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OCR Image

Upload a photo, screenshot, or scanned image and extract its text with AI. The image is sent to PDFly's server, which forwards it to Google Gemini.

Last Updated: October 2026Written by Ayaz Dilawar

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JPG, PNG or WebP No Signup Free to Use

Limitations

JPG, PNG and WebP only. The image data sent for one request is capped at about 2.2 MB of binary image data; larger files are rejected before upload.
The result is plain text. Layout, tables and formatting are not preserved.
There is no language selector; the model attempts to read the language shown in the image.
AI tools share a daily capacity and a per-visitor rate limit, so requests can be refused at busy times.
AI-read text can contain mistakes. Check important text against the original image.

OCR Image

Turn a photo, screenshot, or scanned image into text using AI-assisted OCR. Free, no signup. The image is sent to PDFly's server, which forwards it to Google Gemini.

AI-powered

Your image is sent to PDFly's server, which forwards it to Google Gemini for text recognition.

Extract the text from a photo, screenshot or scanned image (JPG, PNG or WebP). The image itself is sent to PDFly’s server, which forwards it to Google Gemini to read the text. Images are capped at roughly 2.2 MB per request, so compress large ones first. Results are best on clean, high-resolution images, and handwriting varies more, so check it against the original.

What is OCR?

OCR uses AI to recognize text in images. It analyzes the shapes of letters and converts them into digital text. The tool is intended primarily for clear printed text; handwriting may be less reliable.

How to OCR an image

1Open PDFly's OCR Image tool.
2Upload your image — JPG, PNG, or WebP.
3Click Extract Text.
4Copy the extracted text from the results panel.

When to use OCR

Document digitization: Convert paper documents to digital text.
Screenshots: Extract text from screenshots of text.
Translation: Extract text to translate into another language.
Data entry: Avoid manual typing from photos.

Troubleshooting

"Please select a JPEG, PNG, or WEBP image": Other image formats (like HEIC or GIF) aren't accepted directly — convert with Image Converter first.
"This image is … The limit is about 2.2 MB": Images over about 2.2 MB are rejected before upload. Compress the image with Image Compressor, then try again.
"Could not process this image": The image could not be read or the request did not reach the server, for example because the connection dropped. Check your connection and try again. If it keeps failing, re-save the image as a standard JPEG or PNG.
"No readable text was found in that image": The model returned no text. Try a sharper, better-lit image, or crop it to the part that contains text.
"Too many requests" or "shared daily capacity": You have hit the per-visitor rate limit, or the shared daily AI capacity or quota has been used up. Wait a few minutes for the rate limit, or try again tomorrow if the daily capacity is gone.
"AI provider is busy" or "AI processing failed": The AI service had a temporary problem. Wait a moment and retry. A generic "Something went wrong. Please try again." means the server returned no specific message.
The text came out in the wrong language or garbled: There's no manual language selector — the model reads whatever language appears in the image. Mixed-language or very stylized text can reduce accuracy.

Need to extract text from an image?

Extract text from your image — no signup, sent to PDFly's server, which forwards it to Google Gemini.

↑ Use the tool above

Frequently asked questions

Accuracy depends on image quality and text clarity. Clean, high-resolution images work best.

Legible handwriting may be recognized, but results can vary more than with clear printed text. Review the extracted text carefully.

There's no language setting to choose — the AI model reads whatever language appears in the image automatically. Results are generally strongest for widely-used languages.

OCR PDF AI PDF Tools hub Read the guide All PDF guides