Digitize printed documents
Turn letters, contracts, book pages and forms into text you can edit and search.
Extract Text from Image
Pull editable text out of screenshots, documents, signs, receipts and handwriting in dozens of languages.
Example · made with RegiAI
Extracted text
Example result
KYOTO
Click Extract Text to read the text in your image.
Use RegiAI to extract text from image files in seconds. Upload a screenshot, scanned page, receipt, sign, slide or photo of a document, and the OCR (optical character recognition) engine reads every visible line and returns it as editable text. You can copy it with one click, and the result shows the character and word count.
It costs $0.01 per image, charged only when text is found, and your first image each day can be free. This image to text converter copies the words; to describe what a picture shows, use the AI Image Describer, and to solve a photographed math problem, use AI Picture Answer.
How to use Extract Text from Image
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Upload an image with text
Add a clear JPG, PNG, GIF or WebP up to 10 MB: a screenshot, scan, photo of a page, receipt or sign.
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2
Extract the text
Press the button. The OCR reads each line in reading order, usually in a few seconds.
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Copy and reuse
Copy the text into a document, email, spreadsheet or translator. Character and word counts are shown.
What you can make
Receipts and invoices
Copy totals, dates and line items for expenses and bookkeeping.
Text from screenshots
Grab text, error messages or code from a screenshot instead of retyping it.
Slides and whiteboards
Capture the text from a lecture slide or whiteboard photo for your notes.
Signs and menus abroad
Extract text from a sign or menu, then paste it into a translator.
Handwritten notes
Convert neat handwriting into editable, searchable notes.
Quotes and references
Copy a passage from a photographed book or article for citation.
Business cards and posters
Pull names, phone numbers and event details off cards and flyers.
How to get the most accurate text from an image
OCR accuracy depends on how clearly the characters show in the picture. These habits help:
- Use the sharpest source. A screenshot beats a photo of a screen. A flat scan beats a phone photo of a curved book page.
- Light it evenly. Avoid shadows, glare and reflections across the text.
- Shoot straight on. Keep the phone parallel to the page so lines are not slanted.
- Crop to the text you need. Cropping away photos, logos and busy backgrounds gives cleaner output. The free Crop Image tool does this in the browser.
- Fix small or blurry text first. Enlarge tiny text with the AI Image Upscaler or sharpen it with AI Image Unblur.
- Convert unusual formats. For HEIC photos from an iPhone, use the HEIC Converter first.
For receipts, flatten the paper and photograph it on a dark background so the edges and faint print stand out.
What you get back
The result is plain text, one line per line of text in the image, in reading order. Formatting such as bold, fonts, colors and table borders is not kept, so tables come back as lines of text you can paste into a spreadsheet and tidy up. The character and word count shown under the result helps when you need to fit a limit.
Printed text in common fonts gives the best results. Clear handwriting usually works; cursive, faint pencil and decorative fonts are harder. Always proofread numbers, names and email addresses before relying on them, since a single misread character matters most in those.
If no readable text is found, you see a message and are not charged. Try a sharper or closer image.
Common uses of the output: paste receipt totals into a spreadsheet, drop a scanned letter into a word processor and fix the formatting, or paste a sign or menu into a translator. For long documents with many pages, photograph each page separately and paste the results together.
Image to text vs. other RegiAI tools
Several tools read images, and each answers a different question:
- Extract Text from Image (this page): "What words are written here?" Exact characters, $0.01.
- AI Image Describer: "What does this picture show?" A short description, useful for alt text.
- AI Picture Answer: "How do I solve this problem?" Step-by-step math and science solutions.
- AI Image Identifier: "What is this object, plant or product?" Answers your own question.
For spoken words rather than written ones, AI Speech to Text transcribes audio files, and the free YouTube Transcript Generator pulls the captions from a YouTube video.
If your goal is to understand a photographed exercise rather than copy it, AI Picture Answer both reads and solves math, physics and chemistry problems.
All four image tools cost $0.01 per image and share the same daily free generation.
If you need to extract text from many images regularly, for example scanned invoices, the API lets you send them from your own script or app, with the same price per image and the same plain-text output.
Extract Text from Image FAQ
Still stuck? Contact us.
Can I extract text from an image for free?
Signed-in users get one free generation a day on tools priced $0.10 or less. Each extraction costs $0.01, so your first image each day is free.
How much does it cost?
$0.01 per image, charged only when text is found. See pricing for credit packs.
Do I need an account?
Yes. Sign in with Google to extract text. Your first image each day is free; after that each image is $0.01 from your balance, with no subscription.
Which image formats are supported?
JPG, PNG, GIF and WebP up to 10 MB. Convert HEIC photos with the HEIC Converter first.
Can it read handwriting?
Yes, if it is clear and reasonably neat. Printed text is more accurate than handwriting, and joined-up cursive or faint pencil is the hardest to read. Write-ups on lined paper photographed in good light work best.
Does it keep formatting and tables?
No. You get plain text line by line, in reading order. Paste it into a document or spreadsheet and reformat as needed. For tables, paste into a spreadsheet and use a split-text-to-columns feature.
Can I extract text from a PDF?
Not directly. Screenshot the page or export it as an image (most PDF viewers can export pages as PNG), then upload it. Do one page at a time.
Which languages does the OCR read?
It reads many common languages and scripts. Accuracy is highest on clear printed text; check non-Latin scripts carefully.
Can I convert several images at once?
The page handles one image at a time, which keeps it quick and simple. For batches, use the API, which accepts the same images at the same $0.01 each.
What if no text is found?
You see a message and are not charged. Try a sharper, closer or better-lit image, crop away everything except the text, or enlarge small text with the AI Image Upscaler first.
Can I translate the extracted text?
Copy it into any translator. RegiAI does not translate image text on this page, but because the output is plain text it pastes cleanly into any translation app or website.
How is this different from Google Lens or phone OCR?
Phone tools are handy for quick grabs. This tool works from any computer or phone browser, handles screenshots and scans up to 10 MB, shows word and character counts, and is available through an API for batches.
Can it extract text from a screenshot of code?
Yes. It returns the text line by line. Check brackets, quotes and indentation afterwards, since OCR does not keep spacing exactly.
Is there an image to text API?
Yes. Text extraction is available through the RegiAI API at $0.01 per image.