Image to Text (OCR)
Got text trapped in an image? FluidConvert's OCR tool reads printed and handwritten text from photos, screenshots, and scanned documents — extracting it as selectable, copyable text instantly. Free, browser-based, no account needed.
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Supports JPG, PNG, WebP, PDF · Max 100MB free
Fast & Free
Process files up to 100MB at no cost. No account needed.
Secure
Files are encrypted and automatically deleted after processing.
High Quality
Optimized algorithms for the best quality-to-size ratio.
About Image to Text (OCR)
Why extract text from images?
Photos of whiteboards from meetings need to become editable notes. Scanned receipts need data entry. Screenshots of articles need to be quoted in documents. Business cards need contact info extracted. PDF scans need searchable text. Manually retyping text from images is slow and error-prone. OCR (Optical Character Recognition) automates the extraction with high accuracy.
How OCR works
OCR technology analyzes an image pixel by pixel to identify letter shapes, then matches them against known character patterns. Modern AI-powered OCR goes beyond simple pattern matching — it understands context, handles varied fonts and sizes, and can even interpret handwritten text with reasonable accuracy. The engine processes the image locally in your browser using Tesseract.js, meaning your documents never leave your device.
What to expect
Printed text in standard fonts is recognized with 95-99% accuracy on clear images. Handwritten text accuracy varies from 60-85% depending on legibility. The tool works best with high-contrast images — dark text on light backgrounds. Low-resolution images, skewed photos, and heavily stylized fonts may produce lower accuracy. Output is plain text that you can copy to clipboard or download as a TXT file.
Common uses for Image to Text (OCR)
- Extracting text from whiteboard photos taken during meetings and brainstorming sessions
- Digitizing printed documents and receipts by extracting text for data entry
- Copying text from screenshots when the source document isn't available
- Extracting contact information from business card photos
- Making scanned PDF pages searchable by extracting the text content
Frequently Asked Questions
Can it read handwritten text?
Yes, with caveats. Neat, printed-style handwriting is recognized reasonably well (70-85% accuracy). Cursive or messy handwriting is much harder and accuracy drops significantly. For best results with handwriting, ensure the image is well-lit and high-contrast.
What languages does OCR support?
The OCR engine supports English by default with high accuracy. Additional language packs for Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Hindi, and 100+ other languages can be loaded. The tool auto-detects common languages.
Does it preserve formatting like tables and columns?
The OCR extracts raw text content. Basic reading order (top to bottom, left to right) is maintained, but complex layouts like multi-column articles and tables are output as sequential text. For structured data extraction from tables, specialized tools may be needed.
Does my image data stay private?
Yes. The OCR engine (Tesseract.js) runs entirely in your browser. Your images are processed locally on your device and never uploaded to any server. This is as private as OCR gets.