How to Extract Text from an Image Online
By ScanText Team · 5 min read · 2026-09-03
Image-to-text extraction uses optical character recognition (OCR) to find letters and words in a photo and turn them into editable text. Instead of re-typing a document by hand, you upload an image and the tool reads the visible characters for you.
What image-to-text extraction is
OCR analyzes the pixel patterns in your image, identifies where each letter and word appears, and maps those shapes to known characters. The result is text you can copy, edit, search, or save as a file.
How OCR works
The OCR engine processes your image in several steps: preprocessing (cleaning up contrast and orientation), character segmentation (isolating individual letters), feature extraction (identifying the distinguishing parts of each character), and classification (matching those features to known characters). Modern browser-based OCR performs all of this locally in your browser.
Step-by-step: extract text from an image
- Open the image-to-text converter in your browser.
- Click the upload area or drag and drop a JPG, PNG, or WEBP image.
- Select Extract Text and wait while OCR processes the image.
- Review the extracted text in the result box.
- Copy the text to your clipboard or download it as a TXT file.
The entire process runs in your browser—no account or software installation is needed.
Open the image-to-text converter
Supported image formats
ScanText accepts JPG, JPEG, PNG, and WEBP images up to 12 MB. If your document is saved as a PDF, TIFF, HEIC, GIF, or SVG, export or screenshot the page to a supported image format first.
Common use cases
Image-to-text extraction is useful for:
- Copying text from a screenshot when selection is disabled.
- Digitizing a photographed note, receipt, or sign.
- Creating an editable draft from a scanned page.
- Recovering text from an old document or label.
- Extracting captions from social media image posts.
Accuracy considerations
OCR accuracy depends on image quality, text clarity, font style, contrast, and layout. Clear printed text in high contrast fares best. Handwriting, decorative fonts, small text, and low-contrast images can produce errors. Always review the extracted text before using it for important information.
Image quality tips
- Use a sharp, well-lit image with strong contrast between text and background.
- Keep the text straight and let it fill a good portion of the frame.
- Crop out unnecessary borders or distracting background elements.
- Avoid glare, shadows, and motion blur on photographed documents.
- Save JPGs at the highest quality and use PNGs for screenshots.
Privacy and security
Because OCR runs entirely in your browser, your image is never sent to a server. No upload endpoint or permanent storage is involved. The extracted text stays in your session until you close or reload the page.
Common problems
If text is not recognized correctly, try the following:
- Re-take or re-save the image at higher resolution.
- Adjust brightness and contrast so text stands out from the background.
- Straighten tilted text before uploading.
- Crop tightly around the words you need.
- Check the image for glare or shadows and remove them.
Frequently asked questions
- Can I extract text from a screenshot? Yes—upload the screenshot as JPG, PNG, or WEBP and the tool will read it.
- Is this free? Yes, the converter runs in your browser at no cost.
- Do I need to install anything? No, everything works in a modern web browser.
- Is my image stored? No. Processing is local to your browser.
Ready to turn your image into editable text? The converter below lets you upload a JPG, PNG, or WEBP file and extract its text in seconds.
Extract text from your image now