Extracting text from image formats like TIFF, GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, and BMP could be a challenging task if done manually. It is 2020, we have come so far in terms of technology. Every industry is looking for a technology-powered automated solution for various processes.
Similarly, there is a solution to convert image to text. This technology is called image OCR (Optical Character Recognition). It is supposed to extract the text in pictures and turn it into a simple text file that is readable, editable, and sharable for computers. There were times when people have to do this manually by typing the text from images in a .txt or .doc file to make it editable by computers. However, this is an outdated approach now.
There are multiple software tools and services available to convert pictures to text easily in real-time. In this article, we will discuss some of the best tools which are capable of extracting text from various formats of images with accuracy. The names and details of these tools are listed below:
Table of Contents
Google:
Google provides OCR services in its various products like Google Drive, Google Translator, and Google Keep. In this discussion, we will discuss Google Translate and Google Keep for OCR. Google Keep, as we all know, is one of the leading cloud-based written notes managing tool available right now. Google tries to keep this tool updated and ready for new challenges. The inclusion of image OCR is the continuation of Google’s ambitions.
Plenty of people face difficulties while keeping important visiting cards, slips, and receipts safe for later use. Google Keep offers a solution to this problem. All you have to do is to open the Google Keep app and touch the camera icon in the lower part of the display of your smartphone and click the snap of visiting card or receipt with clarity. Google Keep would extract the text and save it in a note and ask you for a title. As soon as you name the note with a title, it would be saved in all of the devices you are logged in through your Google account. You can access this note on various devices easily.
Another advantage of Google Keep is that it saves the clicked images with notes as well. It is up to users whether they want to save the image or not. They can remove the picture if they want to. Google Translate takes it one step ahead, it doesn’t only extract the text from images, but after automatic detection of the language of written text, it also translates the text into the desired language of users. The only downside of using Google Translate for this function is that it is only available for Android smartphones. Moreover, there is no information about whether this feature would be available for PC users in the coming days or not. However, we have another tool included in this list to resolve this problem.
Yandex Translate:
Google translate is not providing its OCR services to PC users but there is another search engine platform that is available for the task. We are talking about Yandex, the Russian search engine, which is swiftly making its name in the world due to its accurate search results and multiple useful services. Yandex Translate is one such service. This tool also comes with OCR technology.
Users simply have to enter the address: https://translate.yandex.com/ocr, and they will land on Yandex translate OCR page, which would ask users to “Select file or Drag Image”. After uploading the picture to this tool. Yandex Translate OCR service would automatically detect the language and translate it into the desired language of users.
This tool could be used through any device like PC, smartphone, or tablet. After recognizing and extracting the text, it would display two versions of the text in the Yandex Translate screen. One version would be the original text, which is directly derived from the image, and the other one would be the translated version of the extracted text. Use this tool to resolve all your translation worries and enjoy the perk of text extraction from images as well.
Prepostseo Image to Text Converter:
This is a great OCR tool to convert images to text in real-time. The Prepostseo website is a reliable solution for various people belonging to multiple professions. This useful website has its own solution for conversion of the picture to text in the form of ‘Image to Text Converter’. Simply head on to the Prepostseo website to use this fantastic tool.
It would be visible on the home page of the website, click the option Image to Text Converter and you would land on the page of this useful tool. It would ask you to enter the URL of the image or simply upload the picture from the storage of your device.
As soon as you upload the photo to this tool and click the submit button. Once you click the submit button, this tool will display the output in the form of extracted text from the image in real-time. You can make necessary modifications to the displayed text and copy it to the clipboard for later use.
The advantages of using this tool are it allows unlimited uploads, there is no registration required for this tool, it keeps your data safe, supports multiple fonts, it can recognize mathematical equations, and supports low-resolution images. It is also accessible through a variety of devices, including smartphones, tablets, and PCs. Above all, it is totally free to use.
Microsoft OneNote OCR Service:
Microsoft OneNote, another leading cloud-based note managing tool, also offers OCR services for its users. It offers advanced image OCR functionality, which is compatible with printed and hand-written text. Drag a scanned or saved picture to OneNote to use its OCR functionality. You can also clip or crop images for accurate text extraction and avoid any additional text with this tool.
Now, simply right click on the image and choose the option saying “Copy Text from Picture”. The extracted and recognized text from the image would be copied to the clipboard of the device. You can now paste the copied text in OneNote, Text Editor, Word, and any other word processing tool and save it for later use. It is as simple as that with Microsoft OneNote. Another key feature of this tool is that it can extract text from a collection of scanned pages easily.
SimpleOCR:
Simplicity is the best policy, and it is reflected by this really functional yet simple OCR tool. It is great at recognizing and extracting hand-written text, which is difficult for various tools of this category. When it comes to hand-written text, the accuracy of this tool is equal to none.
It is a paid tool, and users can use it for 14 days on a trial basis. It also features some great options like text selection, image selection, text ignore, and validation phase. All in all, it is an excellent package for persons or organizations having a problem while transforming hand-written and printed data in the form of digital text.
Conclusion:
It could be a problem for people and businesses to convert data written in hard form to digital form and extraction of translated text directly from the images. This process takes a lot of effort and time if done manually. Therefore, we have listed some great OCR tools for readers to make their life and work easier.
Users can use these tools to make the process of conversion of the picture to text a lot easier. We hope this information would be useful for you and you will make use of the above-listed tools to make your work easier.
