Top 5 Tools to OCR Screenshot

Elise Williams

2020-12-21 15:23:09 • Filed to: Top List of PDF Software • Proven solutions

Optical character recognition, or OCR, is a way to convert typed, handwritten text, or a screenshot into a form that your machine (computer) can understand. You can use it to modify or edit documents in hard form, extract text from screenshots, and much more. Nowadays, there are many OCR screenshot conversion products on the market. But which should you use? And why exactly? Well, let's take a look at some of the popular choices for OCR screen capture conversion products.

Top 5 OCR Screenshot Software for Windows

1. PDFelement

Considered one of the best optical character recognition software on the market, PDFelement is much more than that. This professional PDF editor allows you to manage PDF files in a variety of ways. After completing the OCR process, you can edit your text, image, and other content in the screenshot. And that is a feature few other OCR software allow it.

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Supports multiple languages, and also allows for batch conversion. Among the many features you can markup files, create PDF files from file/scanner, insert or delete pages within the PDF, split the PDF into different pages, and much more.

Pros

Powerful set of features

Excellent accuracy in terms of OCR

Familiar Microsoft office interface

Full-featured trial version available

Quick and effective customer support and services

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2. Adobe Acrobat DC

When you think of PDC documents, you think of Adobe. While Acrobat was the gold standard of the PDF world several years ago, other products have come close lately. Still, Adobe is a premium PDF tool with any feature you can think of in managing your document.

One of the biggest advantages of Adobe is the seamless integration with cloud services. Since Adobe introduced Adobe cloud, you can turn manual documents into digital ones, and store them efficiently in the cloud. You can also share them with other users and collaborate on them.

Pros

Seamless cloud integration

Robust range of features

Cons

Adobe is known to crash a lot

Converting scanned PDF can result in loss of content

Font options are limited in formatting

3: Boxoft Free OCR Converter

If you are looking for a free and reliable OCR software, Boxoft might be your solution. It will enable you to extract text from all types of images, and detect multiple languages. You can also use it to scan hard copies of documents.

The software is handy and works efficiently, and it was designed specifically for OCR and extracting text from images. On the flip side, the user experience is a bit outdated, but it still gets the job done. Also, do not expect a lot of other features from free software. Basically, this is a do-only-OCR software.

Pros

Free and efficient

Detects multiple languages

Can scan hard copies of documents

Cons

User experience is outdated

No other features aside from OCR

4: ReadIRIS

ReadIRIS is first and foremost OCR software, but comes with other features as well. However, many of the features are challenging to use, as there are no instructions, and they might not work at all times. If OCR is what you need, the product will let you work with a wide variety of file formats.

One of the best features is the business card recognition. And that comes in handy in the business world. You can also use it to listen to books in the desired format. Latest versions have tried to improve the user-interface and make it easier to use. Still, it is far from simpler PDF solutions.

Pros

Business card recognition

Listen to books in the desired format

Great OCR accuracy

Cons

Users report it is hard to register the product

Many features do not work as advertised

5: Abbyy FineReader

This software was originally designed for Mac users. Since then, however, the company has added Windows support. You can try the free trial, which will last you for 30 days. While it was designed to work as an OCR software, there are some issues with the accuracy and results. For example, the OCR does not recognize pages, and some of the results can be muddled.

The company says it made the product to be used by people. And while there is support for almost 200 languages, there are still some downsides.

Pros

Exceptionally clear interface

Recognizes almost 200 languages

Cross-format document comparison

Cons

OCR doesn't recognize pages

Lack of editing tools

How to OCR Screenshot - Detailed Guide

Among the many software options for OCR screenshot on Windows, we highly recommend PDFelement. It makes the process simple, easy to use, and the results are amazing. Most importantly, you can edit the document after the OCR conversion. Here is a step by step guide how to turn your screenshot into editable text in Windows.

Step 1. In the Home menu, click on "Create PDF". This option allows you to create PDF from any document, including scanned documents and screenshots.

Step 2. It will give you the following message "We detect this is a scanned PDF, and recommend you to perform OCR". Performing OCR will enable you to edit the document. In the editable text pop up window, you can change languages of some of the text, as well as customize the page.

Step 3. When the OCR conversion finishes, you can further edit the document. There is a wide range of editing tools in the "Edit" tab. When you finish with editing, go to "File" > "Save".

Compare the 5 Tools to OCR Screenshot on Windows

	PDFelement Download Download	Adobe Acrobat DC	Boxoft Free OCR Converter	ReadIRIS	Abby Reader
Features	Powerful set of features at a lower price than Adobe	Widest range of features on the market	Only OCR software	There are other features, but they do not work as intended	Abby is mostly an OCR software, with lack of editing tools
Results	Great at OCR, and gives you more features to furthermore edit the file	Converting sometimes results in loss of formatting	Decent OCR, but nothing else	Great OCR accuracy	Doesn't recognize pages at times
Ease to use	Simple and intuitive interface, almost one click OCR conversion	Adobe can crash at times, making usage painful. It is also quite complicated in terms of "how to do tasks"	User experience is outdated	Some features do not work, and users report challenges when registering the product	Clear interface and simple to use
Price	Most affordable and competitive price options	Adobe gives you option for monthly subscription which works for short-term, but is expensive long-term	Free	Price can be quite high	High price for only OCR software