5 ms·

This is also built in to macOS and iOS now too. Such a handy feature that I find myself using a lot.

by crimsontech 3y ago

dimator 3y ago
How does one do this in macos?
- solardev 3y ago
  I thiiiiiiiiink it's technically part of Preview (you can paste it into that app after you take a screenshot): https://support.apple.com/guide/preview/interact-with-text-in-a-photo-prvw625a5b2c/mac https://support.apple.com/guide/preview/interact-with-text-i... I don't THINK there is a way to do it straight from the snipping tool, but someone correct me if I'm wrong. Edit: Personally I use the paid Cleanshot app, which is not only great for OCR but all sorts of screenshots, videos, and annotations: https://cleanshot.com/ https://cleanshot.com/ You just drag a box around the text, click "OCR", and it gets copied into your clipboard. I find it easier & faster than having to deal with Preview. I think the free Shottr does the same: https://shottr.cc/ https://shottr.cc/
  - reaperducer 3y ago
    I don't THINK there is a way to do it straight from the snipping tool, but someone correct me if I'm wrong. It can be done from the screenshot tool. Take the screenshot, and an icon will appear in the lower-right corner of the preview. Click that icon and it selects all of the text in the preview. If you don't want all to select all of the text in the window, just select the text in the image the same way you'd select text in any other program. I find it easier & faster than having to deal with Preview. OCR is system-wide on macOS without Preview.
    - solardev 3y ago
      Great, thanks for the explanation!
      - mediumsmart 3y ago
        Have a look at textgrabber in this article: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38711357 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38711357
        solardev 3y ago
        I think the parent is saying you don't need any third-party apps anymore, it's just built in to macos now.
        mediumsmart 3y ago
        It does say that yes, and that is correct. at least it is on my macos. Did you try textgrabber? The article refers to 2024.
  - 0cf8612b2e1e 3y ago
    On Linux, I created a little script which uses maim to capture a user selected screen region, save that to a file, run tesseract, and dump the output to stdout. Since it is all digital (minus weirdo fonts) the OCR should be perfect.
- reaperducer 3y ago
  How does one do this in macos? On recent Macs, it's automatic in most programs, including Mail, Preview, Quickview, and others. Just hover your pointer over text in an image, and if the computer recognizes it, you get a text cursor so you can select the text. No extra software needed. If it's a language you can't read, you can often ⌥click the selected text and it will be translated into the language of your choice.
- lancesells 3y ago
  It's in the last two versions of macOS. You can grab text off of pretty much anything (with text). I've occasionally found it annoying when I'm trying to drag and drop an image that contains text but it's very useful and seamless.

This is also built in to macOS and iOS now too. Such a handy feature that I find myself using a lot.

dimator 3y ago

How does one do this in macos?

solardev 3y ago
I thiiiiiiiiink it's technically part of Preview (you can paste it into that app after you take a screenshot): https://support.apple.com/guide/preview/interact-with-text-in-a-photo-prvw625a5b2c/mac https://support.apple.com/guide/preview/interact-with-text-i... I don't THINK there is a way to do it straight from the snipping tool, but someone correct me if I'm wrong. Edit: Personally I use the paid Cleanshot app, which is not only great for OCR but all sorts of screenshots, videos, and annotations: https://cleanshot.com/ https://cleanshot.com/ You just drag a box around the text, click "OCR", and it gets copied into your clipboard. I find it easier & faster than having to deal with Preview. I think the free Shottr does the same: https://shottr.cc/ https://shottr.cc/
- reaperducer 3y ago
  I don't THINK there is a way to do it straight from the snipping tool, but someone correct me if I'm wrong. It can be done from the screenshot tool. Take the screenshot, and an icon will appear in the lower-right corner of the preview. Click that icon and it selects all of the text in the preview. If you don't want all to select all of the text in the window, just select the text in the image the same way you'd select text in any other program. I find it easier & faster than having to deal with Preview. OCR is system-wide on macOS without Preview.
  - solardev 3y ago
    Great, thanks for the explanation!
    - mediumsmart 3y ago
      Have a look at textgrabber in this article: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38711357 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38711357
      - solardev 3y ago
        I think the parent is saying you don't need any third-party apps anymore, it's just built in to macos now.
        mediumsmart 3y ago
        It does say that yes, and that is correct. at least it is on my macos. Did you try textgrabber? The article refers to 2024.
- 0cf8612b2e1e 3y ago
  On Linux, I created a little script which uses maim to capture a user selected screen region, save that to a file, run tesseract, and dump the output to stdout. Since it is all digital (minus weirdo fonts) the OCR should be perfect.
reaperducer 3y ago
How does one do this in macos? On recent Macs, it's automatic in most programs, including Mail, Preview, Quickview, and others. Just hover your pointer over text in an image, and if the computer recognizes it, you get a text cursor so you can select the text. No extra software needed. If it's a language you can't read, you can often ⌥click the selected text and it will be translated into the language of your choice.
lancesells 3y ago
It's in the last two versions of macOS. You can grab text off of pretty much anything (with text). I've occasionally found it annoying when I'm trying to drag and drop an image that contains text but it's very useful and seamless.