Image to Text Converter — Free Online OCR Tool
Extract text from any image instantly using OCR. Upload a photo, screenshot, or scanned document — copy or download the extracted text. Supports 11 languages.
✓ Free · ✓ No upload · ✓ Works offline in your browser
Tips for Best OCR Results
- Use high-resolution images — at least 300 DPI for scanned documents
- Ensure good contrast — dark text on a light background works best
- Keep text horizontal — angled or rotated text reduces accuracy
- Select the correct language — language selection significantly improves accuracy
- Avoid decorative fonts — printed, clean fonts are recognized more accurately
PhotoRule uses Tesseract.js, a WebAssembly port of Google's Tesseract OCR engine — one of the most accurate open-source OCR engines available. It runs entirely in your browser, so your documents remain completely private.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is OCR (optical character recognition)?
OCR is technology that detects and extracts printed or handwritten text from images. It analyzes the visual patterns in an image and converts them into machine-readable text that you can copy, edit, and search.
How do I extract text from an image for free?
Upload your image using the button above, choose the language of the text, and click Extract Text. PhotoRule uses Tesseract.js — a powerful open-source OCR engine — to recognize the text entirely in your browser.
What types of images work best for OCR?
High-resolution images with clear, typed text give the best results. Screenshots, scanned documents, book pages, and signs work well. Handwritten text, low-resolution images, and complex backgrounds are harder to recognize accurately.
What languages does the OCR tool support?
PhotoRule's OCR supports English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Chinese (Simplified), Japanese, Korean, Arabic, and Hindi. Select your language before extracting for best accuracy.
Is my image uploaded to a server for OCR?
No. PhotoRule uses Tesseract.js, which runs the OCR entirely in your browser using WebAssembly. Your image is never uploaded or transmitted.