Screenshot Reader

Screenshot Reader provides OCR (Optical Character Recognition), a technology that recognizes text within a digital image (photo, pdf, graphic). OCR software looks at an image and compares the shapes of the letters to a stored database of images of letters.

Students using their OUSD Chrome accounts do not have access to add extensions. Please request this extension through your teacher or case manager.

Using Screenshot Reader

Open Chrome browser. Make sure you are using your OUSD Chrome account.

Open a web page.

Click Screenshot Reader extension on the upper right of the screen. Your cursor will change to a crosshair (+).

If you do not see the Screenshot Reader icon, click the jigsaw icon to open the Extensions window. Click the pin to "pin it" to the extensions bar.

If the icon is not available, please request this extension through your teacher or case manager.

Click and hold the mouse button to select text, then release when text is selected.

Screenshot Reader will begin reading while highlighting the words.

OCR works best with clean, clearly printed materials.

OCR doesn't work well with letters that are:

  • fancy

  • angled

  • handwritten

  • colorful

Click to play, pause or stop.

Click Copy button to copy selected text, then paste it into a document.

  • Practice using Screenshot Reader on different texts to see what works and what doesn't.

  • Don't give up the first time you try!

Resources

What Is OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and What Is It Used For?

How Does Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Work?

Read&Write for Google Chrome™ - Screenshot Reader