Free Image to Text Converter — Extract Text from Any Photo or Screenshot

Copy text out of any image straight in your browser. Upload a photo, screenshot, scan or HEIC file — or paste an image URL — and Tesseract OCR reads it locally. Nothing is uploaded to a server. Pick Document, Poster or Single Block mode to match the image, switch between 15 languages, and download the result as .TXT or .RTF.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is OCR (Optical Character Recognition)?

OCR is a technology that reads text from images and converts it into editable, searchable text. FixFlowHub uses Tesseract — the world's most accurate open-source OCR engine — running entirely in your browser. No file is ever sent to a server.

What is the difference between Document, Poster, and Block OCR mode?

Document mode (default) works best for scanned pages, PDFs, and images with paragraph-style text. Poster / Photo mode is optimised for artistic text, posters, signs, or any image where text is scattered on a complex background — it uses Tesseract's sparse-text detection (PSM 11). Single Block mode treats the entire image as one uniform block of text and works well for neatly cropped single-column content.

What does 'Enhance for OCR' do?

In Document and Block modes, Enhance converts your image to grayscale and applies a contrast boost before OCR — this significantly improves accuracy on low-contrast photos and shadowed images. In Poster mode, Enhance additionally applies a black-and-white threshold to maximise separation between text and background, which is ideal for artistic or printed text on complex backgrounds.

Can I upload multiple images at once?

Yes. Select multiple image files at once and a thumbnail strip appears above the workspace. Click any thumbnail to switch between images, and use 'Extract All' to process every image in one go, sequentially.

Can I import an image from a URL?

Yes. Click 'From URL', paste any direct image URL (ending in .jpg, .png, etc. — not a webpage URL), and click Load. The image is fetched and added to the queue. Tip: right-click any image on a website and select 'Copy image address' to get a direct URL. Some websites block direct access (CORS); in that case, download the image and upload it manually.

Can I use this instead of Google Lens to copy text from an image?

Yes. Unlike Google Lens, FixFlowHub's OCR runs entirely in your browser — nothing is sent to Google or any other server. It supports 15 languages, lets you download the extracted text as .TXT or .RTF, and gives you a confidence score so you know how accurate the result is.

What image formats are supported?

JPG, JPEG, PNG, WebP, BMP, GIF, TIFF, HEIC, and HEIF are all supported. HEIC and HEIF are the native photo formats used by iPhones and Apple devices.

Is my image uploaded to a server?

No. Your images are never sent to any server. All OCR processing happens locally in your browser using WebAssembly. Your files remain 100% private and never leave your device — not even to FixFlowHub's servers.

What does the confidence score mean?

The confidence score (0–100%) shows how certain Tesseract is about the accuracy of the extracted text. Above 80% is excellent, 60–80% is good, and below 60% means the image quality is limiting accuracy. Try enabling Enhance for OCR, switching to Poster mode, or uploading a higher-resolution image.

How do I extract text from a poster or sign with artistic fonts?

Select 'Poster / Photo' from the OCR Mode dropdown, then turn on 'Enhance for OCR'. This applies a black-and-white threshold and uses Tesseract's sparse-text detection — the combination works significantly better for stylised or decorative fonts on complex backgrounds.

Can I extract text from a handwritten image?

Tesseract has limited accuracy on handwriting — it works best on printed or typed text. For handwritten notes, results may be partial or incorrect. Typed scans at 300+ DPI with clear contrast produce the most accurate results.

How do I extract text from a PDF page?

Take a screenshot of the PDF page (or export it as an image) and upload it here. For best results, use a high-resolution export (at least 150–300 DPI) from your PDF viewer. The Document OCR mode works well for standard PDF layouts.

Why is the first extraction slow?

The first time you use the tool, Tesseract's language model (~5–20 MB depending on language) downloads and caches in your browser. Subsequent extractions are much faster because the model is already cached locally.

Can I download as a Word document?

Click 'Download .RTF' — RTF (Rich Text Format) opens natively in Microsoft Word, LibreOffice, Google Docs, Apple Pages, and most other word processors. It preserves line breaks and basic formatting.

What languages are supported?

15 languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese (Simplified), Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Hindi, Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish, and Vietnamese — plus Auto-detect mode which defaults to English.

How do I get the best OCR accuracy?

Use high-resolution images (300 DPI or higher), ensure strong contrast between text and background, keep text horizontal, and crop to just the text area. For photos and posters, use Poster / Photo mode with Enhance for OCR enabled. Always select the correct language from the dropdown.

Why does OCR fail on some images?

OCR can struggle with very low-resolution images, heavily stylised or handwritten fonts, very small text (<8px), watermarks, or images with busy backgrounds. Try Poster / Photo mode + Enhance for OCR, crop the image to just the text, or use a higher-resolution version of the file.

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