Image to Text (OCR)
Extract text from images using optical character recognition
How to use Image to Text (OCR)
- Upload an image containing text (screenshot, photo, scan).
- Select the language of the text in the image.
- Click Extract Text. The OCR engine processes the image in your browser.
- Copy the extracted text or download it as a .txt file.
How OCR works
OCR (Optical Character Recognition) analyzes an image to identify and extract text. It works by detecting character patterns, comparing them against trained models, and outputting the recognized text.
This tool uses Tesseract.js, a JavaScript port of the Tesseract OCR engine originally developed by HP and later maintained by Google. It runs entirely in your browser using WebAssembly, meaning your images are never sent to any server.
For best results, use clear images with good contrast between text and background. Printed text on white backgrounds gives the highest accuracy. Handwritten text, artistic fonts, and low-resolution images are more challenging for any OCR engine.
Frequently Asked Questions
What languages are supported?
English is loaded by default. Additional languages can be selected before processing. The OCR engine supports 100+ languages including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Hindi, and all European languages.
How accurate is the OCR?
Accuracy depends on image quality. Clear, high-contrast text on a plain background gives 95%+ accuracy. Handwritten text, low-resolution images, and complex layouts reduce accuracy.
Are my images uploaded to a server?
No. The OCR engine (Tesseract.js) runs entirely in your browser using WebAssembly. Your images never leave your device. Language data files are downloaded once from a CDN.
Why is the first conversion slow?
On first use, the OCR engine downloads the language recognition data (~2MB for English). This is cached by your browser, so subsequent conversions are much faster.