Grab any text on the screen, convert images or scans to searchable PDFs, open QR-coded URLs, integrate via CLI, access with Finder Extensions and more!
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OwlOCR allows grabbing a part of the screen and having any text in that area be instantaneously recognized and copied to clipboard. Additionally, the application supports recognizing text from PDF files, images and converting the contents to plain text. All conversion is done securely on-device - none of your images or files are sent to third-party services in the cloud.
The output of OwlOCR is plain text that you may copy and then paste to your target use or application. Exporting a PDF file with the text recognition results as an invisible text layer is also supported.
Features:
- Grab a screen area for instant OCR and result copied to clipboard
- High quality text recognition performed on-device securely
- Run text recognition page-by-page or for a directory or a group of files
- Take a photo or scan of document with your iPhone or iPad device (please note requirements: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT209037)
- Export searchable PDF files
- Create searchable PDF, extract text to clipboard or plain text right from Finder using OwlOCR Finder Extensions
- Scan barcodes and QR and automatically open links in browser (NEW!)
- Integrate your favourite tools to OwlOCR CLI (NEW!)
- Customize OwlOCR to behave as a menu bar- or dock app
- Wrap naturally or as in input
- Custom dictionary for industry-specific lingo
- Choose line spacing 1.0-4.0
- Automatically start on MacOS launch (option)
- Input filetypes supported: PDF, GIF, PNG, JPEG, JPG.
- Keyboard shortcut Cmd + F1 (configurable) for a single screen area OCR even when OwlOCR is in the background
- Keyboard shortcut Cmd + F2 (configurable) for multiple screen area captures
- macOS Catalina or newer required
- Language support running under MacOS 11.0: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese.
- Language support under MacOS 10.15 limited to English only.
- Dark Mode supported, B&W/Color options for Menu Bar icon
- Runs natively on Apple M1 and Intel processors
Pro Mode
- 3 week free trial automatically starting upon installation (no sign-up required)
- After trial expiration, the Pro mode can purchased as a lifetime license
Features exclusively in Pro mode:
- Batch text recognition for multipage PDFs and multiple documents in parallel
- Use Finder Quick Actions on multiple files
- Take up to 20 screenshots with multi-screenshot feature
- Run post-process rules automatically
- Command line support for integrations
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Privacy Policy - https://owlocr.com/privacypolicy
Terms of Use - https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
This app hasn’t received enough ratings or reviews to display an overview.
Simple, Accurate OCR
c5nest
I use OCR all the time for converting scanned documents to text, but recently I started on a challenging project: Batch processing screenshots of a subtitled German-language video.Both macOS and Preview allow you to capture text with great accuracy from image files, but manually grabbing text from hundreds of screenshots was just not practical. I decided to let standalone OCR programs do the heavy lifting . Even after batch cropping the screenshots to the solid black subtitle bar, the results were absolutely terrible using either Acrobat Pro or Fine Reader. Faced with the dire prospect of manually selecting text for hundreds of screenshots, I searched on "OCR for the Mac" and found OwlOCR. The trial version of the app allowed me to batch process 110 screenshots and export the result as a text file. As I hadn't cropped the screenshots, the text file needed some garbage character clean-up. When compared to the text I'd previously processed manually, the German subtitle text was nearly 100% accurate.OwlOCR is accurate, simple to use, and inexpensive (for the Pro Lifetime license)—this app will save me many hours of tedious work!
Great OCR Text, but PDF 'S P A C E D' out!
Kalaga1
Long time OwlOCR user! Was easy to restore 5.x Pro standalone license to 6.x. In fact it installs 6.x side by side with 5.x.Was hoping the OCR PDF 'S P A C E D' out text problem would have been fixed in 6.x but alas the problem still remains. The OCR text itself is great as the underlying Apple Vision OCR engine is really good! Much of the PDF text becomes unsearchable because of the spaced out text issue - so currently using it only to a limited extent.Support really needs to respond to messages or add a forum to the website so people can help each other (to a limited extent).
Great app, but crashed often...
jiaokuniu
The app is great; however, I've noticed a recurring issue where it tends to crash after my Mac wakes up from sleep mode. To continue using it, I have to reopen the app each time.
So far, so good!
Angelo_74
I've been using OwlOCR to convert my PDFs to OCR, and it has been an incredibly smooth experience! The conversion process takes less than 5 minutes, and I haven't encountered any issues so far. It's fast, efficient, and delivers high-quality results every time. I highly recommend OwlOCR to anyone in need of a reliable PDF to OCR conversion tool.
Improved searchable PDF export so edited OCR text is preserved in exported documents.
Version 6.4.5
The developer, JonLuca De Caro, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
Usage Data
Diagnostics
Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
