[Guide] 5 Simple Ways to Convert Image to Text

Let’s say you have an image – of a recipe, or a shopping receipt. You may want to change the text or repurpose your recipe to include specific items before you can share it with a friend.

Because you can’t edit an image, you’ll need OCR software to turn your image into words which you can access and edit at once.

And that's not all. OCR technology has even made it possible for you to take a picture with text on your mobile, in real-time, and get instant translations on your screen.

With that in mind, this article will show you how to transform your image into text using 5 simple ways. We’ll discuss the following. Feel free to jump to any of these sections to get started:

Part 1. Convert Image to Text on Windows and Mac

In this section, we’ll use PDNob Image to Text Converter to recognize and capture text from an image of a receipt.

PDNob Image to Text Converter is a screenshot OCR and translation tool that enables you to quickly access and change images to text. With its easy-to-use OCR tool, you can instantly transform your image into searchable as well as editable text as explained below.

Once you’re ready, follow these steps to convert your picture to text:

You can now edit, delete some information, and add all the specific items before you can share the receipt with your friend.

While PDNob Image to Text Converter makes capturing image text a breeze, here are some other benefits you’ll notice when using this software:

1. You have 5 free trials per day before you can go premium to enjoy its potential fully.
2. The screenshot OCR function lets you directly take single or multiple snapshots of entire, or different sections/sentences/lines on your image and convert them to text.
3. As the name suggests, this software also has an inbuilt translation function. This means you can have your image translated to other languages in an instant.
4. With PDNob’s updated version of Image Translator, you can also convert image files in batches expeditiously without interfering with the original format and layout.

It’s simply clear that PDNob Image to Text Converter is not only 100% accurate in recognizing text, but also convenient to use.

Once you get the hang of using PDNob Image to Text Converter, it’s easy to use in other online applications.

Part 2. Convert Image to Text with Google Docs

Google Docs isn’t just for writing documents! It can also help you convert images to text with OCR as explained below:

Part 3. Convert Image to Text with Microsoft OneNote

OneNote is a note-taking application that allows you to easily manage and organize all your notes, websites and images in one convenient location.

You can use OneNote to convert your image to text directly from the OneNote app.

Part 4. How to Convert Image to Text in Mobile

There are many apps for mobile devices that let you convert images to text. These apps allow you to scan text on the go as all mobile phones have built-in cameras.

Convert Image to Text with Google Lens

Google lens lets you extract text from images offline. It also offers unlimited scans for free in multiple languages.

The Google Lens app allows you to translate words on printed texts or signs in real time. You can use it on Android, iOS, and PC devices.

You can paste the text into any editor, edit it and save it.

Convert Image to Text with Live Text

With the Live Text feature, you can transform your iPhone camera into a “smart” camera that can identify and extract text on images in real-time. You can use it on iOS devices only.

You can use Live Text to scan text directly from the iPhone camera:

You can also use Live Text on photos you’ve already taken:

That’s it.

Wrap up

Google Docs or MS OneNote does the job if all you want is to extract text from an image. However, both apps are limited in terms of accuracy, time, and maintaining the original file format. And you have to upload the image files before you get the OCR result.

While PDNob Image to Text Converter is not compatible with smartphones, you can use it to convert your images into 100% accurate editable text, fast, as well as keep all the original file formatting which will save you lots of time in editing. That’s not all, you can also automatically translate your images to multiple languages on the go with this software. Besides, you can also convert a picture instantly by taking snapshots, which can’t be achieved by other OCR tools.