OCR (Optical Character Recognition) is the technology that turns text inside an image — like a photo of a document or a screenshot — into editable, selectable text.

Does the image leave my device?

No. Recognition runs entirely in your browser using Tesseract.js. Your images are never uploaded to a server.

Which languages are supported?

English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese (Simplified), Japanese, Korean, Arabic, and Hindi out of the box.

Can it read handwriting?

Tesseract is optimized for printed text. Neat handwriting sometimes works, but expect significantly lower accuracy than with typed or printed documents.

Why does the first run take longer?

The first time you pick a language, the browser downloads that language's training data (~10 MB) and caches it. Subsequent runs are much faster.

What formats can I download?

You can download a Microsoft Word (.doc) file ready to edit, a plain .txt file, or copy the extracted text directly to your clipboard.

Can I process multiple images at once?

Yes. Upload several images and the tool will OCR each one and combine the results, labelled by filename, into a single document.

Is there a file size limit?

Practical limit is what your browser can decode in memory. Very large images (over ~20 MP) may slow down recognition noticeably.

Image to Text Converter — Free Online OCR

Need to copy text out of a screenshot, a photo of a page, or a scanned receipt? Re-typing it by hand is tedious and error-prone. PikDraw's Image to Text tool uses on-device OCR to turn any image into editable text in seconds, then exports it as Word or plain text. No uploads, no signup, no watermarks.

What is the Image to Text (OCR) - Extract Text?

An OCR (Optical Character Recognition) tool that reads printed text inside an image and converts it into editable digital text. It works on screenshots, photos of documents, scanned pages, signs, slides — anything where the text is reasonably clear.

Key features

Browser-based OCR — images never leave your device
12+ languages including CJK, Arabic, and Hindi
Multi-image batch recognition with per-file labelling
Inline editor to fix small recognition mistakes before saving
Export as Microsoft Word (.doc), plain .txt, or clipboard copy
Works on screenshots, scans, photos of documents, slides and signs
No watermark, no signup, no file size cap
Free and unlimited

How it works

The tool loads Tesseract.js — a WebAssembly port of Google's Tesseract OCR engine — on demand the first time you use it. When you upload an image, Tesseract analyses the pixel layout, segments the page into lines and characters, matches them against trained character models for the selected language, and returns the recognised text. All of this happens inside your browser tab; nothing is uploaded.

Why use this tool

Most online OCR tools require uploads, accounts, or paid plans for more than a few pages. PikDraw runs the recognition locally in your browser so it is private, free, and unlimited. The inline editor and Word export also let you finish the workflow in one place rather than copy-pasting through three different sites.

Common use cases

Copying text from screenshots of articles, chats, or error messages
Digitising printed notes, recipes, or contracts you only have on paper
Extracting quotes or data from slides and presentation captures
Pulling text from photos of whiteboards, signs, or menus
Turning scanned forms into editable drafts
Translating foreign-language signs by OCR-ing then pasting into a translator

How to use this tool

Upload Images — Drop JPG, PNG, WebP, or screenshots that contain text. You can add multiple files at once.
Pick the Language — Choose the language printed in the image — English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Hindi and more are supported.
Run OCR — Click Extract. The OCR engine runs entirely in your browser; the first run downloads a small language file (~10 MB) and caches it.
Review and Edit — The extracted text appears in an editor so you can clean up small recognition errors before saving.
Download or Copy — Save as a Word document (.doc), plain .txt, or copy the result straight to your clipboard.

Who should use this

Students digitising notes, journalists pulling quotes from screenshots, lawyers and admin staff retyping scanned forms, developers extracting text from error screenshots, and anyone tired of typing text out of an image by hand.

How to get started

Drop your images above, pick the language, click extract, then download as Word or .txt. The first run for a given language pre-downloads its training data and is cached for next time.

Best practices

Use the original screenshot or photo rather than a heavily compressed re-share.
Crop to just the text area before uploading — backgrounds confuse the engine.
Ensure adequate contrast: dark text on light backgrounds works best.
Pick exactly one language per run; mixed scripts in one pass reduce accuracy.

Pro tips

Use the highest-resolution version of the image you have — clearer pixels mean better recognition.
Crop tightly to the text area before uploading; logos and busy backgrounds hurt accuracy.
For mixed languages, run the image twice with different language selections and merge the results.
Handwriting recognition is limited — printed text gives dramatically better results.
If accuracy is low, increase contrast or convert the image to black-and-white first.

Expert insights

💡 Privacy Win

Because OCR runs in your browser, you can safely process screenshots that contain sensitive information without uploading them anywhere.

⚡ Speed Tip

Want to extract just a paragraph? Crop the image to that paragraph first — OCR runs faster and is more accurate on smaller, focused regions.

✓ Accuracy Boost

Increase contrast and brightness in any photo editor before OCR — clean black-on-white is the gold standard for recognition accuracy.

🔍 Under the Hood

Tesseract.js is the WebAssembly build of the same OCR engine Google open-sourced — the engine that powered Google Books digitisation.

⭐ Did You Know

Modern OCR can hit 99%+ accuracy on clean printed text, but drops sharply on photos with shadows, skew, or low resolution.

Limitations to be aware of

Handwriting recognition is limited — printed text recommended.
Heavily stylised fonts (script, decorative) can be misread.
Multi-column layouts may merge into a single column on output.
Tables and form structure are not preserved — only the text content.
First run per language downloads ~10 MB of training data.

Frequently asked questions

What is OCR?: OCR (Optical Character Recognition) is the technology that turns text inside an image — like a photo of a document or a screenshot — into editable, selectable text.
Does the image leave my device?: No. Recognition runs entirely in your browser using Tesseract.js. Your images are never uploaded to a server.
Which languages are supported?: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese (Simplified), Japanese, Korean, Arabic, and Hindi out of the box.
Can it read handwriting?: Tesseract is optimized for printed text. Neat handwriting sometimes works, but expect significantly lower accuracy than with typed or printed documents.
Why does the first run take longer?: The first time you pick a language, the browser downloads that language's training data (~10 MB) and caches it. Subsequent runs are much faster.
What formats can I download?: You can download a Microsoft Word (.doc) file ready to edit, a plain .txt file, or copy the extracted text directly to your clipboard.
Can I process multiple images at once?: Yes. Upload several images and the tool will OCR each one and combine the results, labelled by filename, into a single document.
Is there a file size limit?: Practical limit is what your browser can decode in memory. Very large images (over ~20 MP) may slow down recognition noticeably.

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