Turn a photo into text
Extract text from an image, then organize it and chat with it.
Save a photo or a screenshot, and Recall extracts the text so you can copy it or search for it. Every image is organized for you in your AI second brain, so you can find it again and ask questions about it.
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How to extract text from an image in Recall
To extract text from an image in Recall, upload a JPEG, PNG, WebP, HEIC, or HEIF up to 10 MB, or share it from your phone. Recall reads the words with AI, describes the picture, and keeps the image in your knowledge base so you can search the text and chat with it.
Add the image
Upload a photo or screenshot with Add Content, or share it to Recall from your phone.
Extract text from images with AI
AI reads the words in the image and describes what it shows.
Search or chat with the extracted text
Search the words later in your knowledge base, or ask a question about the image.
See how to extract text from images, then organize and chat with them in Recall
Save an image, and Recall extracts the text and keeps the picture so you can chat with it.
3 ways to extract text from images
From your phone, from a file in Recall, or from a post that already has the picture.
Share a photo from your phone
On iPhone or Android, open the photo and tap Share, then Recall. If Recall is missing the first time, tap More and turn it on. The image lands in your knowledge base.
Upload an image
Open the web app, where Add Content is already open. Upload a JPEG, PNG, WebP, HEIC, or HEIF, up to 10 MB.
Save a post with pictures
When you save a social post, Recall reads the text in its images too. A post with more than 20 images is saved without reading those pictures.
What Recall saves from an image
A screenshot, a photo, or the pictures on a post. Recall saves each one.
A screenshot
Recall extracts the on-screen words and keeps the screenshot, so you can read the text or look at the picture again.
A photo
A photo of a page, a slide, or a sign is read the same way. JPEG, PNG, WebP, HEIC, and HEIF all work, up to 10 MB.
Pictures on a post
Text inside a saved social post is extracted with the post. More than 20 images on one post are saved without being read.
What Recall does with a saved image
Recall saves the image, organizes it, and extracts the text you can chat with.
Recall saves the image
Recall saves the image in your second brain, with everything else you keep.
Recall extracts the text
Recall uses AI to extract text from images and turns the words into searchable text.
Recall describes the picture
Recall also describes what the image shows, so you can find a photo that has little or no text.
Recall organizes the image
Recall organizes the image for you, so it lives with everything else in your second brain.
Chat with the extracted text
Ask about the image after it is saved. The answer can use the text Recall extracted.
Recall connects the image
Recall links the image to related saves on the same idea.
Keep the picture
Extract text from images and find it again
A one-off text tool extracts the words and stops. Recall keeps the picture, organizes it, and lets you chat with it later.
| Feature | Recall | One-off text tool |
|---|---|---|
| Capture | ||
What you leave with | The image and the text | A block of text |
The picture | Kept in your knowledge base | Gone after you copy the text |
| Memory | ||
Finding it later | Search it with the rest of your saves | Only if you kept the text yourself |
| Chat | ||
Asking about it | Ask across this image and the rest of your knowledge base | No knowledge base to ask |
| Organization | ||
Where it lives | Organized with everything else you saved | Nowhere after you copy the text |
| Limits | ||
What it covers | JPEG, PNG, WebP, HEIC, and HEIF, up to 10 MB each | Varies by tool |
| Value | ||
Price to start | Free to start, with unlimited saves and 10 AI summaries a month | Varies, and many cap or charge per use |
Scroll horizontally to compare all columns.
Why people make Recall part of their day
“Think of it as a library of everything you've read and watched, with an AI sitting on top that has read it too. Recall makes that easier than anything else we tried.”
“Recall works the way your brain works! Perfect for deep research or growing your knowledge on any topic.”
“I love [Recall’s] interface, its speed, and its overall user experience… it is scratching my web-hoarding itch unlike anything else has quite been able to do to date.”
“One of my favorite AI apps is Recall. I've used it constantly for almost a year to manage and transcribe all the videos we create and work with. It's the kind of AI app that's just become part of my daily workflow, the highest compliment you can pay a piece of software.”
“After just a few months, Recall has become one of my most-used apps on both desktop and mobile. Frankly, I'd rather give up Microsoft Word than Recall.”
“I've tried practically every AI tool out there, and Recall is among the very few that I've actually found myself using. It has completely changed the way I study.”
“I didn't expect much from Recall. But it completely blew me away. It does everything NotebookLM does and also fills in all its shortcomings.”
“I run two parallel careers, which means staying current across rapidly evolving topics. Recall is the front door to my entire knowledge workflow.”
Fernand
Head of Technology
“Recall has revolutionized how I manage information! As a power user, its AI-driven summarization and storage capabilities have boosted my productivity tenfold, allowing me to effortlessly access and recall key details whenever I need them.”
William Peltier
Senior Director at Moody's
“I use Recall on a daily basis to cultivate and build a hand-picked database of information. The end result is like having a personalized AI loaded with sources pre-screened for quality.”
Roses
Human Rights Worker
“I use Recall every day. It helps me quickly condense important information from thought leadership articles and educational YouTube videos. It's great to have a place where I can easily store this information knowing that I will come back to it again in the future. I've greatly developed as a founder and leader thanks to Recall.”
Jason Patel
Co-founder at Open Forge AI
“I've been building several second brains for years and whenever I see a new way to do it, I don't like changing because my other systems already work. But I'm always willing to try because you never know which one would be a drastic improvement on what you're already using. Recall is one of them.”
Dave Katague
AI Educator
“Recall has become an essential part of how I learn, think, and explore the world.”
Maire
Student, Data Analyst
