Big accuracy wins
- Straighten the page.
- Crop away irrelevant borders and backgrounds.
- Use a clear source instead of a screenshot of a screenshot.
Turn scans and images into usable text, or make PDFs searchable, without hiding the recognition step behind a single button.
OCR Tools
OCR is only as good as the source. Straight pages, clear characters and good contrast usually matter more than throwing more pixels at a blurry scan.
Browse ocr tools
Image OCR
Extract English text from images directly in your browser.
PDF OCR to text
Extract English text from scanned PDF pages.
Make PDF searchable
Add an invisible English OCR text layer.
OCR works best when the scan gives it something clean to read
OCR isn't magic text recovery. It is pattern recognition. A sharp black-on-white scan with straight lines gives the engine a much easier job than a dim phone photo taken at an angle.
Kaazo includes separate workflows for image-to-text, scanned PDF text extraction and searchable-PDF output. The visible page can remain perfectly readable while the hidden OCR layer contains mistakes, so names, amounts, dates and reference numbers always deserve a manual check.
If accuracy is poor, fix the source before you keep rerunning OCR. Better contrast and a straighter image usually beat blindly increasing resolution.
Know what OCR cannot promise
- Handwriting is harder than print.
- Tiny punctuation and similar characters can be confused.
Want the deeper reasoning? Read the practical guide for this category.