New in OwlOCR 7: optional local AI OCR for messy scans and screenshots, alongside fast Apple Vision OCR.
OwlOCR turns screenshots, images, scans, and PDFs into text you can copy, edit, export, and search.
OwlOCR 7 adds optional local AI OCR for the tough cases: messy screenshots, low-quality scans, dense layouts, and documents where Apple's built-in OCR needs another pass. Apple Vision remains available for fast on-device OCR with text boxes and searchable PDF export, while OCR AI runs a downloaded model on your Mac and returns clean page text.
Everything runs on-device. Your documents are not sent to an online AI service by OwlOCR.
Features:
- Grab any screen area and copy recognized text to the clipboard
- Open images and PDFs for page-by-page text recognition
- Export searchable PDFs with an invisible OCR text layer
- Use OCR AI locally for harder screenshots, scans, and layouts
- Scan barcodes and QR codes, then open links automatically
- Create searchable PDFs, text files, or clipboard text from Finder Quick Actions
- Capture multiple screenshots in one workflow
- Apply custom OCR words and post-processing rules
- Integrate OCR into automation with the OwlOCR command line tool
- Choose menu bar or Dock app behavior
- Dark Mode support and configurable keyboard shortcuts
Pro features include batch OCR for multipage PDFs and multiple documents, Finder Quick Actions on multiple files, higher multi-screenshot limits, post-processing rules, command line integrations, and OCR AI.
Privacy Policy - https://owlocr.com/privacypolicy
Terms of Use - https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
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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.
OwlOCR 7 introduces optional local AI OCR for difficult screenshots, low-quality scans, dense layouts, and documents where Apple's built-in OCR needs a second pass.
- New OCR AI engine that runs on your Mac
- One-click model and runtime management in Settings
- Apple Vision remains available for fast OCR with text boxes and searchable PDF export
- Documents stay on-device; OwlOCR does not send them to an online AI service for these OCR engines
Version 7.2.0
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
