Chinese OCR: copy the Chinese text out of an image

What this page does

Chinese OCR gets the text out of an image, so you can use it anywhere.

• Add an image any way you like: choose a file, take a photo, drag and drop it onto the box above, or paste a screenshot with Ctrl+V (Cmd+V on a Mac).
• An editable text box with every line it read, and a Copy button to put the text into a message, a document or your notes.
• Vertical columns in reading order: top to bottom, right to left, the way they are read.
• Translate, Add pinyin or Convert: send the text to our translator, our pinyin annotator or our simplified ↔ traditional converter, each in a new tab.
• ■ marks a character it could not read with confidence, so you know exactly what to check. You can type over it in the box.

Reading a menu or sign while traveling? Read Chinese from a Photo shows each line on your photo and reads it aloud.

Free online Chinese image-to-English OCR

You can translate Chinese text from an image to English for free, in two steps: this page reads the characters out of the picture, and Translate to English opens them in our Chinese to English translator, with the pinyin and the meaning of each word. There is no app to install, no sign-up, no watermark and no daily limit.

Drag and drop a PNG, JPG, GIF, WebP or iPhone HEIC (Safari) image onto the box, choose a file, paste a screenshot, or take a picture with your phone's camera. It suits the things people most often need to read:

• screenshots of chats, web pages, apps and video subtitles;
• scanned or photographed pages from a textbook, a letter or a form;
• product labels, instructions and packaging;
• vertical text, which it returns in the right-to-left order it is read.

Unlike most online OCR tools, it does not upload your image to a server: the text recognition runs in your browser, so a screenshot of a private message stays on your device.

What it reads

Printed Chinese in simplified and traditional characters, in horizontal lines and in vertical columns, which it returns in right-to-left reading order. Screenshots of chats, web pages and subtitles, scans of book pages, and phone photos of menus, signs, labels and documents all work. Numbers, prices and the occasional English word are kept as they appear.

It is not made for handwriting, decorative calligraphy or text curved around a bottle; those characters are usually marked ■ or missed. For one character you can see but not type, draw it in the handwriting lookup.

How to extract Chinese text from an image

1. Add an image. Press Choose an image, drop an image on the page, paste a screenshot with Ctrl+V (Cmd+V on a Mac), or take a photo on a phone. The first time, the OCR reader downloads once from this site, about 8.6 MB, and your browser keeps it for next time.
2. Let it read. The image is read inside your browser, line by line. It is never sent to our servers or stored.
3. Copy the text. The Chinese text appears in a box you can edit. Characters it could not read with confidence are shown as ■; correct them, then copy the text or send it to the translator, the pinyin tool or the script converter.

How accurate is it?

We measured it on 30 real photos of menus, signs, packaging and printed pages, 2,143 characters transcribed by hand. It read 87.4% of the characters correctly, marked 8.7% as ■ and missed 3.9%. 0% came out as the wrong character, because a character it is not sure of is marked instead of guessed.

Photos taken at an angle, in low light or of small print are the hardest; clean screenshots and flat scans usually do better. It is a measurement, not a promise, so read the result before you rely on it, and never rely on it for medicine or allergy information.

Your image stays on your device

The OCR model runs inside your browser. Your image is not uploaded, not saved and not shared, and the text stays on your device too. It is sent only if you press Translate, Add pinyin or Convert, and then only the text goes to that tool on this site. See section 18.4 of our Privacy Policy. Traveling? Read Chinese from a Photo shows the text line by line on your photo of a menu or sign.

Questions people ask

Is this Chinese OCR free?

Yes. There is no account, no sign-up, no watermark and no limit on how many images you read.

Can I translate Chinese text in an image to English?

Yes, for free. Add the image, let the OCR read it, then press Translate to English: the text (never the image) opens in our Chinese to English translator in a new tab, with the pinyin and the meaning of each word. Add pinyin and Simplified ↔ Traditional work the same way.

Is my image uploaded?

No. The image is read inside your browser on your own device and is never sent to ThePureLanguage or anyone else, and it is not saved. The text stays on your device too, unless you press Translate, Add pinyin or Convert, which send the text (never the image) to that tool on this site.

How is this different from Read Chinese from a Photo?

Both use the same reader on your device. Chinese OCR gives you the text in an editable box to copy, translate, add pinyin to or convert, which suits screenshots, scans and documents. Read Chinese from a Photo is made for travelers: it shows your photo with each line numbered, lists the lines and reads a line aloud in Mandarin.

Can it read traditional Chinese and vertical text?

Yes. It reads printed simplified and traditional characters, in horizontal lines and in vertical columns, which it puts in right-to-left reading order. It also copes with mixed Chinese and English, numbers and prices.

Can it read handwriting?

Not reliably. It is made for printed text. Handwritten characters are usually shown as ■ or missed. To look up a single handwritten character, draw it in our handwriting lookup.

How accurate is it?

On 30 real photos of menus, signs, packaging and printed pages (2,143 characters), it read 87.4% of the characters, marked 8.7% as ■ and missed 3.9%; 0% came out wrong. Clean screenshots and scans usually read better than photos. That is a test, not a guarantee, so check the text before you rely on it.

Why do some characters show as ■?

■ marks a character the reader was not confident about. It never puts its best guess there, because a wrong character looks exactly like a right one. Fix the ■ by hand; the handwriting lookup can help if you can see the character but cannot type it.

Which files and screenshots can I use?

Any image your browser opens, up to 25 MB: PNG, JPG, GIF, WebP, and HEIC from an iPhone (in Safari). Photos over about 50 megapixels (a phone's 108- or 200-megapixel mode) are refused, because opening one can use more memory than a phone's browser has. You can paste a screenshot straight from the clipboard. For a PDF, take a screenshot of the page or export it as an image first.

Does it work offline?

The page needs a connection to open and to download the reader the first time. After that your browser keeps the reader, and reading an image needs no server at all.

What to do with the text

• Chinese to English Translator: characters, pinyin and the meaning of every word
• Pinyin Annotator: pinyin above every character
• Simplified ↔ Traditional Converter: the same text in the other script
• Read Chinese Aloud: hear the text spoken
• Read Chinese from a Photo: menus and signs, line by line on your photo, for travelers
• Draw a Chinese Character: fix a ■ by drawing the character