Participant

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Please Add Built In OCR to Photoshop - even phones have this now

Forum|Forum|6 months ago
October 6, 2025
5 replies
173 views

I often need to copy text out of screenshots, scans, and flattened comps. On my phone I can long-press to select text, but in Photoshop I have to leave the app (e.g., Acrobat or third-party tools) just to OCR. Please add built-in OCR so I can:
• Drag-select text directly on the canvas and copy/paste it.
• Convert recognized text to editable Type layers (preserving font/size when possible, or at least positioning).
• Batch OCR a folder / current document’s layers via Actions/Scripting.
• Choose language packs; work offline; keep data local for privacy.
This would save huge time for designers doing localization, accessibility, and quick content edits, and would keep the workflow inside Photoshop.

D Fosse

Community Expert

I don't think this belongs in a pixel-based image editor. I vote no. Use the development and maintenance resources for more relevant purposes closer to the application's core function.

Chris 486

Community Expert

I’m not opposed to this with the considerations of what other have already posted included. I do understand that Photoshop is primarily for “photos”. (in the name right? 😁)

This is purely from my personal standpoint. My use of it has widely varied over the years as my jack of all trades program. I’ve used it for photos, technical design and map creation/editing, graphic design, etc.

Working in varied professional environments, acquiring the “correct tool for the job” just is not feasible for every case. Either cost, time to learn, or other considerations put those tools out of reach in a project setting. Photoshop (and adobe suite at large) isn’t always the cleanest way to operate always but gets the final product done to the spec needed. I love it has the flexibility to do that. I’d love an ai ocr for every poorly scanned flat file, that I had to decipher by hand. Acrobat does a very poor job at this because it’s focus is on documents specifically and does not handle image embedded text very well; especially if it’s rotated.

I do agree with what other people are concerned about. I also don’t need another “thing” for the sake of it, but this I could actually use in some fashion. If the tool can be implemented without getting in the way or causing a detriment, I’m for adding that tool to streamline the workflow process.

jane-e

Community Expert

@TimePyre wrote: “in Photoshop I have to leave the app (e.g., Acrobat or third-party tools) just to OCR”

You posted to Feature Requests, so the Adobe team will see and track it, but I am casting my vote for:

NO, this is not something I want or need in Photoshop, whose core function is image editing.

Jane

Kevin Stohlmeyer

Community Expert

@TimePyre what you are asking for is availble in Adobe Acrobat.

MassC

Legend

Hey @TimePyre,

Thanks for sharing your idea—we really appreciate it! If you think others would benefit too, feel free to ask them to upvote or add their thoughts in the comments. The more support a request gets, the better. Thanks again for being part of the community! 🙌

^CM

E

ExUSA

Legend

This isn't a core image processing feature. Adobe is better off not adding another thing to break, but leaving it to more specialized OCR apps.

TimePyreAuthor

Participant

PS already has integrated AI. PS is an image editor, if editing an image requires editing text, not being forced to leave photoshop makes sense, and given that PS already has an AI pipeline, OCR should be an extremely easy/basic addition. Properly implemented, it might even make a new layer from image analysis with a new editable text layer at the same size, font, color, etc… copied from the image being edited… Possibly even generating a new area underneath that uses the “remove” feature to remove the old flattened text essentially ‘magically’ replacing uneditable flattened text with an editable text layer that looks exactly the same as what was there.

E

ExUSA

Legend

Its one more thing to eat engineering resources and one more thing to break. I vote no.

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