3 Easy Ways to Copy Text from Images

Have you ever met a situation where you need to copy text, but the text is in the image.

3 Easy Ways to Copy Text from Images

You want to extract text from pictures. But the text is so long that the entire process can become arduous if you start typing it manually. If this scenario represents your use case, you’ll be looking for a way to optimize the process of copying text from images. And if you are, this blog post is ideal for you.

Here, we’ll share the various ways of extracting text from images. But first, we’ll briefly discuss the technology responsible for carrying out the entire image-to-text conversion process. So, let’s get started.

How Does the Text Extraction From Digital Documents Happen?

The technology used for copying text from images is Optical Character Recognition (OCR). OCR enables machines to convert printed or handwritten text from documents into machine-readable formats. The documents can be in pictures, scanned documents, or other electronic forms. If the image is not clear enough, you can enhance the image with software.

But how does the OCR technology perform accurate conversions? Let’s find out the answer to this question here.

OCR technology analyzes pixels and patterns in an image. Those patterns correspond to typography, such as letters, numbers, and other characters. Once patterns are analyzed, this technology uses machine learning algorithms to compare and match those patterns with known characters and words. And that’s how the accurate text conversion from pictures into a machine-readable format happens.

3 Ways for Copying Text from Pictures

OCR technology has become increasingly popular, especially in corporate fields. So, now, you’ll find multiple ways to copy text from images.

For instance, some organizations invest in developing their own image-to-text translating systems because of high demand and security. On the other hand, some businesses rely on online tools and apps to extract text from images. So, let’s cover all of them here.

1.Using a Reliable Image to text Converting Tool

The first way involves the use of a reliable OCR tool. And for that, we’ll have to explore search engines because most dedicated tools to extract text from images are web apps. So, here is how you can copy text from pictures using this way:

1.Open any browser and search for ‘image to text tool’

2.The search engine will bring several results for this query. However, we’ve picked the first one i.e., Imagetotext.info as it comes in the first spot on the search results.

Disclaimer: We’ll perform the following steps according to the options available in the selected tool. But you can look for the closest possible options in your case.

3.Once the web page of your selected tool is opened, upload an image into that tool.

4.Then, click on the ‘Submit’ button.

Note: Most online tools will ask you to complete the captcha verification before starting the procedure. So, fill in the captcha and let your selected utility do the rest.

5.Within a few seconds, this online OCR tool will bring the result. So, you can save the output using any of the available options. However, in our case, we’ve got the following outcome:

2.Using a Smartphone Application

The second way of copy text from images involves using a smartphone application. So, here is the step-by-step guide for this technique:

1.Open the app store on your smartphone and search for the same query.

2.Then, pick and download any application from the results of that query. However, for this example, we’ve selected the first one i.e., the Photo to Text Scanner App.

3.Once the selected image-to-text app has been downloaded and installed, open it.

4.Then, upload a picture into that application. However, we’ll upload an image from the gallery for this example.

5.After that, tap on the process icon.

6.The app will instantly show the copied text from the image just within seconds. So, you can save that output using any of the available options.

3.Using Microsoft Word

The third and last way of extracting text from pictures involves using a desktop/laptop/macOS application. So, we’ll use Microsoft Word for that. And here are steps to copy text from images with the help of Microsoft Word.

1.Open a blank Word document and add a picture to it.

2.Choose the ‘File Tab’ and then select ‘Save as > Browse’ from the ‘File’ menu.

3.Doing so will open a new sub-window. So, you will have to type the name for this document. However, it’s necessary to save this document as a PDF file because we are not using the dedicated OCR tool of Microsoft here.

4.Navigate to the ‘File’ menu again. However, since we want to open the saved PDF file in this step, we’ll select the ‘Open > Browse’ options.

5.Select the PDF file from the sub-window and tap the ‘Open’ button.

Note: Sometimes, a confirmation box appears upon opening a PDF file in Microsoft Word. So, if such a box appears in your case, tap on the ‘OK’ button.

6.Doing so will instruct Microsoft Word to copy and show the extracted text in a separate document.

Thus, these are the different ways you can use for copying text from images. The choice between these approaches depends entirely on your preference.

Conclusion

All in all, the availability of online utilities has made it easier than ever to extract text from images. You will find many options now for copying text from a picture, scanned document, or screenshot. However, it’s essential to choose the right one. That’s because the quality of output is directly proportional to the text extraction ability of a tool. Therefore, we recommend reading the description of a utility before selecting it.

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