OwlOCR
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- I turned lockdown into a side project and why you should too (owlocr.com) 2 points by frankbyte 89 days ago past Show HN: New website for a Mac screen text recognizer ( owlocr.com ).
- This a very easy way to create searchable PDFs using OwlOCR Quick Actions. Accessible right in MacOS Finder.1. Select images and PDFs you want to convert.2.
Digitize images and PDFs to searchable PDFs using OCR right on your Mac.
OwlOCR offers simple optical character recognition of text in PDF files, images or on-screen and converts that to plain text. All conversion is done securely on-device - none of the data are sent to third-party services in the cloud as most applications do. OwlOCR is the only app for the Mac that will allow you to input via screenshots, image or PDF files or even using your iOS device camera.
How does it work?
The processing is done right on your Mac for near instantenous results.
Privacy secured
The text recognition algorithm that is used has been developed by Apple and is a part of your MacOS operating system and is only run on your device.
We never ask for or require any of your personal information or your data.
Core
- Unlimited high quality text recognition on-device securely and incredibly fast
- Grab a screen area for instant OCR and results copied to clipboard
- Grab multiple areas of your screen for instant OCR and concatenated results copied to clipboard
- Use Finder Extensions to trigger main use cases right from Finder
- Drag and drop documents to the app to convert to text
- OCR page-by-page in multi-page documents
- Take a photo or scan documents with your iOS device, directly from the app
- Export searchable PDFs
- Export OCR results to text files
- Custom dictionary
- Line spacing and word wrapping options
- Keyboard shortcut Cmd + F1 (configurable) for a screen grab
- Keyboard shortcut Cmd + F2 (configurable) for multiple screen grabs
- Notifications on OCR completion
- Input filetypes supported: PDF, PNG, JPEG, GIF, HEIC
- Language support under MacOS 11: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese.
- Language support under MacOS 10.15: English.
- Many customization options like Menu Bar -only mode, screenshot sounds, storage directories and more
- Apple M1, Dark Mode and MacOS Big Sur support
Pro
- All Core Features
- Batch OCR multi-page PDFs or multiple images files in a single fast run, using all your CPU cores
- Batch process multiple files in a single go right from Finder using Finder Extensions
- Use multiple screenshot feature to capture up to 20 concatenated screenshots
- Configure post-processing rules for Find/Replace behaviour and Smart Quotes substitution
- Karma boost for supporting indie Mac apps
No sign-up required.
Owlcorn Pictures
Taking screenshots is a convenient way to record and note an important message while watching videos, ads, or even video calls. Don't you wish for an easier way to capture text from your Mac's screen so that you don't have to sit with a pen and paper always? Thankfully, we found an app that allows that, and it's easy to capture text from the Mac screen using that.
One of the challenges today is transcribing text from your Mac screen accurately, which is the key concern. Whether it's a promo or an Ad, no one wants to risk anything getting lost in translation. Of course, you can bring out your phone, open the Google Translate app, and then fiddle around. What if it's not that accurate as it seems to be? Hence, I recommend using TextSniper to capture all the important text shared during a Zoom meeting or any other online classroom lesson.
I've been using TextSniper for a month now and am really amazed by its speed and accuracy. Let's get started with how to set it up and use it to capture any text from your Mac's screen.
Let's get started.
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Read MoreHow to Capture Any Text From Mac's Screen With TextSniper
Step 1: Download and install TextSniper.
Get TextSniper from SetApp
Step 2: After installing it, you need to permit TextSniper access to capture your screen from System Preferences. So click on TextSniper icon on the menubar and pick Capture Text. That will bring up the option of asking you to permit access. Click on Open System Preferences.
Step 3: After the System Preferences window opens, navigate to Security & Privacy > Privacy tab and then select Screen Recording from the left pane.
Step 4: Click on the Lock at the bottom-left and enter the admin password. Then, check the box on the right pane in the front of TextSniper.
Step 5: After confirming that action to Quit & Restart. TextSniper will restart, and the icon will reappear on the menu bar.
Use TextSniper to Capture Text from Your Mac Screen

Let's say you're watching a video, an ad, or part of a virtual meeting.
Whenever you see any text on the screen that you need to note down for later, then you'll have to hit a screengrab shortcut. Here's what you've to do.
Step 1: Hit the Shift+Cmd+2 keyboard shortcut on your Mac.
Step 2: Select the area that you want to capture the text from. Once you do that, the TextSniper will display a thumbs-up icon and text - Copied to Clipboard.
Step 3: Open any document or any app where you want to paste the selected text.
While the TextSniper works perfectly for everything - PDF, Images, videos, and online meetings. However, if your usage is limited only to images and PDF files, you can also try out OwlOCR. It's a worthy alternative to TextSniper.
How to Capture Any Text From PDF, Image, or on-Screen Text Using OwlOCR From Your Mac
Owlcrate
While TextSniper is a fantastic option for all-purpose usage, OwlOCR works great for its Optical Character Recognition function for images with text, any on-screen texts, and PDFs that don't let you copy text easily. Here's how to get started with it.
Step 1: Download OwlOCR app from the Mac App Store.
Get OwlOCR appStep 2: Launch the OwlOCR app and flick the switch for the language correction.
Step 3: Drag and drop the PDF or the image file you need to be read by the OwlOCR.
Step 4: Click on the OCR Page button and let the app do its magic.
Owocry
After that the app will scan all the text in the image and show it on the window pane next to the image.
In case you have a PDF with several pages, then you can hit the OCR All button and it will extract and paste them in the window at the side. That convenience puts you at ease when you have to extract text from a long PDF document.
If you want to extra text from multiple PDFs and take several screenshots together, then you can consider buying the Pro version that will cost you $13.99.
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Read MoreGet Smart
Grabbing text from images, PDF, or videos shouldn't be challenge after using these two apps. Selecting text from a fast-paced video or movie can be a bit tricky, but you can always pause the video to take a screengrab. The only limitation you might find is that both apps are limited to English language only.
Both apps helped me a lot while taking notes from the videos which were part of my online courses. I use both of them alternatively and still happy with them.
Next up:Want to capture screenshot of the full page on your Mac? Click on the next link to check four amazing tools to capture scrolling screenshots.
The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.
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