An Optical Character Reader or OCR is the electronic conversion of a picture to text. You can find many OCR apps that help you to convert text from images into searchable files. These tools accept several image types; later, they can convert them into different file formats like Word, Excel, or plain text. Here is the list of best OCR apps to convert scanned images to searchable text format.
What Are OCR Apps & Software?
OCR app or Optical Character Recognition software are the tools that help convert images to printed text. The OCR technology can analyze the document, and then the text scanner app compares it with all the available fonts in the database. Then, it will match any features of that font typical to its characters.
A few OCR software processes it using a spell checker. This way, unrecognizable words could be guessed by the picture-to-text converter app.
What Is The Purpose Of OCR Apps?
The OCR tool’s primary use depends on converting paper documents into editable softcopy or the app that scans pictures into text. So, if you were wondering which feature allows a scanner to convert a scanned image into editable electronic text, then it’s the OCR.
Earlier, we used to retype paper documents, which was time-consuming. These apps are also helpful in data entry, digitizing historical documents, vehicle plate identification, and helping visually impaired persons read.
Best OCR Apps to Convert Scanned Images to Searchable Text
OCR tools can be productivity shortcuts for students, research workers, and Office users. The following are the best OCR applications for Android and iOS.
- Office Lens
- Text Fairy
- CamScanner
- Google Keep
- PDF Scanner
- Adobe Scan
- Smart Lens
- Evernote Scannable
None of these optical character reader apps are the best, but they all have their feature set. It would help if you tried them and chose the best for you. Also, if you need to convert an image to searchable text, and then manually check if the app supports it after scanning the document.
1] Office Lens
Microsoft Developed app Office Lens is one of the best OCR scanner. It comes integrated with other Office suite apps. Office Lens app has a powerful OCR scanner to convert images to text. It works with Docs, Excel, OneNote, PFD, and PowerPoint.
The app provides different adjustments for scanning print paper, whiteboards, photos, and business cards. It uses a technology that controls the glare and adjusts the brightness for better and more accurate results.
You can scan and save your data with Office Lens on OneDrive or iCloud. You can also edit converted texts in Word or OneNote. Hence, you can call it the official OCR software for Windows. This app is an essential tool for people who use Office 365 because it is user-friendly and works smoothly. But without Office 365, this app doesn’t work to its full potential.
Available on Android, iOS
2] Text Fairy
Text Fairy OCR Android app does exactly what it is built for. This app comes without any ads. The distinctive feature of the app is its correct image perspective.
If you are scanning the pages of a book bent at the center, this app will auto-correct its viewing angle, scan the image, and then correct it. Thus enhancing the accuracy of scanning. It also gives you an editing option for the text. You can export it to PDF if there is still a minor discrepancy.
Text Fairy OCR scanner works only on printed texts; it doesn’t support handwriting. This app identifies around 50 languages. This app is an easy-to-use app with an interactive user interface and a minimalist design.
But the Text Fairy OCR scanner app doesn’t provide cloud or any other third-party app support and handwriting.
Available on Android. There is no text fairy online service; it is only available for smartphones, and for this reason, it makes it one of the best OCR tools for converting images to text in offline mode.
3] CamScanner
It’s an all-rounder OCR app used for multiple tasks, e.g., document scanning and converting pictures into PDF. The app’s advanced OCR feature is nominally priced. The CamScanner app is a bit inconvenient when compared to other similar apps.
It is less accurate and more prone to mistakes than the other OCR scanner tools. Text scanned using CamScanner cannot be edited in a .txt format file. To use this feature, you must purchase the app’s premium version. The Premium version is four times more expensive than the Pro version.
CamScanner provides a cloud storage account used to store documents and pictures. It offers good support, and the app’s user interface is convenient.
However, its OCR system is somewhat less precise than other apps. Also, it is very limiting. To utilize the app’s full potential, you must pay while the same features are accessible in the other apps.
Available for iOS and Android
4] Google Keep
Google Keep OCR tool Android is best used for its OCR functionality and storing notes. It is a Google product that integrates with Docs, Calendar, and other services Google provides. It is free and flashes no ads.
Initially, Google introduced it as a minimalist note-taking app. You can scan pictures with texts and then “grab the text” using three dots on the right-hand panel of the screen. Once the text is captured, you can add texts to the note, search, and edit. Later on, text can be exported to Google Docs.
It is a free and easily accessible tool, pretty accurate, with a minimal margin of error.
Google Keep isn’t exclusively an OCR app; you must copy and paste items to a new document manually. Processing the images requires an active internet connection.
Available for iOS and Android
5] PDF Scanner
Basic PDF Scanner app is a standard doc scanner free app. For additional features, you need to make in-app purchases. You can scan images for text and convert them into PDF files quickly, and you can edit the texts before converting or saving them.
The app supports around 100 languages and doesn’t require an active internet connection. PDF Scanner app has a brilliant interface. It can be used without an active internet connection. However, this text recognition app is prone to errors, and free version ads ruin the experience.
Available on iOS and Android
6] Adobe Scan
This tool is probably the most popular one when it comes to scanning and managing documents. You must point your camera towards the text, which will automatically scan and detect.
It provides a built-in editor to highlight, interpret, comment, and edit texts. It has a minimal design and comes with 5 GB of online storage. Adobe Scan is free, works without margins or errors, has easy-to-use software to convert picture to text, and is the best text scanner.
However, it is not compatible with third-party cloud storage devices.
Available for iOS and Android
7] Smart Lens
Smart Lens app allows users to scan documents and convert pictures into text. It also helps to translate those texts into other languages. You can use it to scan and sort business cards to detect names, numbers, addresses, and email IDs. That makes it one of the most versatile apps that convert pictures to text.
You can convert and scan any image or document of a foreign language as it comes with the language translator. It includes a QR code reader, which helps to make offers and payments available. The paid pro version removes ads and allows you to use the app for unlimited scans. On the flip side, it doesn’t support handwriting notes. It is one of the apps apps that convert images to text.
Available for iOS and Android
8] Evernote Scannable
Evernote Scannable is an easy-to-use and intelligent OCR tool that converts images to text. Evernote Scannable scans and identifies multiple documents and can be used for cropping, rotating, and improving the brightness of the scanned documents.
In the Evernote Convert Image to Text app, you can choose the format for storing scanned images. It can also identify visiting cards while scanning, and you can add the card’s details to your contact list.
You can also add notes and drawings to your scanned documents. While in the Android version, some useful features like sharing docs on texts and emails are unavailable. It is a user-friendly app for iPhone, but its Android version lacks many useful features.
Available for iOS and Android
What Is An OCR
OCR is an abbreviation for “Optical character recognition” or “Optical character reader”. It is the technique of electronic conversion of pictures to printed text or scanned images to text. When this technology is combined with an app, a developer can build an optical character recognition app that allows users to convert scanned images to text.
How To Find The Best Image To Text App
Text scanner apps mentioned above in the article help in image-to-text conversion. Their accuracy differs in terms of the text they generate. So, selecting an OCR app that will suit your requirements for optimal use of its features, tools, and other added functions, such as the cloud space that comes with it, is essential.
You often need to convert printed or handwritten documents into digital form while running a business or doing online work. You can do this quickly by using these OCR tools.
You can extract text and convert scanned documents into editable PDF files. Can use editing features like text recognition, add comments, page reorders, etc. You can compress PDF Files without compromising their quality and convert these PDFs into multiple formats.
Try these best OCR tools for converting images to text, as the list includes some of the best OCR recognition apps for scanned documents, and see how they work for you.
