Free Online OCR uses AI to extract text from images in multiple languages, supporting JPG, JPEG, PNG, and WebP files up to 10 MB. It produces machine-readable text with layout analysis, bounding box coordinates, and export options including Markdown and JSON.
What is Free Online OCR?
Free Online OCR is an AI-powered tool that converts images containing text — such as scanned documents, screenshots, photos, and handwritten notes — into editable, searchable text. It accepts JPG, JPEG, PNG, and WebP images up to 10 MB and returns extracted text that can be copied, downloaded as a .txt file, or exported in Markdown or JSON formats. The tool runs entirely in the browser on any device and is provided by ImageTranslate.ai.
Key Features
- AI-powered accuracy — Advanced models achieve over 95% accuracy on printed text, handling complex fonts, multi-column layouts, and varied image quality.
- Multi-language support — Recognizes English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Spanish, French, German, Russian, and many more with automatic language detection.
- Position detection — Returns precise bounding box coordinates for each text block, enabling exact text location mapping within images.
- Layout analysis — Identifies titles, paragraphs, tables, and images to preserve original document structure in the output.
- Block classification — Automatically classifies text blocks as titles, captions, paragraphs, etc., for structured understanding.
- Markdown & JSON export — Output results as formatted Markdown documents or JSON for easy integration into applications and workflows.
- Privacy protected — Uploaded images are never stored on servers; processing happens in real time and results are not saved.
Who is it for?
- Students and researchers — Extract quotes, citations, or data from scanned books, academic papers, and ancient texts.
- Professionals handling paperwork — Convert paper documents, medical prescriptions, and handwritten notes into digital text for record-keeping or editing.
- Developers and content creators — Use the JSON export with bounding boxes to build automated pipelines for image-to-text processing, or extract text from charts and tables.
What can you do with Free Online OCR?
- Digitize paper documents: Upload a scanned contract or receipt and get editable text with the original structure preserved.
- Extract text from charts & tables: Feed an image of a spreadsheet or graph and receive text output with layout retention for further analysis.
- Capture handwritten notes: Upload a photo of handwritten pages (legibility-dependent) to obtain a searchable digital copy.
How does Free Online OCR work?
- Upload an image by dragging and dropping or clicking to select a file (JPG, JPEG, PNG, WebP; ≤10 MB).
- The AI automatically detects text regions, recognizes characters, and analyzes layout.
- Copy the extracted text to your clipboard or download it as a .txt file; advanced users can export as Markdown or JSON.
Pricing
Free Online OCR is currently in beta. Unregistered users get 3 free attempts. Free registered users pay 10 credits per extraction (basic credits are replenished daily). Paid subscribers (Starter, Professional, Enterprise) enjoy unlimited free OCR usage as part of their plan.
FAQ
Is Free Online OCR free to use?
Unregistered users can try the tool 3 times for free. Free registered accounts receive 20 basic credits per day; each OCR extraction uses 10 credits. Paid plans include unlimited free OCR.
What image formats are supported?
JPG, JPEG, PNG, and WebP files up to 10 MB each are accepted.
Can it recognize handwritten text?
Yes, but accuracy depends on the legibility of the handwriting. Clear, well-lit images with readable handwriting yield the best results.
