What is Text Capture used for?

Text Capture is a macOS menu-bar OCR app that copies text from anything on screen, including images, videos and PDFs, and also reads QR codes and barcodes. It is a good fit for copying text out of screenshots and videos, extracting text from non-selectable PDFs, and reading QR codes from images on screen.

How much does Text Capture cost?

Text Capture is a paid product with no free plan.

Is Text Capture open source?

No. Text Capture is proprietary (closed-source) software. In the Productivity category, open-source options include Maccy, Stats and ShareX.

What are some alternatives to Text Capture?

Text Capture competes with CleanShot X and Snagit.

Text Capture: features, pricing and alternatives

About Text Capture

Text Capture is a macOS utility for pulling out text that cannot be selected, such as text in images, videos, PDFs, app interfaces or anything else visible on the screen. You press a keyboard shortcut, drag over the area, and the recognized text is ready to paste in any app, which replaces retyping it by hand.

It runs from the menu bar with shortcuts for capturing text, scanning QR codes and barcodes, speaking captured text aloud, keeping line breaks and an additive clipboard that collects several captures so they can be pasted together. A capture history lets you view and paste earlier results. Recognition happens locally on your Mac and no data is sent to servers, and shortcuts, line-break handling, the tray icon, notifications and sounds can be customized.

Key features

On-screen OCR for unselectable text
QR code and barcode reading
Text-to-speech of captured text
Additive clipboard for multiple captures
Capture history with paste
Local recognition without servers
Customizable keyboard shortcuts

Good fit for

Copying text out of screenshots and videos
Extracting text from non-selectable PDFs
Reading QR codes from images on screen

Tags: ocr; macos; menu-bar; screenshot-text; qr-code; text-to-speech; productivity

Text Capture: questions and answers

What is Text Capture used for?: Text Capture is a macOS menu-bar OCR app that copies text from anything on screen, including images, videos and PDFs, and also reads QR codes and barcodes. It is a good fit for copying text out of screenshots and videos, extracting text from non-selectable PDFs, and reading QR codes from images on screen.
How much does Text Capture cost?: Text Capture is a paid product with no free plan.
Is Text Capture open source?: No. Text Capture is proprietary (closed-source) software. In the Productivity category, open-source options include Maccy, Stats and ShareX.
What are some alternatives to Text Capture?: Text Capture competes with CleanShot X and Snagit.