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textshot

★ 1,773 Open GitHub ↗

Python tool for grabbing text via screenshot

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<h1 align="center">TextShot</h1>

Take a screenshot and copy its text content to the clipboard. Works on Windows, macOS, and most modern Linux distros.

![TextShot Demo](https://i.imgur.com/Z0Ng13S.gif)

## Use

`textshot -h` prints the available command line options:

usage: textshot [-h] [-i INTERVAL] [langs]

Take a screenshot and copy its text content to the clipboard.

positional arguments:
    langs                 languages passed to tesseract, eg. "eng+fra" (default: eng)

optional arguments:
    -h, --help            show this help message and exit
    -i INTERVAL, --interval INTERVAL
                            select a screen region then take textshots every INTERVAL milliseconds

### Examples

- Basic usage: `textshot` opens an overlay where a rectangle can be drawn around the text to be copied.

- Alternate languages: `textshot eng+fra` specifies use of English as the primary language and French as the secondary language. Make sure that the appropriate data files for Tesseract are installed for other languages. A list of all supported languages can be found [here](https://github.com/tesseract-ocr/tesseract/blob/master/doc/tesseract.1.asc#languages-and-scripts).

- Continuously copy text content: `textshot --interval 200` draw a rectangle at a screen region then copy text from it every 200ms.

### Hotkeys

It is recommended to attach a global hotkey to this tool, so you can run it without opening a console and typing in the command.

On **Windows**, one can accomplish this by using an [AutoHotkey](https://www.autohotkey.com/) script; `textshot.ahk` contains a sample AHK script that can be used.

On **Ubuntu**, open the Keyboard Settings, which shows you all the Gnome shortcuts. At the bottom there is a `+` button to add your own shortcuts. Click it and set the command to `textshot`. In case you are using a virtual environment, the `textshot` path above should point to the environment's `textshot`.

The process on other operating systems can be found by searching how to run a shell command with a keyboard shortcut.

## Installation

### Prerequisites

- Install [Google's Tesseract OCR Engine](https://github.com/tesseract-ocr/tesseract), and ensure that `tesseract` can be reached from the command line by adding the directory to your system path.

### Installation with `pip`

$ pip install textshot
    $ textshot

You may wish to use a virtual environment if the dependencies conflict with others on your machine.

### Installation from source

- Clone this repository... `git clone https://github.com/ianzhao05/textshot.git`
- ...and `cd` into it: `cd textshot`
- Run `pip install .` (for development, you may install with `pip install -e .` which will allow you to test your modifications without reinstall)
- You may now run `textshot`

### From repository

@rigred has added this to the AUR, so Arch Linux users can install the package `textshot-git` with their AUR helper. For example, `yay -S textshot-git`. This may not be up to date, so if you encounter issues, use the normal installation method above.

## Troubleshooting

### macOS

You may need to give permission to capture the screen. You can do so by going to System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy > Screen Recording, then checking the box for Terminal/iTerm.

### Linux

If the text shows up correctly in the notification, but you cannot paste it, install `xclip` (e.g. with `sudo apt install xclip`).

textshot

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