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Overview

EnConvo’s OCR (Optical Character Recognition) feature extracts text from images, screenshots, and screen content. Copy text from images, translate signs in photos, or capture text that would otherwise require manual typing.

OCR Features

Screen Text Capture

Capture and extract text from anywhere on your screen:
  1. Press ⌥ O (Option + O) or use /ocr in SmartBar
  2. Select the area of your screen
  3. Text is extracted and ready to use

Image OCR

Process images from files:
  1. Drag an image into SmartBar or chat
  2. Ask “Extract text from this image”
  3. Or use /ocr with an attached image

Live OCR

Continuously recognize text in a selected screen region:
  1. Enable Live OCR in settings
  2. Point at text on screen
  3. See extracted text in real-time

Using OCR

Quick Extract

1

Activate OCR

Press ⌥ O or type /ocr in SmartBar
2

Select Region

Click and drag to select the area containing text
3

Get Results

Extracted text appears in SmartBar, ready to copy or process

OCR + AI Actions

Combine OCR with AI processing:
CommandAction
/ocr translateExtract and translate text
/ocr summarizeExtract and summarize
/ocr codeExtract code and format
/ocr tableExtract and format as table

From Clipboard

Process images from your clipboard:
  1. Copy an image (⌘ C)
  2. Open SmartBar
  3. Type /ocr clipboard or press ⌘ V

Supported Content

Text Types

TypeSupport Level
Printed textExcellent
ScreenshotsExcellent
HandwritingGood (varies by clarity)
Stylized fontsGood
Multi-languageExcellent

Image Sources

  • Screen captures
  • Photo files (JPG, PNG, etc.)
  • PDF documents
  • Clipboard images
  • Scanned documents

Languages

OCR supports text recognition in:
  • English
  • Chinese (Simplified & Traditional)
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Spanish
  • French
  • German
  • And 40+ more languages

Use Cases

Extract text from screenshots, infographics, or photos where text can’t be selected normally.
Capture text in foreign languages and instantly translate it.
Convert printed documents to editable digital text.
Copy code from tutorial screenshots or documentation images.
Extract tabular data from images and convert to spreadsheet format.

Configuration

Settings → OCR

SettingDescription
OCR EngineChoose recognition engine
Language HintsExpected languages
Auto-copyCopy results to clipboard
Show PreviewPreview before processing
Accuracy ModeSpeed vs accuracy tradeoff

Keyboard Shortcuts

ShortcutAction
⌥ OQuick OCR capture
⌥ ⇧ OOCR with AI action
⌘ ⇧ 4Screenshot then OCR

Advanced Features

Table Recognition

Extract tables with structure preserved:
/ocr table
Results include:
  • Proper column/row formatting
  • Export to CSV/Excel
  • Markdown table format

Receipt Scanning

Extract structured data from receipts:
  • Total amount
  • Date
  • Itemized list
  • Tax information

Business Card Scanning

Capture contact information:
  • Name
  • Phone number
  • Email
  • Company
  • Export to Contacts

Document Processing

Batch process multiple images:
  1. Select multiple files
  2. Run OCR action
  3. Get combined or separate outputs

Tips for Better Results

Ensure the text is well-lit and clearly visible in the source image.
Select just the text area without excessive surrounding content.
If text is in a specific language, hint it in settings for better accuracy.
Use higher resolution images when possible for better recognition.

Privacy

OCR can be processed locally on your Mac using Apple’s Vision framework, ensuring your images never leave your device. This can be enabled in Settings → OCR → Local Processing.