OCR (Optical Character Recognition) is a technology used to determine handwritten or printed text within digital images. The OCR technology scans a picture and analyzes the dark areas as characters that need recognition.
Thus, this technology enables digital archiving, editing, and document searching with the help of different tools.
But thanks to technology, there are a plethora of OCR tools available in the market. Each tool uses either a “Pattern detection” or “Feature detection” algorithm for recognizing characters.
So, finding the best one can be quite intimidating for beginners. But that’s where I will help you.
Today, I have brought a list of “5 easy ways to convert image to text using OCR technology.”
I will discuss the features of each tool and its pros and cons. So, it will be easier for you to distinguish the one that will work best for you. Hence, without any further ado, let’s begin.
5 Easy Tools for Converting Images into Text:
- Google Docs:
The first handy OCR converter on this list is “Google Docs.” Although this tool is not a dedicated image-to-text converter, it provides impressive results in image-to-text conversions.
This image to text google tool uses Google’s optical character recognition algorithm. Hence, it prevents the formatting and spacing of the text in the picture. It even tries to detect the color, size and style of the typography in the image.
But this tool is not entirely perfect because when I tested it with receipt images, it ruined the formatting. So, if you want to use Google Docs’ OCR technology with such pictures, I recommend selecting all the text and choosing a default font to overcome the formatting and spacing issues.
How to Use the OCR Technology of Google Docs?
As mentioned earlier, it is not a dedicated OCR tool. So, you will have to use Google Drive for it.
- Once you are signed in to Google Drive, click on the ‘+ New’ button and choose the ‘File upload’ option.
- A sub-window will open, where you will select your required image file from the computer’s storage.
- Once you have uploaded the file to Google Drive, right-click on the file and choose the ‘Open with’ option. Then, click on the ‘Google Docs’ option.
- Doing this will open the image in ‘Google Docs.’
| PROS | CONS |
| Saves image formatting and spacing | Not compatible with image size less than 10 pixels |
| Auto-detects the language in the scanned files | Accuracy with non-Latin characters might be an issue |
| Compatible with GIF, JPEG, PDF and PNG files | |
| Completely free |
- Prepostseo Image to Text Converter:
The second image to text converter on this list is the jpg to Text Converter from Prepostseo. It is another online OCR tool. Hence, it works free of cost.
Prepostseo has used the latest optical character recognition algorithms to create this text extractor. Therefore, it can detect mathematical equations and work with low-quality images. This tool allows the users to upload the file in multiple ways. For example, you can
- Paste the copied file.
- Upload it from the local storage and Google Drive.
- Paste the URL of an online image (without downloading it).
This tool supports different image formats, like BMP, GIF, JPEG, JPG, PNG and TIFF. Hence, users will not face any compatibility issues. Plus, once you have extracted the file, you can download it as a text or word file. So, it is pretty handy if you are dealing with long documents. But it doesn’t care about the formatting and spacing.
How to Use the Image to Text Converter of Prepostseo?
- First, upload the required file (in any of the above-mentioned ways).
- Then, fill in the captcha because it is a free online tool and click on the ‘Submit’ button.
- The tool will process the image(s) to give you the desired results. So, you can either copy the extracted text or download it in an MS Word or text file.
*** Important: If you upload multiple images, this tool will separately extract the text from each image ***
| PROS | CONS |
| Support of 30+ languages | It doesn’t care about the formatting |
| It needs one click to copy the extracted text | |
| Completely free | |
| Ability to extract text directly from online images | |
| Support of uploading the files from Google Drive | |
| Support of saving the extracted text in an MS-Word or text file | |
| Supports multiple files |
- Brandfolder’s Text Extractor Tool:
The third optical character recognition tool on this list is my favorite because I use it daily. Its name is “Brandfolder’s Text Extractor Tool.” Unlike Google Docs, this is a dedicated text extractor that extracts text from the uploaded image with just one click.
If you are a beginner, you should choose this tool because of its user-friendly UI. Apart from having a user-friendly interface, this tool displays the extracted text in list order. That is why I like this tool, but this might be a deal-breaker for some users because it doesn’t prevent the format of the typography. Moreover, this tool also allows you to copy the extracted text with one click. Hence, it has a plethora of useful features.
