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South Africa Smart ID Card

Extract data from South Africa Smart ID Card with high accuracy using our advanced OCR technology.

Request Parameters

Required Parameters

Parameter Type Required Description
image File ✅ Smart ID card image file (JPG, PNG, WebP, max 10MB)
documentType String ✅ Must be za_id_card

Response Format

Success Response (200 OK)

{
  "lastName": "BOTHA",
  "firstName": "JOHAN",
  "identityNumber": "9001011234081",
  "dateOfBirth": "1990-01-01",
  "countryOfBirth": "SOUTH AFRICA",
  "nationality": "SOUTH AFRICAN",
  "gender": "MALE",
  "citizenshipStatus": "CITIZEN",
  "issueDate": "2020-01-01",
  "pdf417BarcodeData": "(Binary data or placeholder)"
}

Response Fields

Field Type Description
lastName string Last name
firstName string First name
identityNumber string Identity number
dateOfBirth string Date of birth (YYYY-MM-DD)
countryOfBirth string Country of birth
nationality string Nationality
gender string Gender
citizenshipStatus string Citizenship status
issueDate string Issue date (YYYY-MM-DD)
pdf417BarcodeData string Placeholder for PDF417 barcode data

Code Examples

cURL

curl -X POST "https://pictotext.io/api/v1/ocr" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_live_123456789abcdef" \
  -F "image=@safrica_id_card.jpg" \
  -F "documentType=za_id_card"

JavaScript (Browser)

async function processSouthAfricaIDCard(imageFile, apiKey) {
  const formData = new FormData();
  formData.append('image', imageFile);
  formData.append('documentType', 'za_id_card');

  try {
    const response = await fetch('https://pictotext.io/api/v1/ocr', {
      method: 'POST',
      headers: {
        'Authorization': `Bearer ${apiKey}`
      },
      body: formData
    });

    if (!response.ok) {
      const error = await response.json();
      throw new Error(error.error.message);
    }

    return await response.json();
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Error processing ID card:', error);
    throw error;
  }
}

Python

import requests
import os

def extract_south_africa_id_data(image_path, api_key):
    """Extract data from South Africa Smart ID Card image"""

    url = 'https://pictotext.io/api/v1/ocr'
    headers = {'Authorization': f'Bearer {api_key}'}

    try:
        with open(image_path, 'rb') as f:
            files = {
                'image': (os.path.basename(image_path), f, 'image/jpeg')
            }
            data = {'documentType': 'za_id_card'}

            response = requests.post(url, headers=headers, files=files, data=data, timeout=30)
            response.raise_for_status()

            return response.json()

    except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e:
        print(f"Request failed: {e}")
        if hasattr(e, 'response') and e.response is not None:
            print(f"Status code: {e.response.status_code}")
            print(f"Error response: {e.response.text}")
        return None

Node.js

const FormData = require('form-data');
const fs = require('fs');
const axios = require('axios');

async function processIDCard(imagePath, apiKey) {
  const formData = new FormData();
  formData.append('image', fs.createReadStream(imagePath));
  formData.append('documentType', 'za_id_card');

  try {
    const response = await axios.post('https://pictotext.io/api/v1/ocr', formData, {
      headers: {
        ...formData.getHeaders(),
        'Authorization': `Bearer ${apiKey}`
      }
    });

    return response.data;
  } catch (error) {
    if (error.response) {
      console.error('API Error:', error.response.data);
    }
    throw error;
  }
}

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