Contents
1. PrePost SEO
2. Image to Text
3. Convertio
4. Easy Screen OCR
5. Online OCR
6. Conclusion
Think about how convenient it would be if there was a simple method to extract text from an image, scanned document, or PDF file and instantly paste it into another file? The task is difficult without the use of an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) tool or image-to-text convertor.
Most scanned documents are in PDF format. The text in these documents cannot be edited or copied, and you can't search in it. Once you convert the scanned PDF document into editable text, you will be able to search it easily – see our article How to Search in a PDF File.
Although many OCR tools are available, selecting the most appropriate tool to copy text from a scanned document may be difficult. Here we will discuss the top 5 online OCR tools.
1. PrePost SEO
Prepostseo image-to-text converter is a free web service that allows you to extract text from images or copy editable text from scanned documents. In order to correctly convert images into text, it uses the most advanced optical character recognition (OCR) technology. Text may be extracted from scanned photos, scanned documents, screenshots, or any image.
How does it work?
1. Upload a document or picture, or paste its URL.
2. If you need to crop a picture, use the crop image to text feature.
3. Choose the language of the document.
4. Click the Submit button.
5. Download the document with the converted text.
Features
Completely free
This free tool extracts the proper content every time without requiring you to register or pay for a membership.
Extracts text from even low-resolution photos
Many students use their smartphones to capture notes and book pages for examinations. Because of the low camera quality, most of these images are distorted. Text may be extracted from low-resolution and blurry photos using this text extractor.
Reliable and safe
This tool promises to keep your information safe and secure at all times, and strictly adhere to the policy that it will not keep or share your personal information with any third parties.
Supports different languages
You can convert scanned documents into editable text in over 30 languages.
Create a Word document from a picture
Use the Save as Document option to save a picture to a Microsoft Word document once converted to editable text.
Accessible from all devices
Using a web browser, you may access this tool from any device.
2. Image to Text
Image to Text is a free online OCR tool, allowing you to quickly and easily turn photos into text. And to top it all off, the information is accurate.
If you can't understand your colleague's handwritten notes, this tool may help you with that.
Significantly, you don't have to worry about the picture's format, such as JPG, JPEG, JPE, JIF, PNG, TIFF, etc.
How does it work?
1. Upload or drag and drop your picture. Alternatively, if you have a URL for the picture, put it here.
2. Click the Submit button.
3. Copy the text in the text editor or save it as a new document.
If you need to convert a PDF document, go to the PDF to Word section of the site and follow the same steps.
You can convert multiple scanned PDF documents to Word documents, and then you can easily edit or search them.
Features
Free and easy
Users aren't required to sign up for an account to utilize its service. You may take a copy of the text and escape at any time.
Artificial Intelligence Extraction
Artificial Intelligence Extraction software created by Hewlett-Packard and financed by Google is used to power this tool. It uses artificial intelligence to extract every word of a document with very high percentage of accuracy.
No need to select the language
The tool recognizes the language of the document automatically.
Variety of image formats
This application is compatible with a wide range of image formats.
3. Convertio
The Convertio tool is as simple as the word itself when it comes to OCR. It supports more than 310 different file formats.
How does it work?
1. Go to the OCR section of the tool.
2. Drag and drop a file to be converted.
3. Choose the language of the document.
4. Choose the output format.
5. Click the "Recognize" button.
Download the converted document.
Features
Free tool
You can convert up to 10 documents per day for free.
Variety of file formats
The tool supports a very wide range of different file formats.
A guarantee of safety
After 24 hours, this tool removes files that have been uploaded and converted. Your data is safe and secure, and your privacy is unassailable.
4. Easy Screen OCR
Easy Screen OCR is another one of the top free OCR tools that depends on a cloud-based, Google-powered algorithm to do its work. It supports only JPG and PNG file formats.
In terms of languages, Easy Screen OCR supports only some of the most common languages – English, German, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and several more.
How does it work?
1. Drag and drop your image to the upload field.
2. Choose the language of the document.
3. Click the "Upload and Convert" button.
4. Download the text file with the recognized text.
Features
Simple and handy tool
Easy Screen OCR is a simple and handy tool to use.
Desktop and mobile version
The tool also has a desktop version, available for Windows and Mac users, as well as a mobile version for Android and iOS users.
5. Online OCR
Online OCR is a very popular image-to-text converter. Online OCR enables you to identify scanned documents, pictures, and digital camera shot images and to convert them to editable formats such as Word, Excel, and plain text.
In all, it supports 46 distinct languages, including English and Spanish, as well as other Asian languages such as Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, and Korean.
Online OCR supports various file formats: PDF, TIFF, JPEG, BMP, PCX, PNG, and GIF.
How does it work?
1. Click on the "Select File" button to choose your file to convert.
2. Choose the language.
3. Choose the output format from the available options – Word, Excel, or plain text.
4. Press the "Convert" button.
5. Download the file with the converted text.
Features
Free of cost
The OCR service is completely free for users (those who do not register) and enables you to convert up to 15 files each hour.
Safe & secure
All content you upload or paste into this tool account will be erased when the conversion is complete. The output files for registered users are kept for a period of one month after they are generated.
6. Conclusion
When you start looking for a way to convert scanned documents into editable text, you may realize that finding a reliable free online OCR that functions properly is not simple. All of the tools mentioned above are good with their salient features, but in my experience, PrePost SEO and Image to Text converter are the two top free online OCR tools.
What is your assessment – which is the most appropriate OCR tool for you? Post your opinion using the form below!
