Abstract: A computer-implemented method for recognising a printed character string is provided. The method includes receiving an image comprising the character string, the character string comprising a plurality of characters, determining a readability quality for each character in the character string and selecting at least one anchor character based at least in part on the readability quality of the characters in the character string. The identity of the at least one anchor character is determined using a character recognition algorithm and the identity of the character string recognised based on the at least one identified anchor character.