Jan 27, 20233 min read

Extract Text from Images

Extracting text from an image refers to the process of using optical character recognition (OCR) technology to automatically identify and extract the text contained within an image. This can include text in images such as scanned documents, PDFs, and photographs. The extracted text can then be edited, searched, and indexed, making it easier to organize and find the information contained within the image. In this article, we will provide you with a step-to-step guide to Extract Text from Images on Windows 11.

The extracted text can be used for a variety of purposes, such as indexing, searching, and archiving documents, improving accessibility for people with visual impairments, and automating data entry tasks.

Extract Text from the Image on Windows 11

Below we have two methods to extract text from the image:

Using the built-in OCR
Using OneNote
Using Adobe Acrobat
Using Online OCR Software

Method 1: Extract text from the image using built-in OCR

Here are the steps to extract text from an image using the built-in OCR feature in Microsoft Office:

STEP 1: Open the image in an application such as Microsoft Word or PowerPoint.

STEP 2: Right-click on the image and select "Copy Text from Picture"

STEP 3: The extracted text will be copied to your clipboard, you can paste it into any other application or document.

Note: The accuracy of the OCR results may vary depending on the quality of the image and the complexity of the text.

Method 2: Extract text using OneNote

Here are the steps to extract text from an image using OneNote:

STEP 1: Open OneNote.

STEP 2: Click on "Insert" -> "Picture" to insert the image.

STEP 3: Right-click on the image and select "Copy Text from Picture".

STEP 4: The extracted text will be copied to your clipboard, you can paste it into any other application or document.

Method 3: Extract text using Adobe Acrobat

Adobe Acrobat is a software application used for creating, editing, and managing PDF (Portable Document Format) files. With Acrobat, users can create PDF documents from scratch, convert existing documents into PDFs, edit the text and images in PDFs, and add digital signatures, among other features. It also includes advanced features such as the ability to merge multiple PDFs into one, split PDFs into multiple documents, and add password protection to PDFs for security.

Follow the below steps to extract the text from image:

STEP 1: Open the image in Adobe Acrobat.

STEP 2: Select the "Tools" menu at the top of the screen.

STEP 3: Select "Recognize Text" from the drop-down menu.

STEP 4: Choose the option "In this file" if you want to extract text from the current image or "In multiple files" if you want to extract text from multiple images.

STEP 5: Click "Start" to begin the text recognition process.

STEP 6: Once the text recognition is complete, you can edit, copy, or export the extracted text.

STEP 7: You can also find the 'Text Recognition' option in the right-click menu.

STEP 8: After you selected the image, right-click on it and choose 'Text Recognition' and then OCR.

STEP 9: The text will be extracted and highlighted on the image and you can copy and paste it in any other document.

Method 4: Extract text using Online OCR Software

There are several online OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software tools that you can use to extract text from an image. Here are the general steps for using one of these tools:

STEP 1: Go to the website of the OCR software you want to use. Some popular options include Adobe Acrobat Online, Google Drive, and Online OCR.

STEP 2: Click on the "Upload" or "Select" button to upload the image from which you want to extract text.

STEP 3: Select the language of the text in the image if prompted.

STEP 4: Click on the "Recognize" or "Extract Text" button to begin the OCR process.

STEP 5: Once the OCR process is complete, the extracted text will be displayed on the screen.

STEP 6: You can then copy, save, or export the extracted text as a document or text file.

STEP 7: Some OCR software also provides the option to download the output in different formats like excel, word, plain text, etc.

Note: Online OCR tools have limited accuracy, so the extracted text may not always be 100% accurate, especially for images with poor quality or complex layouts.