Image to Text Online — Free OCR Tool to Extract Text from Photos

AllTools' OCR tool reads text from any photo, screenshot, or scanned document and gives you the recognized characters as copyable plain text in seconds. Great for digitizing printed pages, extracting data from screenshots, or copying text from images you cannot edit.

Why use this Image to Text (OCR)?

  • Recognizes printed and typed text in dozens of languages
  • Works on photos, scanned pages, screenshots, and signs
  • Outputs editable, copy-pasteable plain text
  • Supports JPG, PNG, and PDF input

How to use the Image to Text (OCR)

  1. Upload your image or PDF: Click 'Upload' and select the file containing the text you want to extract.
  2. Select language (optional): Choose the primary language of the text to improve recognition accuracy.
  3. Run OCR: Click 'Extract Text' and let the tool scan and recognize the characters in your image.
  4. Copy or download the result: Review the extracted text in the output box, then copy it to your clipboard or download as a .txt file.

Frequently Asked Questions

What image quality gives the best OCR results?

Sharp, well-lit images with high contrast between the text and background work best. Blurry photos, extreme angles, or very small fonts reduce accuracy. If your image is low quality, consider using the Sharpen Image tool first.

Can it read handwriting?

The OCR engine is optimized for printed and typed text. It can handle some neat, clear handwriting but accuracy drops significantly with cursive or informal handwriting.

What languages does the OCR support?

The tool supports most Latin-script languages (English, French, Spanish, German, etc.) plus many others including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, and Russian. Select your language from the dropdown for best results.

Can I extract text from a PDF scan?

Yes. Upload a scanned PDF (or an image-based PDF) and the tool will run OCR on each page and return the combined text. Native text PDFs are also supported.

Is the extracted text saved anywhere?

No. Your image and the extracted text are processed on our server and deleted immediately — nothing is stored or logged after your session ends.

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