OCR — Extract Text from Images & PDFs

AI-powered text recognition supporting 60+ languages. 100% free, unlimited, no signup.

Drag & drop images or PDFs, or

JPEG, PNG, WebP, BMP, TIFF, PDF — multiple files allowed

Language data downloads on first use (~4 MB per language)

Privacy First: All text recognition happens entirely in your browser. Your files are never uploaded to any server.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this a free alternative to Adobe Acrobat OCR?

Yes. Adobe charges $12.99/month for OCR functionality. ForgeDaddy's OCR is 100% free with no limits. No signup, no watermarks, no per-page caps. Extract text from as many images and PDFs as you want.

Where are my files processed? Is it private?

Entirely in your browser. We use Tesseract.js v7, the fastest browser-based OCR engine. Your files never leave your computer — nothing is uploaded to any server. Unlike Google Docs OCR or Adobe, your documents stay completely private.

What languages are supported?

Over 60 languages including English, Spanish, French, German, Chinese (Simplified & Traditional), Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Hindi, Russian, Portuguese, and many more. Language data (~4 MB each) downloads automatically on first use and is cached for future sessions.

How accurate is the text extraction?

On clean, printed text at 300 DPI or higher, accuracy is typically 95-98%. The tool automatically preprocesses images — upscaling low-resolution inputs, converting to grayscale, and enhancing contrast — to maximize accuracy. Handwritten text and very low-quality scans will have lower accuracy.

Can I extract text from scanned PDFs?

Yes. Upload your scanned PDF and each page is rendered and processed by the OCR engine. Multi-page PDFs are handled automatically with per-page progress tracking. For text-based PDFs (where you can already select text), use our PDF to Word converter instead.

What image formats are supported?

JPEG, PNG, WebP, BMP, and TIFF images, plus PDF files. You can upload multiple files at once for batch processing. There are no file size limits.

Why is the first extraction slower?

The OCR engine (~2 MB) and language data (~4 MB) download on first use. After that, everything is cached in your browser so subsequent extractions run much faster — typically a few seconds per page.

How to Use This OCR Tool

  1. Upload your image or PDF — Drag and drop files into the upload area, or click browse to select from your device. JPEG, PNG, WebP, BMP, TIFF, and PDF files are all supported.
  2. Wait for processing — The OCR engine loads automatically (cached after first use) and extracts text from every page. A progress bar shows real-time status.
  3. Review the extracted text — The recognized text appears in an editable text area with word and character counts. You can make corrections directly.
  4. Copy or download — Click "Copy All" to copy to your clipboard, or "Download .txt" to save as a plain text file.

Why Use ForgeDaddy's OCR?

  • 100% private — Unlike Adobe Acrobat OCR or Google Drive OCR, your files never leave your browser. No server uploads, no third-party access, no data retention.
  • 60+ languages — From English and Spanish to Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Hindi, and dozens more. Language data downloads once and is cached for future sessions.
  • No file size limit — Process multi-page scanned PDFs and high-resolution images without hitting caps. Paid tools like Adobe restrict free usage to a handful of pages.
  • No signup required — Start extracting text immediately. No account creation, no email verification, no credit card, no trial that expires.
  • Smart preprocessing — The engine automatically detects whether your image is a clean digital scan or a noisy photograph and applies the right enhancement pipeline to maximize accuracy.

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Last Updated: March 2026