Overview 

SeaTalk can detect and let you copy text from images using an optical character recognition (OCR) tool integrated into the media viewer. This helps you quickly capture text from screenshots, photos, receipts and other images without retyping. The feature works on desktop, iOS and Android with small differences on how you enter OCR mode and interact with selections.

Supported Media

• Only images are supported for text extraction.

• Videos, GIFs, stickers and other non-image media are not supported.

• Standard Latin letters, numbers, common punctuation and many symbols will be detected and selectable. Please ensure your image is of sufficient quality for best results as text detection quality depends on image clarity. 
• Please note that text extraction is only supported from the minimum hardware versions below:

  • Windows: >= v10.0.10240

  • MacOS: >= 10.15

  • iOS: >= iOS 16.0

How to Use Text Extraction

Desktop

• Open an image in SeaTalk’s media viewer.

• Click the Extract Text button as shown in the image above to enter text extraction mode. Click again to exit the mode.

• If the text extraction needs time, a loading spinner appears. If no text is found, you will see a notification.

Select and copy text 

• Move the cursor over selectable text which changes the cursor to a text selector. 

• Click and drag to highlight text. Use Cmd/Ctrl + A to select all detected text in the image.

• Copy using right-click > Copy from the menu or use Cmd/Ctrl + C on your keyboard.

Windows only

• On Windows only, a small dropdown beside the OCR icon lets you choose the extraction language of your choice. Please first ensure that the given language is installed on your Windows OS. 

• Selecting a language runs OCR immediately and the chosen language is remembered for future extractions.

Mac will automatically recognise the language fo the text for extraction. No further configuration is needed.

Mobile 

(Left - iOS, Right - Android)

• Open an image.

• Long press the image and tap Extract Text from the menu to enter the text extraction mode.

• If text extraction takes time, a spinner appears. If no text is found, you will be notified.

Select and copy text - iOS

• Once in text extraction mode, text is detected automatically. Long press a word to start text selection.

• Use the action menu to Copy or Select All. The Select All option highlights all detected text and allows copying.

• An Extract All button may be available to highlight and extract all text at once.

Select and copy text - Android

• Detected text appears as individual selectable boxes based on words or characters depending on the language.

• Tap a box to select it or drag across multiple boxes to select several items.

• Use Select All to quickly pick every detected item, or Deselect All to clear the selection.

• Tap Copy to copy the selected boxes. 

For organizations with data loss prevention (DLP) rules, text extraction may be restricted by your administrator. Please check with your administrator for your organization's rules.