Which API is best for reading large amounts of text, including handwritten text?

The Read API is specifically designed for extracting text from documents, including printed and handwritten texts. It uses advanced optical character recognition (OCR) technology that enables it to accurately interpret and transcribe text from images and documents that may contain varied formats and layouts. This includes the ability to discern and process complex characters in both printed and handwritten forms.

The Read API is particularly effective for large batches of text because it can batch process multiple images, making it efficient for scenarios where there are extensive materials to analyze. It's optimized for human handwriting and can handle various fonts, sizes, and orientations, which is crucial when dealing with diverse document types that may not adhere to strict formatting.

In contrast, the Vision API focuses more broadly on image analysis, including object detection and recognition, while the Image Analysis API primarily handles scene and object understanding but does not specialize in text recognition. The Text Analytics API is used for sentiment analysis, key phrase extraction, and other natural language processing tasks, but it does not directly read text from images or recognize handwriting. Therefore, the Read API stands out as the most suitable option for reading large amounts of text, including handwritten text.