Extract text from an image
Pull editable text out of a screenshot or scan.
Drop an image here, or .
Free, no sign-up. Runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
Image to Text (OCR): how to use it
- Drop in a screenshot, a photo of a page, or a scan.
- Choose the Language of the text.
- Read the extracted text, correct anything that is wrong, and copy it.
Tips
- The first run for each language downloads a small language model, then it is cached.
- Clear, straight, high-contrast text works best. Straighten photos of pages first with the Perspective Corrector.
- Handwriting is not reliably recognised.
Image to Text (OCR): what it does and when to use it
Image to Text uses Tesseract, a long-established open-source OCR engine, running in your browser. It finds lines of text in a screenshot, photo or scan and turns them into editable text you can copy. Twelve languages are available, including English, Spanish, French, German, Arabic, Hindi, Russian, Chinese and Japanese; each language model is downloaded the first time you use it and then cached.
Accuracy depends mostly on the image. Printed text on a flat, well-lit, straight page reads very well; screenshots are usually excellent. Handwriting, curved pages, low light, decorative fonts and small text in photos cause mistakes. Straighten a photographed page with the Perspective Corrector and crop to the text before running OCR.
Always proofread the result, especially numbers, names and anything you will rely on. Because the text is recognised on your device, you can use it on receipts, letters and ID documents without uploading them. To go the other way and remove text from an image, use the Text Remover.
Image to Text (OCR): frequently asked questions
Is the Image to Text (OCR) free, and do I need to sign up?
Yes, the Image to Text (OCR) is 100% free with no sign-up, no login and no account. The Image to Text (OCR) runs in your browser, so it has no daily limit and no upload, and saves at full size with no watermark. See why it is free.
How accurate is the text recognition?
Very good on clean screenshots and scans of printed text, noticeably worse on photographs taken at an angle, on low-contrast text, and on handwriting, which it does not attempt. Straightening the image and cropping to just the text block before running it makes a large difference.
How do I copy text from an image?
Drop the screenshot, photo or scan here and the text is recognised on your device; press Copy to paste it anywhere. Nothing is uploaded, which matters for receipts, letters and documents.
How do I get better results from a photo of a page?
Straighten it with the Perspective Corrector, make the paper white with Levels and Curves, and crop to the text. Our phone scanning guide covers each step.
Can it read handwriting?
Not reliably. It is built for printed text, and neat print in capitals is the most it can manage from handwriting.