OCR (Optical Character Recognition) converts images containing text — scanned documents, photos, screenshots — into actual editable text you can copy, search, and reformat. If you have a scanned PDF you can't select text from, or a photo of a receipt you need to transcribe, OCR solves it in seconds.
Use our online OCR tool to extract text from any image or scanned PDF — no account or software required. The guide below explains how OCR works, what affects accuracy, and which format to choose for output.
How OCR Extracts Text from Images
When you scan a document or take a photo of text, you get an image — a grid of pixels with no inherent text data. The computer sees shapes, not characters.
OCR software analyzes the pixel patterns and matches them against character templates. It identifies letter shapes, groups them into words, and reassembles the text in reading order. Modern OCR uses trained neural networks that handle varied fonts, sizes, and layouts.
The output is plain text (or a searchable PDF) where the original page layout is approximated. Tables, columns, and indentation are partially preserved depending on the tool and the document complexity.
What You Can Extract Text From
Scanned documents — contracts, invoices, forms, books, legal papers
Photos of text — business cards, receipts, whiteboards, signs, menus
Screenshots — error messages, software dialogs, website content, presentations
Scanned PDFs — PDFs where text is stored as images, not as selectable text
Old documents — historical records, typed letters, faxes
To check if a PDF is scanned: try selecting text with your cursor. If nothing highlights, the PDF is image-based and needs OCR. If text selects normally, it's already searchable.
How to Extract Text from an Image Online
Open our image to text tool
- Upload your image (JPG, PNG, TIFF, BMP) or PDF
- Select the document language for better accuracy
- Click Convert
- Copy the extracted text or download as Word / plain text Works in any browser including Safari on iPhone. No installation required.
How to Get the Best OCR Accuracy
OCR accuracy depends heavily on image quality. These factors have the most impact:
Resolution
300 DPI is the minimum for reliable OCR. Most scanner defaults are 200 DPI — increase to 300 before scanning documents you plan to OCR. Phone photos are usually sufficient if the text is sharp and fills most of the frame.
Low-resolution images (below 150 DPI or very small text) produce errors on similar characters: l/I/1, 0/O, rn/m, cl/d.
Contrast and lighting
Dark text on a white background gives the highest accuracy. Problems arise from:
- Shadows across the page (common in phone photos of thick books)
- Colored backgrounds with text in a similar shade
- Faded or yellowed paper
- Glossy surfaces causing light reflections
Skew and rotation
OCR performs best on straight, horizontal text. Pages scanned at an angle — even a few degrees — reduce accuracy noticeably. Most scanning apps include auto-deskew; enable it before processing.
Language selection
Always select the correct language before running OCR. The engine uses language-specific character sets and dictionaries. Running English OCR on a French document causes errors on accented characters (é, à, ç). For mixed-language documents, select the primary language.
Output Format: Text, Word, or Searchable PDF?
| Format | Best for | Preserves layout? |
|---|---|---|
| Plain text (.txt) | Copy-paste, data extraction, translation | No — text only |
| Word (.docx) | Editing, reformatting, sharing | Partial — headings, paragraphs |
| Searchable PDF | Archiving, keeping original appearance | Yes — original image + invisible text layer |
| Searchable PDF is the best choice for document archiving: it preserves the | ||
| original visual appearance while adding a hidden text layer for search and copy. Choose Word | ||
| when you need to edit the content or reformat it significantly. |
Extracting Text from Images in Other Tools
Google Docs (built-in OCR)
Upload an image or PDF to Google Drive, right-click it, and choose Open with → Google Docs. Google automatically runs OCR and opens the result as an editable document. This is free and works well for English text.
Windows Snipping Tool
Windows 11's Snipping Tool includes a "Text Actions" feature that extracts text from screenshots directly in the clipboard. Take a snip, click the Text Actions button, and copy the recognized text.
iPhone / iOS Live Text
On iPhone (iOS 15+), point the camera at text and tap the Live Text icon to select and copy it. This works for photos in the Photos app too — open any image, tap the Live Text button, and select the text you want.
Summary
OCR turns images of text — scans, photos, screenshots — into editable text you can search and copy. Accuracy depends mostly on image quality: 300 DPI, dark text on light background, straight pages, and the correct language selected. For one-off jobs use the online OCR tool — no install required, works on iPhone and desktop alike.
Related Tools
Image to Word (OCR) — extract text and save as editable Word document
Scanned PDF to searchable PDF — add a text layer without changing the appearance
OCR essentials guide — how OCR works and when to use it
Scanned PDF to Word — step-by-step OCR for scanned documents