Google Docs offers a variety of features to improve productivity. However, it lacks a built-in optical character recognition (OCR) option. This can be frustrating when you need to extract text from a document within an image.
Fortunately, you can use Google Drive or third-party add-ons to accomplish this task. Let’s explore each approach to help you efficiently convert an image to text in Google Docs.
Convert an Image to Text in Google Docs Using Google Drive
Google Drive provides a convenient way to extract text from images. You might prefer this method to the availableOCR appssince you won’t use any third-party apps.
When converting images to text in Google Drive, ensure the image is correctly oriented and not larger than 2 MB. Additionally, the text within the image should be at least 10 pixels high for optimal conversion results.
Here’s how you can convert image to text with Google Drive:
You can copy and paste the extracted text into your main Google Docs document. Alternatively, you can delete the image and work on this document only.
It’s essential to note that this built-in feature may not always yield optimal results. Google Drive’s image-to-text conversion lacks font recognition. The output text may also suffer from broken formatting, making it less than ideal for large documents that use various formatting.
Convert an Image to Text in Google Docs Using Img to Docs Add-on
If you don’t want to go through the hassle of uploading your image to Google Drive, you can use a third-party add-on called Img to Docs. A dedicated plugin also yields more accurate and polished results compared to Google Drive’s built-in OCR feature.
To use Img to Docs, you need to install it from the Google Workspace Marketplace first.
Now, with the extension installed, all you need to do is drag and drop your image into the add-on and wait for OCR to do its magic.
Alternatively, you can use theOCR Text Recognitionadd-on toextract text from PDFs, forms, or images. If none of the add-ons work out for you, you can usefree online tools to convert images to text.
Quickly Extract Text From Images in Google Docs
While most word processors have a built-in optical character recognition (OCR) feature, Google Docs does not yet offer this functionality. However, you may still extract text from an image in Google Docs using Google Drive or third-party add-ons.
By following these steps, you can avoid manually typing text from images and utilize Google Docs to its fullest potential.
