How to Copy Text from an Image in Digital Format?

How many times did you snap a photo of a document and wish you could just edit the text in it digitally? The truth is that you could have accomplished exactly that if you had the right snipping tools and knew how to utilize them. Modern screenshot capture and editor tools are almost equipped with text recognition functions, and they don’t require any deep technology skills for excellent results.

This article will teach you how to copy words from a picture in a digital format and manipulate this text in any way that suits you. There are multiple methods that can solve this problem, and each one has its own advantages. That’s why every user should understand his options and choose the most optimal tool accordingly.

Recommended Tool: Taking batch screenshots at once with URLs >

What is Extracting Text from an Image?

A digital image can often include certain words or even entire paragraphs of text. Since this text consists of pixels and not recognizable characters, it can’t be readily interpreted by machines. This complicates matters for users, who might want to copy the text into another application, share it with someone, or save it locally for later use.

There is a technology called Optical Character Recognition (OCR) that can solve the issue and extract text in editable form from images in any format (JPG, PDF, etc.). This technology can be very effective and correctly recognize even handwritten notes or text that has been partially obscured. A lot of modern software suites are integrating OCR technology and gaining the ability to extract words from an image. This trend is very favorable for users who routinely work with multimedia and frequently need to combine elements from several sources to create something new.

Further Reading: Text to Video Converter >

3 Ways to Extract Words from Image

Since OCR capacity can be found in many different software products, users have plenty of choices when it comes to choosing their preferred text extraction method. The most adequate tool for this task depends on several factors, including the degree of difficulty of text extraction, the type of computer and OS you have, as well as your level of understanding of media creation and editing.

We present two of the quickest and easiest methods and show you how to copy text from a picture without having to manually retype it.

Method 1. Use Online OCR service to Extract Text from Image

Using a SaaS product that has a built-in OCR function is probably the simplest way to get the text contained inside of an image in a format you can edit and save. Since web-based apps of this kind only require only a browser for access, there is no need to install any new software to your computer.

There are numerous image-to-text converters online that can be used free of charge, so this option is perfect if you only occasionally need to complete this operation and don’t want to spend money on an advanced software package that goes far beyond your present requirements.

If you are not sure how to copy text from an image using an online OCR platform, just follow these steps:

Step 1. Use any web browser to navigate to the online address of your chosen OCR tool

Step 2. Upload the image containing text into the web interface

Step 3. Specify in which format you would like the text to be saved (MS Word, Excel…)

Step 4. Click on the Convert button or its equivalent and wait for a little while for the text to be extracted and converted into your chosen format

Method 2. Use Gemoo Snap to Extract Words from Image

A great OCR software can not only recognize the text in the picture but also allow you to extract and copy the text to any place you want. Gemoo Snap is such a powerful OCR software. It can recognize text in 6 languages and allows you to make secondary edits. After that, you can copy and paste these texts to where you want. This is the reason why we recommend Gemoo Snap as the first OCR software for you.

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In addition to the OCR function, Gemoo Snap also has a rich screenshot function: quick screenshot, screenshot, and feedback, screenshot immediately beautify the image, pin screenshot top, screenshot upload to the cloud, add text to image, etc.

Now, you can download Gemoo Snap and learn how to extract words from images easily.

Step 1. Install and launch Gemoo Snap on your computer, it works well both on Windows and Mac computers (I t also has a Chrome extension.) > Choose the Recognize Text (OCR) function on the interface.

Step 2. Select the area that you need to recognize. It will show the recognition result. You can click the button Edit to edit the recognized text. You can also click the Copy button to copy and pase them to anywhere.

Method 3. Detect Text in Images with Microsoft OneNote

Users who regularly need to isolate text from visual content might want to download premium OCR software rather than rely on web-based alternatives. Microsoft OneNote is one of the best choices for this role due to the combination of simplicity and flexibility it offers.

This practical note-taking application can work with both images and text, and it has an OCR feature that allows for easy conversion between the two. At the same time, it’s a part of the Microsoft Office suite and has full compatibility with other commonly used products from this package.

Follow this simple procedure in order to recognize text in image you imported into Microsoft OneNote:

Step 1. Run Microsoft OneNote and upload the image containing text into it

Step 2. Right-click on the image, and choose the Copy Text from Picture option

Step 3. Click on the location within a note where you want the text to appear

Step 4. Paste the text to the selected location by pressing CRTL + V, or copy it into another application

Frequently Asked Questions about Copying Words from a Picture

What is the easiest way to copy words from a picture?

This depends on which software you already have installed and are comfortable using. If you don’t have any OCR software on your computer at the moment, the easiest way to get this done might be to go online and find a free cloud-based app that lets you extract textual characters from an image file.

How can I extract text from a scanned PDF?

PDF is a format that supports both text and images, but if a PDF file was created by scanning a physical document its entire content is saved as a picture. You can get around this issue by using one of the recommended methods for text extractions mentioned in the text above.

How do I extract text from an image in Windows?

Microsoft OneNote is a widely used windows-compatible application that can recognize text in image, but it’s hardly the only tool available for this task. You can try a number of screen capturing or note taking apps for Windows that have a reliable OCR feature as a part of the package.

Can you access text within an image from a smartphone?

Since online tools for image-to-text conversion can be accessed from a regular browser, it’s entirely possible to use them from a mobile device. Smaller screen size doesn’t affect the accuracy of the conversion, so this is a convenient way to quickly extract text when you need it.

Final Words

Learning how to copy words from a picture is a key skill that people in many professions can find extremely valuable. Even casual users who need to extract text for private reasons can do this on a regular basis, since OCR tools are really simple and require no training.

Whether you choose to install a desktop product like Microsoft OneNote or prefer to go online to find OCR functionality, it won’t take you more than a few minutes to get an accurate rendition of the text that you can edit at will or combine with other elements to create multimedia.