OCR Scanner Template

What it does

Drag, drop, read

Drop an image or browse for one, preview it, and extract the text in one click.

Copy the result

The text keeps its line breaks, with a button to copy it.

Checks uploads first

Only JPG, PNG or GIF images of 4 MB or less, within Vercel’s request limit.

Keeps your key private

The page calls a server route that holds the key, checks the input and limits each visitor to 10 scans a minute.

A web app and a CLI

python app.py runs the page locally. The CLI reads local files or image URLs.

How it works

The Flask route: it checks the upload and sends it to Image to Text.

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# Vercel caps a function's request body at 4.5 MB, so uploads stop at 4 MB.
MAX_BYTES = 4 * 1024 * 1024
TYPES = {'image/jpeg', 'image/png', 'image/gif'}


@app.post('/api/scan')
def scan():
    """POST /api/scan (multipart, field "image"): the text in an image."""
    image = request.files.get('image')
    if not image or not image.filename:
        return fail('Choose an image with text in it.')
    if image.mimetype not in TYPES:
        return fail('Use a JPG, PNG or GIF image.')
    data = image.read(MAX_BYTES + 1)
    if len(data) > MAX_BYTES:
        return fail('Images must be 4 MB or smaller.')
    return jsonify(call_api('imagetotext', files={'image': (image.filename, data, image.mimetype)}))

See the whole file on GitHub →

Deploy it

1. Get a free API key

   The free plan includes 200 credits a month, no card needed. Create your key.

2. Deploy it

   Click Deploy to Vercel. Vercel copies the repo to your GitHub account and asks for APIVERVE_API_KEY: paste your key there.

3. Open your app

   Vercel builds it and gives you a live URL, usually in about a minute. Every push to the repo redeploys it.

Try the Image to Text API — the call this template makes

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{
  "status": "ok",
  "error": null,
  "data": {
    "text": "Ayear after that (in 2021) I hired somebody tpHfelp me write blog posts for\nmy personal website.\n\nThe point is, | like reinvesting the money | make\nback into my business.",
    "words": 28,
    "characters": 170,
    "lines": 5
  }
}