PNG to Text (OCR)

Extract Text from PNG Images Free (OCR)

PNG is a lossless image format, which makes it ideal for OCR. Unlike JPG, PNG does not compress text pixels into blurry artifacts. This means that screenshots, scanned documents, and graphics saved as PNG produce sharper, more accurate OCR results. This free PNG to Text tool uses Tesseract.js to extract readable text from any PNG image directly in your browser.

Common sources of PNG text include screenshots of websites, application error messages, PDF pages exported as images, design mockups with text, and scanned documents saved in PNG format.

All processing happens on your device. No image data is sent to any server at any point.

Why PNG Is Great for OCR

PNG uses lossless compression, meaning the pixel values of the image are preserved exactly as recorded. This matters for OCR because text characters need sharp, well-defined edges to be recognized correctly. JPG compression introduces subtle distortions around sharp edges, especially at lower quality levels. PNG avoids this entirely.

Screenshots saved as PNG are particularly clean for OCR because the source is already digital text rendered on screen at full resolution. The characters are perfectly formed with high contrast.

If you have a choice of image format when scanning or exporting, use PNG for the best OCR results.

How to Extract Text from a PNG

Step 1 – Upload your PNG. Click or drag your PNG image onto the upload area.

Step 2 – Wait for OCR processing. Tesseract.js analyzes the image and extracts all readable text.

Step 3 – Review the result. The extracted text appears in a text area. Review and edit it as needed.

Step 4 – Copy or download. Copy the text to your clipboard or download it as a .txt file.

Common Use Cases

Screenshots. Extract text from website screenshots, error messages, and application UIs that do not allow text selection.

Scanned pages. Convert scanned documents saved as PNG to editable text for editing or data entry.

Design files. Extract body text and headlines from design mockups or exported slide images.

Infographics. Pull the text content from data visualizations and infographics saved as PNG.

Limitations

Image quality. Even though PNG is lossless, low-resolution source images still produce poor OCR results.

Handwriting. Handwritten text in PNG images is difficult to recognize accurately.

Decorative fonts. Artistic or heavily styled typefaces may not extract correctly.

Related Tools

• JPG to Text (OCR) – Extract text from JPG images.
• PDF to Text – Extract text from PDF documents.
• JPG to PDF – Convert images to PDF.

Frequently Asked Questions