edittext.ai

Convert a PNG to text you can copy

Screenshots, exported slides and saved graphics are usually PNG files, and the words in them cannot be selected or searched. Upload the PNG, copy the text that appears beside it, and paste it into a note, a document or a spreadsheet. Reading the text uses no credits.

Upload your PNG

Examples

Account settings screen with a free-plan banner, a My Profile card showing a sample name and e-mail with a verification notice, and an Account Info card whose User ID row shows the sample ID a08nsdk78dnsks0851.

Text read from the image

Your account is on the free plan.
Get Premium
Paid plans provide higher limits & access to all modes.

My Profile
Update your personal information here.

Full Name
Nathan Rad
Email Address
Not Verified
nathanialrad@domain.com
Email Verification Pending!
Verify
Please verify email to secure your account.

Account Info
Key details about your account.

User ID
a08nsdk78dnsks0851
Account Creation
Linked with Google
An account settings screenshot read from the banner at the top to the last row. Each label comes before its value, as it does on the screen.

How it works

  1. Sign in and upload the PNG

    Sign in with Google, then upload the file. A PNG, JPG or WebP up to 14 MiB works. Crop the PNG to the part with the words first, so the picture holds only what you want to copy.

  2. Read the text beside the picture

    The text appears next to your PNG in reading order, with one line for each line in the picture and a blank line between separate blocks. It stays in the language it was written in, and nothing is translated or rewritten.

  3. Check names, numbers and links

    Compare the text with the PNG, especially names, numbers, prices and web addresses. Small interface text and pale gray text on a white background are the places to look at first.

  4. Copy it or download it

    Select Copy all, or copy a single line if you only need part of the picture. You can also download all of the text as a .txt file. Each line that holds a table row comes back with a tab between its cells.

What a PNG is good for

A PNG keeps sharp edges, so the letters in a screenshot or an exported graphic are usually crisp. That makes PNG files a good source for text: the sharper the letters, the fewer mistakes in the result.

Typical PNG sources are screenshots of apps, chats and websites, slides exported from a presentation, charts and infographics, and graphics saved from a design tool.

On a chart or an infographic, the labels, titles and values are read as lines of text, so you can paste them into your own chart or table. The shapes themselves, such as bars, lines and icons, are not read.

Save the PNG so the words stay large

Letters that are only a few pixels tall are the main cause of mistakes. These habits help the most:

  • Capture or export the PNG at a larger size, and zoom in before a screenshot so small text is bigger in the file.
  • Use the original PNG, not a copy that was shrunk or converted to a lower quality when it was shared.
  • Crop to the words you need, and keep to one screen or one slide in each picture.
  • Check light gray text on a white background in the result: it is the text most likely to be skipped.

Check the text before you rely on it

Small, blurry, low-contrast or heavily stylized text can be misread or skipped. Compare the text with the PNG before you use it, and look hardest at these:

  • Names, including spellings and accents.
  • Numbers, such as dates, times, quantities and phone numbers.
  • 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, or a capital I and a lowercase l.

Keep other people's details in mind

Screenshots often show names, messages and contact details that belong to other people. Copy only the text you are allowed to use, and take out personal details before you paste it into a report or a shared document. Your PNG stays in My images, private to your account, until you delete it.

Frequently asked questions

How do I convert a PNG to text?

Sign in with Google, then upload your PNG. The text appears beside the image in reading order. Select Copy all to copy everything, copy a single line, or download the text as a .txt file. Compare the text with the PNG before you use it.

Is it free to convert a PNG to text?

Yes. Reading text uses no credits, with or without a plan. You do need to sign in with Google first, because the tool works only with an account. Credits are used only if you then change the PNG itself with Edit text or Translate, which are separate tools.

What about a PNG with a transparent background?

Transparent areas have no color of their own, so light text on a transparent background can be hard to read, and words may come back incomplete. If that happens, place the PNG on a solid background in an image editor, then upload the new file and compare the text with it.

Why are some words missing from my PNG text?

Small, blurry, low-contrast or heavily stylized text can be misread or skipped. Capture the screen again at a larger size, crop to the area you need, and upload the original PNG instead of a copy that was shrunk when it was shared.

Can I also get a table out of a PNG?

Yes. A row of a table comes back on one line with a tab between its cells, so it pastes into a spreadsheet as columns. For a table you want as a file, Image to Excel shows the grid and downloads an .xlsx or .csv file.

Related use cases

All use cases

Try it on your own image

Upload your PNG