Extract Text from Image
Pull text out of photos, screenshots, and scanned pages, then copy it or save it as a .txt file. OCR runs in your browser, so your images are never uploaded.
Images are read in your browser and never uploaded. The first run downloads the OCR engine and language data (several MB). After that, your browser reuses its cached copy.
How to extract text from an image
- Choose images, drop them anywhere on the page, or paste a screenshot with ⌘V or Ctrl+V. JPG, PNG, WebP, and HEIC all work.
- Under Text language, pick the language in your images. Add up to three if they mix languages.
- Reading starts right away, and the text appears under each thumbnail. If an image is sideways, rotate it and the tool reads it again.
- Select Copy text, or Copy all text when you have several images. Download .txt saves everything in one file.
How does image to text work?
OCR (optical character recognition) finds letters in the pixels of an image and turns them into text you can edit. This tool runs the open-source Tesseract engine in your browser, so the image to text conversion happens on your device.
It works best on screenshots and clear printed text, such as app screens, slides, receipts, and scanned pages. Small screenshots are enlarged before reading so small type is recognized more reliably. Handwriting, decorative fonts, and text over busy backgrounds are harder to read, so check the result before you use it.
To grab text you can't select, take a screenshot to the clipboard (Cmd + Ctrl + Shift + 4 on a Mac, Win + Shift + S on Windows) and paste it here.
Need the image and the text together? Turn screenshots into a searchable PDF to keep the original look with an invisible text layer you can search and select.
Frequently asked questions
Is this image to text tool free?
Yes. There's no signup, no watermark, and no daily limit. You can extract text from up to 80 images at a time.
Are my images uploaded to a server?
No. Text recognition runs in your browser with the Tesseract OCR engine. On the first run, your browser downloads the engine and language data (several MB) from a public CDN. Your images stay on your device.
How do I copy text from a screenshot?
Take a screenshot to the clipboard, click anywhere on this page, and press ⌘V or Ctrl+V. When the text appears under the thumbnail, select Copy text and paste it wherever you need it.
Which languages can it recognize?
English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Russian, Japanese, Korean, and Simplified and Traditional Chinese. Pick up to three when an image mixes languages. The fewer you pick, the faster it reads.
Can I extract text from several images at once?
Yes. Add up to 80 images and the tool reads them one after another. Copy all text and Download .txt put everything in one place, with each image's file name above its text.
How accurate is the extracted text?
Clear screenshots of printed text usually read well, but OCR can still misread a character, so check names, numbers, and codes before you use them. If nothing is found, make sure the right language is selected or rotate the image.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. It works in mobile browsers such as Safari and Chrome. Tap Choose images to pick photos or screenshots from your library, including HEIC photos from an iPhone. Reading takes longer on a phone than on a computer.
Does it keep the original layout?
It keeps line breaks, but not fonts, columns, or table cells. The result is plain text. To keep the image's original look, turn it into a searchable PDF instead.
Collecting text from screen after screen?
Shotomatic captures screenshot series on your Mac and can export them as one searchable PDF, with text you can search and copy.