Copying Text Out of Images
You have an image with text in it — a screenshot, a photo of a document, a scanned page — and you need that text in a format you can actually work with.
Retyping it manually works but is tedious. OCR (Optical Character Recognition) does it automatically.
Using OCR
Our OCR Tool extracts text from images:
- Upload your image
- The tool recognizes text automatically
- Copy the extracted text or download it
Works with photos, screenshots, scans — anything with readable text.
What OCR Can Handle
Modern OCR is surprisingly good with:
Printed text — Documents, screenshots, book pages. Usually very accurate.
Clear handwriting — Neat, printed-style handwriting works reasonably well.
Multiple languages — Most common languages are supported.
Various fonts — Standard fonts work best, but unusual fonts often work too.
What's Challenging for OCR
Some content is harder:
Messy handwriting — Cursive or sloppy handwriting often produces errors.
Low resolution images — Blurry or small text gets misread.
Complex layouts — Multiple columns, text over images, tables — can confuse the reading order.
Degraded documents — Old, stained, or faded pages have harder-to-read text.
For best results, give OCR clean, clear, high-contrast images.
Practical Uses
Digitizing printed documents — Old paperwork into editable files.
Extracting text from screenshots — When someone shares text as an image instead of actual text.
Quote capturing — Pulling text from book photos or articles.
Data entry — Getting numbers and text from forms or tables.
Making documents searchable — Scanned PDFs can be converted to searchable text.
After Extraction
OCR output might need cleanup:
- Check for misread characters (common: 1/l/I confusion, 0/O confusion)
- Fix formatting lost in extraction
- Verify numbers especially — they matter most
But even with cleanup, it's faster than retyping.
Privacy Note
Your image processes in your browser. We don't see or store the text extracted from your documents.
This matters if you're working with confidential information.
Try OCR
Extract text from your image and get editable text instantly.
Free, works with common image formats, no signup required.
Working with extracted text? Check out our word counter and case converter.