Image OCR
Image OCR for photos, screenshots, and scans
Read document photos without losing the labels, columns, and page regions that give text meaning.
Image OCR works on pixels alone. It does not receive a hidden text layer, fonts, or PDF coordinates. That makes source quality more important, but modern document models can still use alignment, spacing, and visual grouping to recover useful structure.
The best input is the original image with the whole document visible. Cropped screenshots, messaging-app compression, glare, and perspective distortion remove evidence that the model needs.
Where image ocr fits
- Phone photos of paper documents
- Screenshots that contain forms or tables
- PNG, JPG, JPEG, and WebP scans
How image ocr works
- Check image quality: Measure resolution, blur, glare, orientation, cropping, and whether small text is still legible.
- Correct geometry: Deskew the page and correct perspective so rows and labels line up.
- Read by region: Recognize text while preserving its page position, grouping, and likely field role.
- Return reviewable data: Provide fields or rows with the source image available for visual comparison.
What the structured result can contain
| Field or structure | Example |
|---|
| Text regions | Paragraph, label, value, caption |
| Key-value fields | Order number: PO-7714 |
| Table cells | Row 4, amount 128.50 |
| Reading order | Header before body and footnotes |
| Coordinates | Source region for review |
Fix the image before blaming the OCR
Image preparation often improves the result more than retrying the same poor file with another model.
- Use the original image and highest practical resolution.
- Photograph the page straight on with even light and all corners visible.
- Avoid fingers, shadows, folds, and highlights over important text.
- Do not over-sharpen or apply filters that erase punctuation and thin strokes.
- Split contact sheets or collages into one document image per file when possible.
OCR API response design
Declare supported MIME types and size limits, and reject empty or unsupported files before inference.
Preserve image dimensions and return normalized coordinates if another interface will draw highlights over the source.
Read the document extraction API guide.
Common uses
Mobile capture
Extract fields from a document photographed outside the office.
Screenshot recovery
Turn a table or form trapped in an image into editable data.
Mixed upload intake
Accept image documents alongside PDFs in one extraction workflow.
Free tools for this document
- Free Invoice OCR: Read invoice fields and line items without building a template first.
- Receipt OCR: Read totals, tax, and line items from receipt photos and scans.
- GST Invoice OCR: Read GSTIN, tax split, HSN or SAC, totals, and invoice line items.
Image OCR questions
Which image format is best for OCR?
A clear PNG or high-quality JPEG usually works well. Resolution, focus, contrast, and compression matter more than the file extension.
Can OCR read text from a screenshot?
Yes, if the text is large enough and not heavily compressed. Screenshots often lose page context, so keep the whole form or table visible.
How can I improve OCR on a phone photo?
Use even lighting, hold the camera parallel to the page, include all four corners, tap to focus, and upload the original photo.