Click to upload or drop a JPG photo or scan
JPG — or PNG, WebP or a screenshot. Read on your device, never uploaded.About converting JPG to text
You have a photo of a page, a scanned letter, a picture of a sign or a screenshot saved as a JPG. You need the words — to copy them into an email, a document or a translator — without typing them again.
This tool reads the text in your JPG with OCR (optical character recognition). It finds the letters in the picture and turns them into real text you can copy, edit and save as a .txt file.
The OCR runs on your device, in your browser. Your photo is never uploaded.
Features
- OCR on your device — the photo stays on your computer or phone
- 10 languages — English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Chinese, Japanese and Korean
- Phone photos the right way up — the EXIF turn of a phone photo is applied before reading
- Big photos made lighter — very large photos are brought down to 4,000 pixels on the long side, so reading is faster
- Edit before you save — fix any wrong letters in the text box
- Copy or download — one click to copy, or a .txt file named after your photo
Phone photos the right way up
A phone often saves a photo lying on its side and adds a small note (an EXIF tag) that says "turn me 90°". Photo apps read that note, so you see the photo upright. If an OCR engine read only the stored pixels, it would see sideways lines and return nonsense.
This page draws your JPG the way you see it first, and then reads it. A page you photographed upright is read upright, even when the file itself is stored on its side.
How good is OCR?
OCR is very good at some pictures and weak at others. Know what to expect:
| The picture | What you can expect |
|---|---|
| Printed text, sharp photo or scan, good light | Very good — only a few small mistakes |
| A screenshot | Very good |
| Small text or a blurry, dark photo | Some wrong letters — check the result |
| Text on a busy background or at a steep angle | Many mistakes |
| Columns, tables or forms | The words come out, but the order can mix |
| Handwriting | Poor — OCR is made for printed letters |
Our own test: a sharp JPG with five printed lines (30 words, with numbers like 4821 and 149.90). Every word came out right — also from a copy of the same photo stored on its side.
Always read the text through before you send it on. Names, numbers and prices are the words worth checking twice.
Tips for a better result
- Take the photo straight from above, with the page filling the picture
- Use good, even light — no shadow of your phone across the page
- Pick the right language before you press the button — accents and special letters depend on it
- Crop away the table, the hand and the background with Crop Image first
- For a page with several columns, crop one column at a time
Frequently asked questions
How do I copy text from a JPG?
Upload the JPG, pick the language and press Get the text. When it is done, press Copy — or download the .txt file.
Is JPG to text free?
Yes. There is no sign-up, no limit and no watermark.
Can it read handwriting?
Only a little. OCR is made for printed letters. Neat block capitals work best; joined-up handwriting usually does not.
Why is the first run slow?
The OCR engine and the language data (a few MB) are downloaded the first time. After that, your browser keeps them, and the next photo is read much faster.
Can I turn a JPG into an editable Word document?
Yes — use JPG to Word. It reads several JPGs and saves the text as a .docx file.
Is my photo uploaded?
No. The text is read inside your browser. Nothing is sent to a server.
Related tools
- JPG to Word — the same OCR, saved as an editable Word file
- Image to Text — OCR for any image or screenshot
- OCR PDF — read the text in a scanned PDF
- Scan to PDF — turn phone photos of pages into a clean PDF
- PDF to Text — get the text out of a normal PDF
How to use it
- Click Click to upload, or drag your JPG onto the box
- Choose the language of the text
- Press Get the text and wait — the first run downloads the OCR engine
- Read the text in the box and fix any wrong letters
- Press Copy, or Download .txt
