🔎 Using OCR text in your notes

OCR stands for “Optical Character Recognition”. It allows for text within images and files to be readable by a machine. Practically what this means is that any text contained in images or files can now be seen by the search features within your notes.

In Reflect, OCR text now works by default. All images and files attached to notes in Reflect going forward will be scanned for text and be made searchable.

To celebrate Reflect adding this feature, I'll cover a few handy ways to use OCR text in your notes.

1. Saving receipts and invoices

Oftentimes, you purchase one off things and need to save the receipt or invoice for whatever reason. A few days ago, I bought a new heater for my camper and just took a photo of the invoice in case I ever needed to use the warranty. If that moment comes, I can just search for “propex invoice” in my notes.

2. Indexing screenshots

If you ever need to quickly capture some information, just take a screenshot and add it to your notes. Any text found within the screenshot will show up in your future searches.

3. Searching PDF files and important documents

Whether an instruction manual, a policy document or research paper, PDFs can often be quite dense. You can now save PDFs to your notes and they will be included in your searches. For example you could save your insurance policy and ID, and you’ll always be able to search your health coverage and contact information.

4. Capturing IRL information

Maybe you see a poster downtown for an event coming up that you want to attend. Maybe you see a billboard for a product you want to try. Maybe you want to take a photo of a city map you traveled to or a menu from a favorite new restaurant.

The text from these items will be indexed and easily found in the future.

💡 Some tips for using OCR

• It helps to add context around images you save. Keep backlinking and using tags as you normally would.

• If you add images and files to your daily note, they will also be associated with a time and often a place.

• In Reflect OCR text works on all new images added. We are working on scanning previously added images and files.

• OCR text will also show up in Reflect’s AI chat results!