# Image Text Extractor (OCR)

This utility extracts text from images using the `pytesseract` library, which is a wrapper for Google's Tesseract-OCR Engine. It supports multiple languages and can output text to the console or a file.

**Modules Used:**
*   `pytesseract`: Python wrapper for Google's Tesseract-OCR.
*   [[programming/python/modules/pillow-module|Pillow]]: To open and manipulate image files.
*   [[programming/python/modules/argparse-module|argparse]]: To handle command-line arguments.

## Prerequisites

1.  **Install Tesseract Engine**: You must install the Tesseract binary separately.
    *   **Windows**: Download the installer from UB-Mannheim.
    *   **Linux**: `sudo apt install tesseract-ocr`
    *   **macOS**: `brew install tesseract`

2.  **Install Python Libraries**:
    ```bash
    pip install pytesseract Pillow
    ```

## The Code

Save this as `ocr_tool.py`.

```python
import pytesseract
from PIL import Image
import argparse
import os
import sys

# NOTE: If Tesseract is not in your PATH, uncomment and set the correct path below:
# pytesseract.pytesseract.tesseract_cmd = r'C:\Program Files\Tesseract-OCR\tesseract.exe'

def extract_text(image_path, output_file=None, lang='eng'):
    if not os.path.exists(image_path):
        print(f"Error: Image file '{image_path}' not found.")
        return

    try:
        print(f"Processing '{image_path}'...")
        
        # Open the image using Pillow
        img = Image.open(image_path)
        
        # Perform OCR
        # image_to_string converts the image to text
        text = pytesseract.image_to_string(img, lang=lang)
        
        if output_file:
            with open(output_file, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as f:
                f.write(text)
            print(f"Success! Text saved to '{output_file}'")
        else:
            print("\n--- Extracted Text ---")
            print(text.strip())
            print("----------------------")
            
    except pytesseract.TesseractNotFoundError:
        print("Error: Tesseract is not installed or not in your PATH.")
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error: {e}")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Image Text Extractor (OCR)")
    parser.add_argument("image", help="Path to the image file")
    parser.add_argument("-o", "--output", help="Output text file (optional)")
    parser.add_argument("-l", "--lang", default="eng", help="Language code (default: eng)")
    
    args = parser.parse_args()
    
    extract_text(args.image, args.output, args.lang)
```

## Usage

```bash
python ocr_tool.py receipt.jpg --output receipt_text.txt
```

[[programming/python/python]]