How is image-to-searchable-text different from image-to-text?

Image-to-text extracts raw text content from images. Image-to-searchable-text goes further by preserving document structure (paragraphs, columns, headers), maintaining reading order, and normalizing the output specifically for full-text search indexing. It also applies heavier preprocessing like deskew and binarization to maximize OCR accuracy on document images.

Does it work with photographed documents that are tilted or skewed?

Yes. The preprocessing pipeline includes automatic deskew detection and correction. Images rotated up to 45 degrees are automatically straightened. For perspective distortion (e.g., photographed at an angle), set `perspective_correction` to true.

Can I use this to create searchable PDFs from scanned images?

Yes. Set `output_format` to 'searchable_pdf' and the API will return a PDF with an invisible text layer overlaid on the original image. This is the standard format for making scanned documents searchable while preserving visual fidelity.

What languages are supported for OCR in document images?

Over 100 languages and scripts are supported, including Latin, Cyrillic, CJK, Arabic, Devanagari, Thai, and Korean. Multi-language documents are detected and processed automatically. You can provide a `language_hint` parameter to improve accuracy for known languages.

document

Image
Searchable Text
Converter

Convert images containing text into fully searchable, indexed content using advanced OCR combined with layout understanding. Preserves document structure including paragraphs, columns, headers, and reading order for downstream search and retrieval.

Max file size: 50 MB

Estimated: 1-5 sec per image

5 input formats

How It Works

Upload an image or provide a URL to the Mixpeek API.

The image is preprocessed with deskew, binarization, and contrast enhancement.

Layout analysis detects columns, paragraphs, headers, and reading order.

OCR extracts character-level text with confidence scores per word.

Structured, search-ready text is returned with preserved reading order and optional positional metadata.

Code Examples

import os, requests

API = "https://api.mixpeek.com"
H = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['MIXPEEK_API_KEY']}",
     "X-Namespace": os.environ["NAMESPACE_ID"]}

# 1. a bucket, with a schema that declares the field you will send
bucket = requests.post(f"{API}/v1/buckets", headers=H, json={
    "bucket_name": "image-inputs",
    "bucket_schema": {"properties": {"image": {"type": "image"}}},
}).json()

# 2. land the file as an object. the URL goes in data, on the blob
requests.post(f"{API}/v1/buckets/{bucket['bucket_id']}/objects", headers=H, json={
    "key_prefix": "run-1",
    "blobs": [{"property": "image", "type": "image",
               "data": "https://example.com/photo.jpg"}],
})

# 3. a collection over that bucket, running the extractor
collection = requests.post(f"{API}/v1/collections", headers=H, json={
    "collection_name": "image-to-searchable-text",
    "source": {"type": "bucket", "bucket_ids": [bucket["bucket_id"]]},
    "feature_extractor": {"feature_extractor_name": "image_extractor", "version": "v1"},
}).json()

# 4. run extraction over the bucket
requests.post(f"{API}/v1/buckets/{bucket['bucket_id']}/batches", headers=H, json={
    "collection_ids": [collection["collection_id"]],
    "auto_submit": True,
})

# 5. read the output
docs = requests.get(
    f"{API}/v1/collections/{collection['collection_id']}/documents", headers=H
).json()
print(docs)

Use Cases

Digitize scanned documents and make them full-text searchable

Extract text from photographed whiteboards and handwritten notes

Process scanned receipts and invoices for accounting systems

Convert historical document archives into searchable digital collections

Supported Input Formats

JPEG

PNG

WebP

TIFF

BMP

Quick Info

Categorydocument

Max File Size50 MB

Est. Time1-5 sec per image

Extractorimage-descriptor

Processing millions of files?

Run this as a managed pipeline over your whole library, no infrastructure to build or maintain. Talk to us about processing at scale.

Run it over a library

Mixpeek runs this conversion as a pipeline over a whole library in your object storage, with the output landing as queryable documents. It is not a single-file converter.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Ready to convert image to searchable text?

Start using the Mixpeek Image to Searchable Text in minutes. Sign up for a free API key and follow the documentation to get started.

ImageSearchable TextConverter