Which languages can it read?

English, Nepali, Hindi, Bengali, Urdu, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Russian, Turkish, Arabic, Indonesian, Chinese (Simplified), Japanese and Korean. For languages that often mix in English, such as Nepali, Hindi and Japanese, English words in the same image are read too.

Can it read handwriting?

Only very neat, printed-style handwriting. It is made for typed or printed text: documents, forms, notices, receipts, screenshots and signs.

How do I get the best result?

Use a sharp, well-lit photo taken straight on, with the text filling most of the picture. Choose the right language: reading Nepali text as English gives nonsense. If words come out wrong, try a clearer photo or crop it to just the text.

Is my image uploaded?

No. The text is read in your browser. The first time you use a language, its reading data (about 1 to 3 MB) is downloaded from this site and kept by your browser for next time.

Can it read a scanned PDF?

This tool takes images. For a scanned PDF, use PDF to Word, which reads the text on every page and gives you an editable document.

Image to Text

Copy the text from a photo, screenshot or scan, in 17 languages.

Language of the text

Pick the language of the text. Changing it reads the image again.

Choose image

or drag and drop it here

A screenshot, scan, poster or photo with text

You can also paste a screenshot with Ctrl+V.

Processed entirely in your browser, nothing is uploaded, stored or seen by us.

Something not working, or a feature missing?Report a problem or suggest a tool

How to Use

1Pick the language of the text in your image.
2Add a photo, screenshot or scan, or paste a screenshot with Ctrl+V.
3Check the text, then copy it or download it as a TXT file.

Features

Reads 17 languages, including Nepali, Hindi and Arabic
Works on photos, screenshots and scans
Edit the text before you copy it
Copy with one click, or save as TXT
Runs in your browser, nothing is uploaded

Turn a photo, screenshot or scanned page into text you can copy, edit and paste. Pick the language of the text, add the image, and the words appear in a box ready to copy or save as a TXT file. It reads 17 languages, including Nepali, Hindi, Bengali, Arabic, Chinese and Japanese. Everything happens in your browser, so the image is never uploaded.

How it works

Pick the language of the text in your image. Each language has its own reading data, downloaded the first time you use it.
Add the image. Choose a file, drop it on the box, or paste a screenshot with Ctrl+V.
Check the text. It appears in an editable box, so you can fix a misread word before using it.
Copy or save it with one click, or download it as a TXT file.

Good for

Copying text from a screenshot, a notice or a slide instead of retyping it.
Getting the text of a printed letter, form or receipt you photographed.
Reading Nepali or Hindi printed text into Unicode you can paste into Word, email or a form.
Quoting a few lines from a book page or an article photo.

Tips for the best result

Take the photo straight on, in good light, and keep it sharp.
Crop to the text you need with the Image Cropper: less background reads better and faster.
Choose the language of the text. English words mixed into Nepali, Hindi, Chinese or Japanese text are read too.
Printed text works best. Handwriting is only read when it is very neat.

Have a scanned PDF? PDF to Word reads the text on every page and gives you an editable document.