1. A method for optically reading and determining machine-encoded characters from a printed document, said method comprising the steps of: (a) scanning an area of said printed document to generate digitized data; (b) storing said digitized data; (c) analyzing said digitized data for ascertaining the existence of apparent determinable characters and an associated starting location for each apparent determinable character; (d) storing the starting locations in a location table; (e) determining on a first pass the machine encoded character for each starting location stored in the location table; (f) editing the location table for predicting the probable starting locations of additional characters, including blanks; and (g) determining on a second pass additional characters and blanks based upon the predicted probable starting locations of additional characters and blanks.