This tool is an online text extractor, which works by detecting the MAC address of the system. So, each user can extract only five images in a day. Although this issue is not a deal-breaker for me, it might be for some users.
How to Use the Brandfolder’s Text Extract Tool?
- Once you have opened the home page on any browser, click on the ‘+’ button or drag the image file to the required space to upload it into the tool.
*** Pro Tip: If you have copied the picture, you can directly paste that picture as well ***
- The tool will take a few seconds to detect the text in the image and after that, it will display the typography of the image in a text box.
- So, you can either use the ‘Copy text’ button or use the conventional way of copying the extracted text.
| PROS | CONS |
| User-friendly interface | It doesn’t prevent the typography format |
| Displays the extracted text in a list | Limits each user to 5 images in a day |
| It requires one click to copy the extracted text | Sometimes, the website doesn’t work |
| Completely free | |
| Works by pasting the copied picture |
- Easy Screen OCR:
If you don’t like the online OCR image to text tools, you can try “Easy Screen OCR.” This software is a shareware tool. Hence, it gives free access to the first 20 images. But after that, you will have to purchase its pro plan to use it.
Like the second and third tools, it also provides accurate results. But it doesn’t care about the format or fonts as it displays the extracted text in a plain text format. Despite being a paid tool, it doesn’t allow the users to export the text in a document file. However, you can upload a PDF file of 50MB or 15 pages on this tool. Plus, this software uses Google’s OCR engine and therefore, it allows the users to translate the extracted text into 100 languages.
This tool is available for Windows and MacOS users. So, download and install its small package file to use it. Overall, the tool is pretty fast and convenient. For the ease of users, it works from the taskbar or system tray.
How to Use Easy Screen OCR?
- As I have already mentioned, this software works through the system tray. So, (after opening the software) go to the system tray and right-click on its icon.
- Then, choose the ‘Image OCR’ option and the system will open a small window of ‘Easy Screen OCR.’
- So, drag the image to the ‘Image’ tab and the software will automatically process the picture.
- Then, it will display the results in the ‘Text’ tab, where you can choose to ‘Copy’ or ‘Translate’ the extracted text as well.
| PROS | CONS |
| Ability to translate the extracted text into 100 languages | Paid software |
| It needs one click to copy the extracted text | It doesn’t care about the formatting |
| Drag-and-drop functionality | Despite being a paid tool, it supports one image at a time |
| Cross-platform | |
| Support for PDF files |
- Adobe Scan and Microsoft Lens:
The last spot on the “5 easy ways convert image to text using OCR technology” list belongs to two smartphone applications: “Adobe Scan” and “Microsoft Lens.” If you are looking for the best image to text converter for Android or iOS devices, you can try these applications because both are special in their separate ways. So, I won’t discuss the image extraction procedure of these applications here. Instead, I will review each application separately.
Adobe Scan:
As the name suggests, this application is from Adobe. It is an OCR application available for both Android and iOS users. This application scans the image and creates a PDF file of the extracted text. Hence, you will have to purchase the license of Adobe Acrobat to edit that PDF file. But there are different ways to edit a PDF file without any cost. So, no worries here.
| PROS | CONS |
| It can scan the documents written in reasonable handwriting | It only converts the extracted text into a PDF file |
| There is a small set of image touch-up tools in this application. | This application stores everything in the cloud |
| It seamlessly scans and recognizes the documents | |
| It supports auto-capture |
Microsoft Lens:
Microsoft created this iOS and Android application to scan the documents on the fly. Hence, you can instantly save someone’s number from the business card. Although this is available as a standalone app, if you are already using the other applications of Microsoft, you can use its OCR functionality without downloading the ‘Microsoft Lens’ application.
| PROS | CONS |
| You can use it with other Microsoft applications | It only converts the extracted text into a PDF file |
| It supports on-the-fly OCR scans | Users need to tap on the button to take a photo. |
| It offers plenty of storage options, such as saving the image in the gallery or uploading it on OneDrive |
Final Verdict:
Personally, I prefer using online tools for extracting text from images because, for the sake of OCR (only), I don’t want to download a separate application. As I have already mentioned, I found “Brandfolder’s Text Extractor Tool” useful for my needs. But I would recommend choosing either “Google Docs” or “Prepostseo image to text extractor” because these are the best image to text converter online tools.