Copy text from an image and paste it anywhere

What comes back when you copy text from an image

You get plain text beside the image, in reading order. Each line in the image becomes one line of text, and a blank line separates blocks that stand apart, such as the columns of a menu, the paragraphs of a flyer or two different signs in one photo.

The words stay as they were written. The language, the characters and the accents are kept, and nothing is translated or rewritten. Fonts, colors and positions do not come along, because plain text can go into a document, a message or a spreadsheet without carrying any design with it.

Posters, slides, menus and recipe cards

Photos, slides, posters and graphics all work the same way. Here are some common jobs, and what to check on each one.

• Posters and flyers: copy the dates, times and addresses into a calendar entry or a message, then check each one against the poster.
• Slides: copy the bullet points and quotes from a photo of a slide into your notes.
• Menus and signs: copy the dishes, business hours or directions, and check every price against the photo.
• Recipe cards: copy the ingredient list into a shopping list, and check every quantity.
• Graphics and quote cards: copy the words so you can search for them or quote them in your own text.

Set up the image for a cleaner result

The clearer the letters are in the image, the better the text you get back. These habits help the most:

• Use the original, uncompressed file. A copy that was shrunk or compressed when it was shared gives the AI less detail to work with.
• Crop to the area with the text, so the image holds only the words you want to copy.
• Take photos straight on, in good light, with the page or sign flat and facing the camera.
• Use one page or one screen per image, so each result matches one source and is easy to check.

Check the text before you rely on it

Copying saves typing, but it does not replace reading. Small, blurry, low-contrast or heavily stylized text, such as a decorative script on a poster, can be misread or skipped. Compare the text with the image before you rely on it, and look hardest at these:

• Names, including spellings and accents.
• Numbers, such as dates, times, quantities and phone numbers.
• Prices and currency symbols.
• Email and web addresses, where one wrong character breaks the whole address.
• Characters that look alike, such as the number 0 and the letter O.

Copy first, then change the image if you need to

Copying the text leaves your image untouched. If the words in the picture need to change, such as an old date on your own flyer or a sign you want in another language, there are two buttons for that. Edit this text in the image opens the same image in Edit text, and Translate opens it in Translate. Both tools change the image itself and use credits, while reading and copying its text does not.