scan. OCR processing itself is free. Re-grading the same paper up to 3 times is also free; only the first successful grade consumes a credit.
Which should I use?
Use paste whenever possible — it's faster and cheaper (no OCR inference cost on our side). Use scan when you have physical scripts that haven't been transcribed.
Start grading with 5 free credits — no credit card required.