OCR in Windows 11 (Free Online Tools)

Photo Scan: Free OCR Software

Photo Scan is a free OCR software available for Windows 11. It is downloadable from the Microsoft Store at no cost. It comes with built-in optical character recognition technology that helps extract text from an image file without any third-party source integration.

It enables you to use a photo from the computer by selecting files, dragging and dropping files, or selecting images from the clipboard. You will be able to extract text with a single mouse click. It can be easily downloaded from the Microsoft Store.

Here's how you can perform OCR using the Photo Scan application:

• Open the Photo Scan application in Windows 11.
• After opening the software, you will see three options to obtain the image:
  • Browse Photo
  • Use Camera
  • From Clipboard
• Use any method from above and upload the picture to the Photo Scan application.
• As soon as the picture is uploaded, you will see the extracted text on the right side of the application.

You can also use an online Adobe Acrobat Reader for OCR of PDF documents.

Online OCR Tools

We have seen how we can do it on a Windows machine locally using optical character recognition software. Let's explore how we can do it online. We will explore some of the best free OCR software available.

DocSumo OCR Tool

DocSumo Online OCR Scanner is a helpful tool for users who need to convert scanned documents into different formats such as PDF, text, and Microsoft Word. It’s also beneficial for individuals who wish to read old printed or handwritten documents. Let's see how we can use the DocSumo OCR tool for extracting text from image files or pdf files.

Open the DocSumo OCR tool website in any supported browser.

Click on "Upload File" and select a file in any supported file format. It can be in an EPUB format or any PDF file. DocSumo supports almost all formats that contain data in visual form.

Once you upload the file, it will start processing and extracting text from the scanned document.

After the process completes, you will be able to download the extracted text file. You will get editable text files.

So, this is how we can extract text using the DocSumo OCR tool.

OCRConvert

OCRConvert is an online OCR tool that converts physical documents into digital ones. It provides a professional and affordable service to suit all needs. OCRConvert is a one-stop-shop for anyone who wants to digitize their old materials and have them accessible, searchable, and shareable with users worldwide, word by word.

The software uses Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology to extract text from scanned images of paper documents, providing users with extensive control over text formatting aspects. OCR conversion helps eliminate human error and enhance accuracy to bring more value and transparency to a company’s information management strategy.

Let's see how to extract text from a scanned document using OCRConvert.

Go to the OCRConvert website.

Click "Choose File" and select the desired file. Select the output type and click on the "Convert" button.

Once clicked, it will start extracting text from the uploaded file.

You will be able to download the extracted text by clicking the download button.

To-text.net

To-text.net is a tool that helps you turn PDFs or images into editable text in real-time. It makes the process of editing and converting content fast and easy.

To-text.net uses AI to recognize text with automatic OCR (optical character recognition) technology that detects text on a scanned document and converts it into formatted text on your screen. This tool is beneficial for quickly converting a pdf file into an editable document without needing to download it or send it elsewhere for conversion. It's also an excellent option for anyone who wants to work with large amounts of data, as you don't need a high-end scanner or any software to use this app.

Follow the steps below to perform OCR:

• Open the To-text.net website.
• Upload the desired file from the device. It can be an image file or a PDF file.
• After that, select the output language and click on the "Convert" button. It will start extracting data from an image of the scanned PDF file.

After conversion, you will see the output text in the text editor and can download the text file.

IronOCR: C# Library

IronOCR is a popular OCR library for .NET developers. It provides high accuracy, fast processing, and performance in real-time for imaging, digitizing, and recognition. IronOCR has provided an easy way to handle your image data since 2006. The library is a software component that simplifies digitizing documents by automating document scanning. It also supports other processes such as OCR of scanned images, indexing of documents, and optical character recognition (OCR).

The IronOCR library is a C# API that can be used across various industries, including marketing automation, digital advertising, healthcare IT, public affairs, and security. Let's see a code example of using the IronOCR library:

Code Example

using IronOCR;

var Ocr = new IronTesseract();
using (var Input = new OcrInput())
{
    // Add an image from which you want to extract text
    Input.AddImage("Image.jpg");
    // You can add any number of images
    var Result = Ocr.Read(Input);
    // Print extracted text to the console
    Console.WriteLine(Result.Text);
}

using IronOCR;

var Ocr = new IronTesseract();
using (var Input = new OcrInput())
{
    // Add an image from which you want to extract text
    Input.AddImage("Image.jpg");
    // You can add any number of images
    var Result = Ocr.Read(Input);
    // Print extracted text to the console
    Console.WriteLine(Result.Text);
}

Imports IronOCR



Private Ocr = New IronTesseract()

Using Input = New OcrInput()

	' Add an image from which you want to extract text

	Input.AddImage("Image.jpg")

	' You can add any number of images

	Dim Result = Ocr.Read(Input)

	' Print extracted text to the console

	Console.WriteLine(Result.Text)

End Using

Input Image

Output

Licensing

IronOCR is entirely free for development purposes. You can take advantage of its free trial. IronOCR offers three types of licensing options to accommodate different business sizes. You can opt for licenses for one developer, ten developers, or unlimited developers. Iron Software also offers a suite of 5 products for the price of just two. More information is available at this link.