We earn commission when you buy through affiliate links.
This does not influence our reviews or recommendations.Learn more.
OCR has proved a boon to convert images to text.
Thankfully, many tools let you use OCR technology to extract text from images.
This post will list multiple OCR tools that will help you extract text from images on different devices.
Depending on your need, one of these tools should work for you.
The service is completely free and easy to use.
Just click theChoose Fileand upload your image.
Afterward, click onPreviewand then click onOCRto process the image.
In my experience, the tool extracted the text without mistakes and perfectly copied the format and spacing.
However, it doesnt recognize fonts and text size, so all the text is plain.
Heres how to do it:
Open upGoogle Driveand sign in.
Click onNewand selectFile Uploadfrom the menu to upload your image.
Once uploaded, right-hit the image and selectGoogle Docsfrom theOpen Withoption.
Thats it; the image will open in Google Docs with the extracted text right below the image.
Interestingly, Google Docs tries to detect Font size, pop in, and even color for each word.
It also respects formatting and spacing.
The font size and color was completely different from the image that made it look very ugly.
Thankfully, such an error can easily be fixed by selecting all the text and choosing a default font.
Easy Screen OCR is an outstanding Windows OCR software that offers accurate extraction of text.
Its a small tool of just 7MB that works from the system tray.
you’re free to either take a new screenshot to extract text from or upload an image file.
To use it, right-punch its icon in the system tray and selectImage OCR.
The extracted text will show in a new section where you might copy it.
The tool is definitely very accurate in extracting text, but it doesnt respect formatting or fonts.
You will just get plain text with default size and spacing.
You cant export the text to a document; there is aCopybutton to copy all the text extracted.
If you are looking for a completely free OCR tool for Windows, then FreeOCR is worth trying.
Its quite good, but I noticed it made some minor errors while extracting text.
Although, it works offline as well, so it might be just what you need.
Text Scanner is my favorite Android OCR app as it lets you extract text from images offline.
It also offers unlimited scans for free in multiple languages.
you could switch between text and image using the buttons at the bottom to compare them.
Text Scanner perfectly extracted text from all the images I tried without any errors.
However, it used default fonts and didnt venture to copy the formatting like most other OCR tools.
I like two extensions for this purpose, Copyfish and Project Naptha.
When you find an image with text inside, hold left press it to select and copy it.
Of course, its not perfect in extracting, but it worked fine for the images I used.
It even has the option to translate selected text if you want.
If you want to scan and convert images on demand instead, then Copyfish is a much better option.
The extracted text can be copied using a dedicated button.
If you want to use good OCR software for macOS, youll have to get a paid one.
TextSnipper is one of the most powerful OCR tools for macOS.
you’re able to extract text from images, PDFs, presentations, videos, screencasts, etc.
TextSnipper also got an inbuild snipping feature.
Another one is Readiris it is more than just OCR software.
Its a full PDF creation and editing tool with many advanced features to extract text from PDFs and images.
The tool comes with a trial version that gives access to all the features for 10 days.
If you like the tool, you might buy one of the pro versions depending on your need.
If you want a cheaper OCR tool for mac, thenPicatextis worth a try too.
For just $3.99, you might extract text from saved images or new screenshots.
The apps main function is to scan paper documents and save them as PDF files with perfect formatting.
Its pro subscription lets you extract text from those scans.
The free version scans documents but saves them with a watermark.
Another interesting feature is its text search that lets you search for images using text inside the image.
This includes all the scans and PDF files shared with you.
All the app features are free, but you could get the pro version that doesnt contain ads.
Well, that concludes with my list of favorites.
I hope youve found the tool that suits your purpose here!
In my experience, Google Docs did the best job of exactly copying the text in its original form.
