# Receipt OCR: extract text from receipt photos

**Use case:** 

Read two photographed supermarket receipts (Dutch and Swiss) and get their full text with line breaks kept: store, items, prices, totals, VAT and date, ready for expense tracking or bookkeeping. Paste links to your own receipt images or public Google Drive and Dropbox links.

## Input

```json
{
  "urls": [
    "https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/Sahan_Supermarket_receipt%2C_Hillegersberg%2C_Rotterdam_%282021%29_02.jpg/1280px-Sahan_Supermarket_receipt%2C_Hillegersberg%2C_Rotterdam_%282021%29_02.jpg",
    "https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/ReceiptSwiss.jpg/1280px-ReceiptSwiss.jpg"
  ],
  "mode": "text",
  "maxConcurrency": 4,
  "maxSecondsPerImage": 180
}
```

## Output

```json
{
  "imageUrl": {
    "label": "Image",
    "format": "string"
  },
  "source": {
    "label": "Source",
    "format": "string"
  },
  "text": {
    "label": "Text",
    "format": "string"
  },
  "receipt": {
    "label": "Receipt fields",
    "format": "object"
  },
  "language": {
    "label": "Language",
    "format": "string"
  },
  "lineCount": {
    "label": "Lines",
    "format": "integer"
  },
  "charCount": {
    "label": "Characters",
    "format": "integer"
  },
  "charged": {
    "label": "Charged",
    "format": "boolean"
  },
  "error": {
    "label": "Error",
    "format": "string"
  }
}
```

## How it works

### 1. Sign up on Apify or log in

The Image to Text OCR API - Extract Text from Images with AI Actor is ready to run with the inputs already set for "Receipt OCR: extract text from receipt photos". [Sign up or log in](https://console.apify.com/create-task-from-example/tfqLCig6J2dV2KcrC) and you'll land in Apify Console with a copy of this exact task.

### 2. Start the "Receipt OCR: extract text from receipt photos" task

The Image to Text OCR API - Extract Text from Images with AI Actor will start running based on the input automatically. You can also change all the input fields, like image urls, output format, and more, to match your specific use case.

### 3. Receive the "Receipt OCR: extract text from receipt photos" output

Monitor the progress in real time. You will be notified as soon as your dataset is complete and ready for review. Each result includes data such as image, source, text, and more.

### 4. Integrate into your workflow

The final output is delivered in JSON, CSV, or Excel format, ready to be plugged into your workflow. You can also [run the "Receipt OCR: extract text from receipt photos" task via API](https://apify.com/tidytools/image-to-text-ocr.md).

## About this Actor

This example demonstrates how to use [Image to Text OCR API - Extract Text from Images with AI](https://apify.com/tidytools/image-to-text-ocr.md) with a specific input configuration. Visit the [Actor detail page](https://apify.com/tidytools/image-to-text-ocr.md) to learn more, explore other use cases, and run it yourself.


## How to integrate an Actor?

This Task's input is already configured above. Use it as-is rather than inventing a new one.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For full API examples (JavaScript, Python, CLI, MCP, OpenAPI), see this Task's Actor page: https://apify.com/tidytools/image-to-text-ocr.md

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).