// the tool

Extract text from your image

Drag a file onto the box below, or click to browse. Everything runs inside your browser — this page does not send your image to pythonware.com or anywhere else.

drop image here, or click to browse

JPG · PNG · WEBP  ·  up to 15 MB

processed on your device — not uploaded

reading your image…

running locally  ·  0% complete

input image
Preview of the image you uploaded for text extraction
extracted text
// how it works

Three steps, nothing to install

No sign-up, no extension, no configuration. If you can drag a file, you already know how to use this.

Add your image

Drop a JPG, PNG, or WEBP file onto the upload area, or click it to browse your files. Works on desktop and mobile — on mobile, you can tap to use your camera directly.

Let the engine read it

Tesseract.js starts immediately, scanning your image for text. A live percentage counter shows you where it is. Typical images finish in a few seconds; larger files may take a little longer.

Copy or save the result

The extracted text is editable. Fix any recognition mistakes, then copy it to your clipboard or download it as a plain .txt file.

Tips for better results

Use images where text is at least 12–14pt equivalent in size. Tiny text is harder to recognise.

Even lighting and a neutral background behind the text help significantly.

Avoid heavy JPEG compression — it blurs character edges and reduces accuracy.

Straight-on shots outperform angled or skewed text every time.

For scanned documents, 150 DPI is the minimum; 300 DPI is better.

The output is editable — fix the odd misread character before you copy.

// what it does

Everything you need, nothing you don't

A focused utility that does one job: getting the words out of your images and into a form you can actually use.

[01]

Private by default

Your image data never leaves your device. There is no upload, no server processing, and no log of what you extracted. Privacy is structural, not a policy.

[02]

Fast turnaround

Extraction starts the moment your file lands. A live percentage readout shows you progress so you always know how much longer to wait.

[03]

Works offline

Once the page and language data have loaded, you can disconnect. The tool keeps running without an internet connection for as long as you need it.

[04]

Many languages

Tesseract supports over 100 written languages. Printed Latin-script text works out of the box; other scripts are available through the underlying library.

[05]

Editable output

Results drop into a plain text field you can edit before doing anything with them. Correct a stray character, remove unwanted whitespace, or trim to just the section you need.

[06]

No account, no limits

No registration, no email address, no daily quota. Open the page, convert what you need, and leave. That's the whole experience.

// what affects accuracy

When it works well, and when it struggles

OCR accuracy depends heavily on image quality. Here's an honest breakdown of when Tesseract thrives and when it needs better input.

High accuracy

Printed documents with a clear, dark font on a white or light background
Clean screenshots of web pages, PDFs, or desktop interfaces
Book pages or magazine articles photographed straight-on in good light
Business cards with standard fonts at standard sizes
Scanned documents at 150 DPI or higher with no heavy background pattern

Lower accuracy

Handwriting — Tesseract was trained on printed fonts, not handwritten letters
Heavily stylised or decorative display typefaces
Skewed or heavily rotated text (more than ~10–15 degrees off horizontal)
Low resolution photos where individual characters blur together
Text overlaid on a busy image or patterned background
// under the hood

How the engine works

This tool uses Tesseract.js, a WebAssembly port of the open-source Tesseract OCR engine developed at HP and later maintained by Google. It runs fully in-browser, so there is no server component at all.

wasm

WebAssembly runtime

The C++ Tesseract binary is compiled to WebAssembly, giving it near-native performance inside any modern browser without plugins or installs.

lang

LSTM neural network

Tesseract 4+ uses an LSTM model trained on large corpora of printed text across many languages, giving it significantly higher accuracy than older pattern-matching approaches.

mem

In-memory only

Image data is passed to the worker entirely in browser memory. It is never serialised to disk, sent via network request, or accessible outside your browser tab.

// the call (simplified)

// runs in a Web Worker — off the main thread

const worker = await Tesseract.createWorker('eng', 1);

 

// imageFile never leaves the browser

const result = await worker.recognize(imageFile);

 

// extracted string — ready to edit and copy

const text = result.data.text;

 

await worker.terminate();

PythonWare has been working with image processing since the original Python Imaging Library (PIL). Tesseract.js is a natural fit with that heritage — robust, open-source, and designed for real workloads.

// faq

Common questions

Is my image uploaded to a server?
No. The entire recognition process runs inside your browser using a WebAssembly build of Tesseract. Your image data is never transmitted to pythonware.com or any other server. It stays in your browser's memory, is used to produce the text output, and then disappears when you close the tab.
Which file types are supported, and is there a size limit?
JPG, PNG, and WEBP images up to 15 MB. For the clearest results, use a sharp image with good contrast between the text and the background, and avoid heavy JPEG compression which blurs character edges.
How accurate is the text recognition?
Printed text in a clear, well-lit image typically extracts with high accuracy — word error rates under 2% are common for clean scans. Accuracy drops with handwriting, decorative fonts, low resolution, or skew. The output is always editable so you can fix any mistakes before copying or saving.
Can I use this offline?
Yes. Once the page has loaded and Tesseract's language data has downloaded (about 4 MB on first use), you can disconnect from the internet and the tool keeps working. The engine does not make any network calls once it is initialised.
Is this free? Do I need an account?
Completely free, no account required. There are no usage limits, no daily caps, and no hidden steps. Open the page and convert as many images as you like.
Does it work on phones and tablets?
Yes. The page is responsive and tested on modern mobile browsers. On iOS and Android, tapping the upload area lets you choose a photo from your gallery or take a new one with the camera.
Why does PythonWare offer an OCR tool?
PythonWare is best known for the Python Imaging Library (PIL), which has been a cornerstone of image processing in Python for decades. Building tools around image data is a natural extension of that. Tesseract.js brings the same philosophy — powerful, open-source image processing — to the browser without requiring any software installation.