Screenshot & OCR Extractor

A Python-based OCR tool that extracts text from images and saves it to Google Docs automatically.
Supports Google Drive sharing, text formatting, and document organization.

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Features

• Extracts text from screenshots & images using Tesseract OCR
• Automatically saves text to Google Docs
• Append text to existing docs or create new ones
• Share documents via email (Google Drive API)
• Formatted text output with bold headings & structured layout
• Handles API authentication & permissions efficiently

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How This Project Was Built

Idea & Concept

I wanted to automate text extraction from screenshots and make the process seamless.
After exploring Notion, PDFs, and Google Docs, I chose Google Docs for better API support.

Development Process

Setting Up the Environment

• Installed Tesseract OCR, configured paths, and handled dependencies.
• Set up Google Cloud API credentials for authentication.

OCR & Image Processing

• Used pytesseract to extract text from images.
• Cleaned & formatted the extracted text.

Google Docs Integration

• Automated document creation & updating via the Google Docs API.
• Implemented document sharing via Google Drive API (Users can add their email).

Debugging & Fixes

• Solved Windows permission errors for accessing credentials.json.
• Fixed Google Drive API permission issues when sharing docs.

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AI-Assisted Development

I leveraged AI for guidance, but I actively:

• Debugged errors manually
• Decided which features to implement
• Researched & understood Google API workflows
• Customized the formatting & user interaction flow

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What I Learned

• How OCR works in Python
• How to authenticate & interact with Google Docs API
• How to handle API-based document sharing
• How to troubleshoot API permission issues
• How AI can assist in development while still requiring critical thinking

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Getting Started

Install Dependencies

pip install pytesseract pillow google-auth google-auth-oauthlib google-auth-httplib2 google-api-python-client

Install Tesseract OCR

Windows:

1. Download & install Tesseract OCR.
2. Add Tesseract to your system PATH.
3. Find the installation path (e.g., C:\Program Files\Tesseract-OCR\tesseract.exe).

Linux/macOS:

sudo apt install tesseract-ocr  # Ubuntu/Debian
brew install tesseract          # macOS

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Run the Script

python screenshot_ocr.py

Select an Image

• Choose an image file containing text.
• OCR will extract the text and save it to Google Docs.

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Enter Your Email (Optional)

• If you want document access, enter your Google email.
• Otherwise, the document will remain private.

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Future Enhancements

• AI-powered text correction (fix OCR errors using GPT)
• Export to multiple platforms (Notion, Trello, PDFs)
• Auto-detect text language & translate it
• Hotkey-based screenshot capture & auto-processing

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Credits & Acknowledgment

AI-Assisted Development:
I used ChatGPT as an assistant for debugging, research, and structuring API calls,
but every decision, problem-solving step, and customization was done manually.

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Links

GitHub Repository: Coderanger08

Google Docs API Guide: Google Docs API Docs