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OCR.space API

api.ocr.space · Developer Tools

Developer Tools API Key Free Tier OCR PDF Image Processing

Free OCR API — extract text from images and PDFs. Supports 25+ languages, table detection, and searchable PDF output. Free tier: 500 requests/day.

Authentication

API Key Free API key at ocr.space/ocrapi. Pass as apikey header or query parameter. Use "helloworld" for testing.

Sample Requests

POST OCR an image URL

Extract text from an image URL using OCR.

https://api.ocr.space/parse/imageurl

Hover any highlighted part to learn what it does

Headers — extra info sent with the request
apikey helloworld
Content-Type application/x-www-form-urlencoded
Request Body — data you're sending
"url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Cara_de_un_Gato.jpg/220px-Cara_de_un_Gato.jpg&language=eng"
curl -X POST "https://api.ocr.space/parse/imageurl" \
  -H "apikey: helloworld" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '"url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Cara_de_un_Gato.jpg/220px-Cara_de_un_Gato.jpg&language=eng"'
import requests
headers = {
    "apikey": "helloworld",
    "Content-Type": "application/x-www-form-urlencoded"
}
data = "url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Cara_de_un_Gato.jpg/220px-Cara_de_un_Gato.jpg&language=eng"
response = requests.post(
    "https://api.ocr.space/parse/imageurl",
    headers=headers,
    json=data,
)
print(response.json())
const url = 'https://api.ocr.space/parse/imageurl';

const response = await fetch(url, {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'apikey': 'helloworld',
    'Content-Type': 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded'
  },
  headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
  body: JSON.stringify("url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Cara_de_un_Gato.jpg/220px-Cara_de_un_Gato.jpg&language=eng"),
}); 
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);
package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
	"bytes"
	"encoding/json"
)

func main() {
	targetURL := "https://api.ocr.space/parse/imageurl"
	jsonData, _ := json.Marshal("url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Cara_de_un_Gato.jpg/220px-Cara_de_un_Gato.jpg&language=eng")
	req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", targetURL, bytes.NewBuffer(jsonData))
	req.Header.Set("apikey", "helloworld")
	req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded")
	req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")

	client := &http.Client{}
	resp, _ := client.Do(req)
	defer resp.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}
require "net/http"
require "json"

uri = URI("https://api.ocr.space/parse/imageurl")

http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = uri.scheme == "https"

req = Net::HTTP::Post.new(uri)
req["apikey"] = "helloworld"
req["Content-Type"] = "application/x-www-form-urlencoded"
req["Content-Type"] = "application/json"
req.body = "\"url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Cara_de_un_Gato.jpg/220px-Cara_de_un_Gato.jpg&language=eng\""

res = http.request(req)
puts JSON.parse(res.body)
<?php
$url = "https://api.ocr.space/parse/imageurl";
$opts = ["http" => [
    "method" => "POST",
    "header" => implode("\r\n", [
        "apikey: helloworld",
        "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded",
        "Content-Type: application/json"
    ]),
    "content" => json_encode("url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Cara_de_un_Gato.jpg/220px-Cara_de_un_Gato.jpg&language=eng"),
]];
$ctx = stream_context_create($opts);
$res = file_get_contents($url, false, $ctx);
print_r(json_decode($res, true));

Postman Setup Guide

Get Postman ↗
  1. Use "helloworld" as API key for testing
  2. Register at ocr.space for a free key (500 req/day)
  3. POST to /parse/imageurl with url= or /parse/image with file upload
  4. Parameters: language=eng, isTable=true, OCREngine=2 (for handwriting)
  5. Response includes ParsedText and TextOverlay with bounding boxes

Open documentation ↗