How to Copy Text from a Picture on iOS 18/17, Windows or Mac Quickly

July 19, 2022Gerald Christian

"I have a scanned document, which is saved as a picture, how can I get the text out of it?" There are many reasons why you need to extract text from an image, but the good news is that numerous tools are available to let you do just that on either a smartphone or a computer. This tutorial will identify the easiest way to do the job on iOS 18/17, Windows, and Mac, as well as demonstrate the workflow in detail.

Part 1: How to Copy Text from Image on iOS 18/17
Part 2: How to Extract Text from Image on Windows/Mac Using Word
Part 3: How to Copy Text from a Picture Online for Free
Part 4: FAQs about Copying Text from Image

Part 1: How to Copy Text from Image on iOS 18/17

Apple releases updates for iPhone users regularly. The latest iOS 18/17, for example, has several new features. One of them, called Live Text, uses artificial intelligence to analyze the content in an image. It means that you can copy text from a picture on iOS 18/17 without extra apps.

Step 1:

Open the Photos app from your home screen when you need to extract text from an image. Find the desired image and open it.

Step 2:

Long press the first word that you want to extract until you see the selection tool, which is two blue indicators. Then drag the indicators to select all desired content.

Tip: To extract all the text in the image, tap Select All for the selection tool.

Step 3:

Then press the Copy option to copy the text to your clipboard. Now, you can paste the text to any location or app on your iPhone. For instance, open the Notes app, create a new note, press the blank area, and tap Paste to paste the text. You can also send the text as a message, email, etc.

Note: The Live Text feature is also available to macOS Sequoia. At the moment, it only works in Safari, Photos, the built-in screenshot tool, and Quick Look.

Part 2: How to Extract Text from Image on Windows/Mac Using Word

Microsoft Office Word can convert an image into a PDF document, and then extract text from the image indirectly. Although this way is a bit complex, it is a nice choice to do the job if you already have it on your PC or Mac.

Step 1:

Start your Word, and create a new document. Go to the Insert tab, and click the Pictures option in the Illustrations group. Find and select the target image in the file explorer window, and open it.

Step 2:

To increase the accuracy, you'd better edit the picture before converting:
Firstly, select the picture, go to the Picture Tools Design tab on the top ribbon, and choose the Crop tool. Then remove the unneeded area.
If the image looks dark, you should enhance the brightness. Also, go to the Picture Tools Design tab, and choose the Corrections tool in the Adjust group. Then select a brighter one.
Moreover, you can enlarge the picture to make the text clear. Select the picture, and zoom it in with the edge controls. If your picture becomes blurry, cancel the changes by hitting the Ctrl or Cmd + Z keys on your keyboard.

Step 3:

Now, convert the image into a PDF. Go to the File menu, and choose Save As. Select a folder to save the document, leave a filename, make sure to select PDF from the Save as Type option, and confirm it.

Step 4:

Next, go to the File menu, and choose Open. Find and select the PDF document, and open it in Word. Then you will get a warning box. Click the OK button on the box to convert the PDF to an editable Word.

Step 5:

When it is done, the text in the image will be grabbed successfully. Generally speaking, Word keeps the format and the paragraph settings. However, the result is determined by the condition of your image.

Note: To increase the success rate, you should put the paper or book as flat as possible when taking photos.

Extended Reading:

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Part 3: How to Copy Text from a Picture Online for Free

Another way to grab text from a picture is the online apps. There are several web-based apps available for the task, but most of them are not free to use. Luckily, Online-convert provides a free tool. Of course, it has a file size limitation too. If you do not mind, try the steps below.

Step 1:

Visit https://www.online-convert.com/ocr/image-to-text in your browser when you need to copy words from a picture.

Step 2:

Click the Choose File button and upload the image or images from your hard drive. Or load the images from the URL, your Dropbox, or Google Drive. The maximum file size is 50MB per time.

Step 3:

After image uploads, click the Start button to begin extracting text from the picture online. Wait for the process to finish, and click the Download button to get the result. The file will be saved as a text. If you are converting multiple images, click the Download ZIP File button to get all of them at one time.

Note: According to our research, the online app can copy text from images in most cases. However, the accuracy is not very good. Therefore, it is just a free way to do the job.

Part 4: FAQs about Copying Text from Image

Can I copy text from the image in PowerPoint?

No, PowerPoint does not include the functionality. If you intend to extract text from an image, you can open the image into OneNote, and choose the Copy Text from Picture option to save the text to your clipboard. Then turn to PowerPoint, and paste the text.

What is OCR?

OCR is short for Optical character recognition. It is referred to as text recognition. An OCR program can extract text, words, and characters from scanned documents, camera images, and image-only PDFs. The Live Text feature In iOS 18/17, for example, is using the OCR technology to recognize text.

Why I cannot convert an image to text?

To convert an image to text successfully, you must have a clear image. Plus, you also need a powerful tool that has the ability to recognize and extract the text from your image, such as MS Word.

Conclusion

Now, you should understand how to read text from an image on iPhone, Windows, and Mac. The built-in Live Text feature is the easiest way to do the job on iOS 18/17 or later. If you intend to convert an image to text with a computer, MS Word is a good choice. To just convert an image to Word, Aiseesoft Free JPG Word Converter can meet your need. More questions? Please feel free to contact us by leaving a message below.

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