OCR accuracy depends mostly on the image: sharp, evenly lit, straight, high-contrast text gives near-perfect results, while blurry, angled or shadowed photos produce errors. These ten tips take seconds to apply and can save you many minutes of corrections, whichever OCR tool you use, including the free Image to Text Converter.
- Light, angle, focus and resolution fix most problems.
- Crop, straighten and increase contrast before OCR.
- Proofread numbers, names and punctuation every time.
Capture tips (before you take the photo)
1. Use even, bright light
Daylight from a window is ideal. Avoid overhead lights that cast your shadow, and turn off flash on glossy paper to prevent glare.
2. Keep the camera parallel to the page
Angled photos distort letters. Hold your phone directly above the page and fill the frame with the text.
3. Flatten the page
Curved book pages bend lines of text. Press the page flat or photograph one page at a time.
4. Focus and hold still
Tap the screen to focus on the text and wait a moment before shooting. Slight blur can turn “8” into “B”.
5. Use high resolution
Text should be large in the photo. If letters look tiny, move closer or photograph half a page at a time.
Preparation tips (before OCR)
6. Crop out everything that is not text
Tables, desks and fingers confuse OCR. Crop with the free Image Cropper.
7. Straighten and boost contrast
Rotate slightly tilted images and increase contrast so text is dark and the background is white.
8. Choose clean, printed fonts
Standard printed fonts are recognised best. Decorative fonts, very small text and handwriting reduce accuracy.
After OCR
9. Proofread the risky parts
| Often misread | Example |
|---|---|
| Similar letters and numbers | 0 and O, 1 and l, 5 and S, 8 and B |
| Punctuation | Commas vs full stops, missing apostrophes |
| Names and codes | Product codes, emails, phone numbers |
10. Fix formatting in Word
OCR extracts text, not layout. Download as Word, then re-apply headings, lists and tables in your editor.
Quick checklist
- LightBright, even, no glare.
- AngleCamera parallel to the page.
- SharpnessIn focus, high resolution.
- Crop and contrastText only, dark on white.
- ProofreadNumbers, names, punctuation.
New to OCR? Start with our guide to converting a picture to text on phone and PC.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my OCR result full of mistakes?
Usually the image is blurry, angled, poorly lit or low resolution. Retake the photo flat in good light and crop to the text.
Does image resolution affect OCR?
Yes. Larger, sharper text is recognised far more accurately. Move closer or photograph smaller sections.
Can OCR keep tables and formatting?
Free OCR tools extract the text in reading order. You will need to rebuild tables and formatting in Word or Google Docs.
Which characters does OCR confuse most?
Commonly 0 and O, 1 and l, 5 and S, and 8 and B, plus punctuation. Always proofread these.
Extract text from photos, screenshots and scans and download it as Word or text.
Guides for this tool
Guide · 3 min readHow to Convert a Picture to Text on Phone and PC (Free OCR Guide)
Guide · 3 min readHow to Copy Text From a Screenshot (Phone, PC and Online)
Guide · 3 min readBangla OCR: How to Convert Bangla Text in Images to Editable Text
Guide · 3 min readHandwriting to Text: Can OCR Read Handwritten Notes?Want a tool, website or app like this for your business?
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