6 Great iPad Apps to Grab Text From Pictures and Turn It to Digital Characters

November 22, 2014
Below are some good iPad apps for optical character recognition. Using these apps will allow you to convert the text contained in an image or photo into digital characters that you can then edit, copy, or/and share. The way this technology works is pretty similar in all of these apps. First you hold your camera towards the picture till the app recognizes the text then you can immediately extract text from it. There is also the possibility to translate text into different languages.


Google Drive also supports Optical Character Recognition(OCR). Here is a handy tip on how to convert scanned PDFs or any image that include text in it into text documents using automated computer algorithms in Google Docs. Once converted, you can then edit and annotate the text as you like.
1- Translate Photo Free
TranslatePhoto app extracts texts from any printed sources: documents, books, signs, instructions or announcements and allows to immediately translate them to any of 70 languages. Take a picture of the text and after the text is recognized, you can immediately edit, hear, translate, share it on Facebook, Dropbox or simply send by email.
2- PDF Pen Scan
With PDFpen Scan+, use your iPhone or iPad to scan and OCR multi-page documents to create searchable PDFs. Scan directly with your iPhone or iPad camera. Crop and enhance the scan. Perform OCR. Copy OCR text. Email, export, and share PDF documents.
3- Prizmo
Prizmo is a universal photo-based scanner app that lets you scan and recognize text documents, business cards, and images, and then export them as PDF/Text, vCard, or JPEG/PNG. Prizmo relies on state-of-the-art technologies, like a highly accurate OCR, real-time page detection, and beautiful image cleanup. Using iCloud, you can even shoot the picture on your iPhone, and finish editing on your iPad or Mac.

Pixter Scan OCR is a combination between Pixels (your pictures) and text (what you will get) by Optical character recognition usually abbreviated to OCR which is the mechanical or electronic conversion of scanned images of handwritten, typewritten or printed text into machine-encoded text.

TextGrabber + Translator easily and quickly scans, translates and saves your chosen text from virtually any printed material. Simply take a picture of the text and immediately edit, hear it spoken aloud via VoiceOver, translate it into over 40 languages, send your text by SMS or e-mail, or share it quickly on Facebook, Twitter or Evernote.

CamScanner helps you scan, store, sync and collaborate on various contents across smartphones, iPads, tablets and computers. Some of its features include:scanning and digitize all kinds of paper documents, cropping and auto enhancing, printing and sharing documents in PDF or JPEG format with friends via various ways.