OCR — Image to Text
Extract text from images in Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi & English — Standard (free, unlimited) or Enhanced via Gemini AI (near-100% accuracy)
Drag & drop image here
JPG, PNG, BMP, TIFF, WebP, GIF supported
OCR Engine
Language
Image Preprocessing (optional)
Helps on low-contrast or dark images. Images are auto-upscaled for better accuracy.
Upload an image and click Extract Text to begin.
Tips for Best Results
Use Enhanced (AI) Mode
Gemini AI gives near-100% accuracy for Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi and English. Get a free API key from Google AI Studio.
Use Clear Images
Well-lit, in-focus images give the best results. Blurry or dark photos reduce accuracy on both engines.
Boost Contrast for Standard
If using Standard mode, try increasing contrast to 130–150% for low-contrast images like photos of printed text.
What is Image to Text (OCR)?
OCR (Optical Character Recognition) is technology that reads text from images and converts it into machine-readable, editable text. When you photograph a document, receipt, sign, book page, or business card, the result is an image — OCR extracts the text so you can copy, search, edit, and process it like any other digital text.
OCR technology has advanced dramatically with machine learning. Traditional OCR engines like Tesseract (originally developed by HP and now maintained by Google) use trained neural networks to recognise character shapes. Modern AI vision models go further — they understand context, handle unusual fonts and layouts, and recognise text in images that are skewed, partially blurred, or photographed at an angle.
Altairys's Image to Text tool offers two modes: Standard mode uses Tesseract.js — the industry-standard open-source OCR engine running entirely in your browser — supporting English, Tamil, Malayalam, and Hindi with no server uploads. Enhanced mode (optional) uses Google Gemini 2.0 Flash, a state-of-the-art AI vision model that handles challenging images with near-100% accuracy. In Enhanced mode, you provide your own Google AI Studio API key (stored only in your browser's localStorage, never sent to Altairys), giving you unlimited, private AI-powered OCR for free.
How to Use Image to Text (OCR)
- Upload your image
Drag and drop a photo of a document, receipt, sign, or any text-containing image.
- Select language
Choose the language of the text: English, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi, or combinations.
- Choose engine and extract
Use Standard (Tesseract, free, private) or Enhanced (Gemini AI, near-100% accuracy).
- Copy the extracted text
Review and copy the extracted text to use in any application.
Key Benefits
Specialised support for Tamil, Malayalam, and Hindi alongside English.
Optional Gemini AI mode for near-100% accuracy on difficult images.
Standard mode is fully local — no image ever leaves your browser.
Extract hundreds of words from an image in seconds instead of typing manually.
Supported Formats
Frequently Asked Questions
The tool supports English, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi, and combination modes (English + Tamil, English + Malayalam, English + Hindi). Gemini Enhanced mode can recognise any language the model supports.
Standard mode uses Tesseract.js — a local, free, unlimited OCR engine. Enhanced mode uses Google Gemini 2.0 Flash — a multimodal AI model with much higher accuracy on challenging images, handwriting, and complex layouts.
Yes — you need a free Google AI Studio API key (available at aistudio.google.com). The key is stored in your browser only and never sent to Altairys servers.
Tesseract achieves ~70–80% accuracy on clear printed Tamil/Malayalam text. Gemini Enhanced mode achieves near-100% accuracy even on complex or handwritten regional language text.
Flat, well-lit images with clear printed text work best. Dark images, extreme angles, blurry photos, and handwriting reduce accuracy. For challenging images, use Enhanced mode.