Text trapped inside a photo or screenshot cannot be selected, searched, or edited. An image to text converter solves that problem with OCR (optical character recognition): it examines the characters in an image and returns copyable text. Echora's free tool works in your browser without an account, so you can extract text from an image and move it into notes, documents, email, or another app instead of typing it again.
This page is designed for a focused job: one image in, plain text out. It works best with printed text in screenshots, document photos, receipts, signs, and scanned pages. The original design and formatting are not reproduced, and the result should always be checked when names, prices, dates, or other important details must be exact.
How to Convert an Image to Text
- Choose the language(s) in the image. Select up to 3 languages; the OCR engine loads all of them at once and does not detect the language automatically.
- Upload one image. Drag the file into the upload area or choose it from your device. The maximum file size is 20MB.
- Start the OCR extraction. Once the image has uploaded and at least one language is selected, use the action button to begin recognition.
- Review, copy, or download the result. Compare the extracted text with the image, correct any recognition errors, then copy it or download a UTF-8 TXT file.
No software installation or sign-up is required. If the image mixes multiple languages (for example English and Chinese), select all of them and run the recognition once. Selecting more languages than the image actually contains only slows down recognition without improving accuracy, so pick only what's needed.
Images That Work Well with OCR
Screenshots and Interface Text
A screenshot to text conversion is usually accurate because screen text has sharp edges, consistent spacing, and strong contrast. It is useful for copying an error message, a paragraph from an app, or text that a website does not let you select.
Photos of Documents, Receipts, and Signs
OCR can turn a clear photo into editable text, but the camera angle and lighting matter. Keep the page flat, include the whole line of text, and avoid shadows or glare across receipts and glossy documents.
Scanned Pages and Printed Material
Pages saved as JPG or PNG do not contain selectable characters even when they look like a digital document. OCR creates a text version that can be searched, quoted, translated, or added to notes. Tables, columns, and decorative layouts may need manual cleanup after extraction.
How to Improve OCR Accuracy
- Select the correct language. A clear image can still produce poor text when the OCR engine is using the wrong character set.
- Crop unrelated content. Removing borders, backgrounds, and nearby objects helps the engine focus on the words you need.
- Straighten the image. Text photographed at a steep angle is harder to recognize than a flat, front-facing page.
- Use a sharp, well-lit source. Motion blur, compression artifacts, glare, and low contrast can turn similar characters into recognition errors.
- Prefer printed text. Neat block handwriting may work in some cases, but cursive and uneven handwriting are not reliable inputs for this tool.
- Proofread important details. Check names, numbers, punctuation, and look-alike characters such as
0andObefore reusing the result.
OCR reads visible characters; it does not restore covered, blurred, or redacted information. Improving the source image is more useful than repeatedly processing a picture whose text is not legible to the eye.
Supported Image Formats and OCR Languages
The uploader accepts JPG/JPEG, PNG, WebP, AVIF, GIF, TIFF, SVG, and HEIC/HEIF. This includes common screenshots, web graphics, scanner output, and photos from recent iPhones. For an animated GIF or WebP, only the first frame is read, so export the required frame as a static image when the text appears later in the animation.
JPEG XL, camera RAW files such as CR2, NEF, ARW, and DNG, plus BMP and ICO, are not supported. Convert these files to JPG or PNG before using OCR.
You can select English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French, German, Russian, Spanish, and Portuguese. Simplified and Traditional Chinese are separate choices, and you can select up to 3 languages at once for mixed-language text. Loading languages the image doesn't actually contain only slows down recognition without improving accuracy.
What the Extracted Text Includes
The result panel returns plain text and a character count. It is intended for copying words, not rebuilding the source image. Fonts, colors, images, exact spacing, columns, and tables are not preserved. Text from a multi-column page may also appear in a different reading order.
That plain-text output is useful when you want to:
- copy text from an image or screenshot without retyping it;
- make a photographed page searchable;
- move receipt details or printed notes into a document;
- prepare extracted words for editing or translation;
- reuse accessible text in another application.
The converter extracts text but does not translate it. Choose the language actually shown in the image, copy the result, and then use a translation tool if you need another language.
Image to Text vs. PDF to Text
Use this OCR tool when the source is an image or a photo of a page. If you have a digitally created PDF with selectable text, PDF to Text is usually the better option because it reads the document's existing text layer instead of recognizing pixels.
For a scanned PDF with no selectable text, export the page you need as JPG or PNG and process that image here. The current image tool handles one file at a time; it does not run batch OCR across every page of a PDF.
File Limits and Results
Each request accepts one image up to 20MB. The extracted result is shown for review and can be copied or downloaded as plain UTF-8 TXT; it is not a formatted Word document and does not preserve the image layout.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this image to text converter free?
Yes. The online OCR tool is free to use and does not require an Echora account or credits. Select the language(s), upload one supported image, start recognition, and copy the result.
How do I copy text from an image?
Choose the image's language(s), upload the file, and start OCR. When the result appears, review it against the source and select the copy button. You can then paste the text into a document, message, note, or editor.
Can I convert a screenshot to text?
Yes. Screenshots are often strong OCR inputs because their text is sharp and evenly lit. Crop the screenshot to the relevant area when possible, especially if it contains several panels or decorative elements.
Can OCR read handwriting?
Sometimes, but not reliably. The tool is optimized for printed text. Clear block letters may be recognized, while cursive, connected strokes, and untidy notes often require substantial correction.
Does the tool translate text from an image?
No. It recognizes and extracts the language already present in the image. Copy the OCR result into a translation tool if you need a translated version.
Which image format gives the best result?
Image clarity matters more than the extension. A sharp PNG or high-quality JPG with good contrast usually works well. HEIC is also supported, while unsupported RAW or BMP files should be converted to JPG or PNG first.
Can I process several images or a scanned PDF at once?
No. This page processes one image per request. For a scanned PDF, export the required pages as images and handle them one at a time. For a PDF that already contains selectable text, use the PDF to Text tool instead.
If you need a readable, reusable version of the text in a photo or screenshot, scroll back to the extractor above, upload your image, and copy or download the result directly from the page.