Guide
What is the handwriting-to-text tool?
This tool turns a photo of handwritten notes (a notebook page, a paper memo, a whiteboard) into clean, structured Markdown text with AI. It reads cursive and rushed writing that classic OCR cannot, keeps your lists and checkboxes, and marks anything truly unreadable inline as [illegible] instead of guessing. One photo costs 3 credits on paid plans (20 credits on the free plan), and the free monthly allowance covers occasional use.
Here is how the elements of your notes come out:
| In your notes | What comes out |
|---|---|
| Cursive / rushed writing | Transcribed as text, in the source language |
| Strikethrough | Omitted (treated as deleted) |
| Insertions, margin notes | Placed where the writer intended |
| Checkboxes | Markdown task list: - [ ] / - [x] |
| Indented outline | Nested Markdown lists |
| Drawn tables / grids | Markdown tables |
| Sketches, diagrams, arrows-as-figures | Not transcribed (text only) |
When it comes in handy
- Sharing handwritten meeting notes to Notion or Slack: paste them as-is, no retyping.
- Digitizing lecture notes or reading notes so they become searchable.
- Turning whiteboard TODOs into a task list: checkboxes become - [ ] / - [x].
- Transferring paper daily reports, inspection sheets, or free-text survey answers without manual entry.
- Archiving old notebooks as text without typing them out.
How to use
- Photograph the page straight-on in decent light and upload it (on a phone, tap "Take a photo" to shoot it right there). PNG, JPEG, and WebP up to 10MB work; the photo is stored privately in your workspace.
- Click "Transcribe". A run takes well under a minute and is saved to your history.
- Compare the Markdown against the photo side by side. Truly unreadable words appear as [illegible].
- Copy the Markdown or download it as .md / .txt, ready to paste into your notes app.
For example, a meeting-notes page with a title, five rushed bullets, two checkboxes, and one crossed-out line comes back as a ## heading, a bullet list, and - [ ] / - [x] task items. The deleted line is left out.
Notes
- Extremely stylized or tiny handwriting, heavy glare, and strong blur reduce accuracy. The [illegible] markers show where.
- Drawings and diagrams are not reproduced; only their text labels are transcribed.
- Always check the marked spots against the photo before relying on the text.
- For printed documents, screenshots, and scans, use Transcribe an image with AI. For plain printed text there is also the free, in-browser Extract text from an image.
