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Chinese Image to Text

Get editable Chinese text from a photo, scan or screenshot. The tool opens with Simplified Chinese selected, switches to Traditional in one click, and reads the image in your browser, so nothing is uploaded.

Add an image with Chinese text

Supports JPG, JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, WebP, TIFF, HEIC, HEIF, HEICS

Auto detects the writing system and reads it. For better results, pick the language (up to 3 if the text mixes languages).

Drop a photo, scan or screenshot in Chinese here

or

Max file size: 10MB

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Simplified or Traditional: which one to pick

There are two separate Chinese models, one per character set, and the choice matters. Pick the one the text is printed in, not the one you would like the result in: the tool reads characters, it does not convert between the two sets.

  • Chinese (Simplified). Mainland China, Singapore and Malaysia: news sites, WeChat and Weibo screenshots, mainland textbooks, menus and product labels. You will see forms like 国 说 门 书. This is the preset.
  • Chinese (Traditional). Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, plus older books and many overseas Chinese publications. You will see forms like 國 說 門 書. Pick it in the language box above the Extract button.
  • Vertical text. Text written top to bottom in columns, common in older books, Taiwanese print and signs, is not supported: the models here read horizontal lines only. Rotating the photo does not fix it, because the characters then lie on their side.

Reading Traditional text with the Simplified model (or the other way round) mostly goes wrong on exactly the characters that differ, so if the result looks half right, switch the set and extract again. Chinese has no spaces between words, and the tool removes the stray spaces the engine puts between characters.

How to extract Chinese text from an image

Three steps, no account. Simplified Chinese is already selected in the language box.

Last updated:

  1. 1

    1. Add the image

    Drop a JPG, JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, WebP, TIFF, HEIC, HEIF, HEICS file up to 10 MB, paste a screenshot with Ctrl+V or load it from a link. Crop away anything that is not text.

  2. 2

    2. Pick the set and extract

    Keep Simplified, or choose Traditional for text from Taiwan or Hong Kong, then click Extract text. The first run downloads the Chinese model once, which takes a moment because it is large.

  3. 3

    3. Check and copy

    Fix misread characters in the box, then copy the text or download it as .txt or .docx.

Extract Chinese text

Tips for better Chinese results

Before you extract

  • Choose the character set yourself: Auto finds the Chinese script but may try the wrong set first
  • Chinese characters have fine strokes, so get close: each character should be clearly readable in the photo
  • Crop out vertical text, logos and stylised headings; they are read badly or not at all
  • For faded print, tick Black and white under the language box and extract again

Mixed text

  • Chinese with English words or product codes? Click Add a language and pick English
  • You can combine up to 3 languages, for example Simplified and Traditional plus English
  • Text that is mostly English with a few Chinese words reads better with English first and Chinese added
  • Several pages? Multi Image OCR reads up to 20 images in one batch

What people use it for

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Our image to text converter is designed to streamline the process of extracting text from images. However, we understand you might have a few questions. To make the most of this tool, we've compiled some frequently asked questions along with helpful explanations to guide you.

Should I choose Simplified or Traditional Chinese?

Choose the set the image is printed in. Mainland China and Singapore use Simplified (国, 说), Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau use Traditional (國, 說). If you are not sure, extract once with each and keep the result with the higher confidence. The tool does not convert one set into the other.

Can it read vertical Chinese text?

No. The Chinese models used here read horizontal lines only, so text in top to bottom columns comes out scrambled: each output line takes one character from every column. Turning the image does not help, since the characters end up sideways. For vertical text, retyping or a tool with a vertical text model is the realistic option.

Can it read handwritten Chinese?

Only neat, printed style handwriting has a chance, and cursive handwriting does not work. The models are trained on printed fonts. See handwritten to text for what helps with handwriting in general.

Is my image uploaded anywhere?

No. The Chinese model is downloaded to your browser and the image is read on your device, so private chats and documents stay with you.

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