Support

Product: Copy Text from Screen (OCR) (Stream Deck plugin for Windows) · Provider: GRAMSHIFT (Tokyo, Japan)

Contact

Email contact@gramshift.com in English or Japanese. We reply within 7 business days, usually sooner. Please include your Windows version, your Stream Deck app version, the language set on the key, and if you can a screenshot of the text you tried to read and of the key's settings (the Status line says what the plugin found). Ideas and languages you need are welcome too.

Get started

Install the plugin from the Elgato Marketplace. In the Stream Deck app, find Copy Text from Screen in the action list and drag Read Text from Area onto a key.
Press the key. The screen dims: drag over the text you want and let go. The key shows COPIED and the first words. Paste with Ctrl+V anywhere.
For a spot you read again and again (subtitles, a game's chat box, a field in a remote app), add Read Fixed Area: the first press sets the area, every later press reads it at once. Hold the key for 0.6 seconds to pick a new area.

It needs Windows 10 or later (tested on Windows 11) and the Stream Deck app 6.9 or later. It uses Windows PowerShell and the text recognition that are part of Windows, so there is no other app to install.

Settings

Language: Auto reads Japanese and English together in one pass when Windows has Japanese added; otherwise it reads in your Windows language. Or pick one of the text recognition languages installed in Windows. Reading has been tested with Japanese and English.
Lines: keep the lines as they are on the screen, or join them into one paragraph (good for text that wraps in a narrow column).
After copying: nothing more (the default), or also open the text in Google Translate, into the language you choose. Very long text is cut to its first part for the translation page; your clipboard still has all of it.
Look: Classic, Neon, Ring, Bars or Solid.

What the keys show

Key	Meaning
When the Stream Deck app is set to Japanese, the keys show the same states in Japanese.
`DRAG`	The selection is open: drag over the text. Esc, a right-click or another press of the key cancels.
Reading	The text is being read. The first read after the Stream Deck app starts takes a few seconds.
`COPIED` and the first words	The text is on your clipboard, ready to paste. The Status line shows how many characters and lines.
`NO TEXT`	No text was found in that area, and your clipboard was left as it was. Try a tighter area just around the text.
`CANCELLED`	The selection was cancelled. Nothing was copied.
`SET AREA`	A Read Fixed Area key with no area yet: press it and drag over the area to keep.
Red, with a message in the Status line	Something stopped the read, for example a language not installed, or a saved area that is no longer on any screen. The Status line says what to do.

Questions

A language I need is not in the list, or the key says it is not installed.
Add the language in Windows: Settings > Time & language > Language & region > Add a language. Then restart the Stream Deck app. The Status line lists the languages this PC can read.

Some characters come out wrong.
Reading text from a picture is a best guess. Very small text, thin gray text, decorated fonts and busy backgrounds read less well. Zoom in on the page (Ctrl and +) or select a tighter area around the text, and check codes and numbers before you use them. The yen sign and the backslash, and Japanese voiced marks on tiny text, can be mixed up.

Japanese and English are in the same line. Which language should I choose?
Auto. It reads both in one pass, including English words and numbers inside a Japanese line.

The selection does not appear over my game.
Games in exclusive full screen can cover it. Switch the game to windowed or borderless (windowed full screen) mode.

The saved area of a Read Fixed Area key is in the wrong place.
When a monitor is moved, removed or changes its scale, hold the key for 0.6 seconds and drag over the area again.

Does the text or a picture of my screen leave my PC?
No. The text is read on your PC and goes only to your clipboard, and no picture of the screen is saved. Only Also open in Google Translate opens the text in your browser, and it is off until you turn it on.

Can it keep fonts, tables or formatting?
No. The text is copied as plain text, with its line breaks (or joined, if you choose).

Does it work on Mac?
No. This plugin is for Windows only (Windows 10 or later; tested on Windows 11).

Privacy

The plugin runs on your PC and sends no data to us. See the Privacy Policy.