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Extract Text from New Images

On Folder Change

  1. A direct item in ~/Downloads is Added.

Match Image File

AND
  1. The changed item name from Folder Contents Changed matches (?i)\.(png|jpe?g|heic|webp)$

Recognize and Show Image Text

  1. Recognize text in Item Path
  2. Show OCR Text in a Rulr panel

Automate image OCR for a watched folder

This Rule turns an image inbox into a text review workflow. When a new receipt image, screenshot, or reference picture arrives, it recognizes the image’s text and displays the result in Rulr so you can check it without opening a separate OCR tool.

When: A direct item is added to Downloads. If: Its filename matches a PNG, JPEG, HEIC, or WebP extension. Do: Recognize text in the event’s Item Path, then show the recognized text in a panel. The display receives the OCR output rather than a fixed sample sentence.

Configure and try it

  1. Import with Open this Rule in Rulr and choose the folder where your image files arrive.
  2. Review the image-name Condition and keep the OCR source connected to the Trigger’s Item Path.
  3. Check that Show Text or Image uses the recognized Text output. Enable the Rule and add a clear image containing a short sentence you can compare with the result.
  4. Try another image with your usual language and layout. Confirm that a nonmatching document does not enter the image branch.

Use this folder workflow for incoming image files, and Copy Text from Your Screen for content already visible in an app. Check Recognize Text in Image for the Action’s input and Text output. To adapt the displayed result into a different workflow, follow the AI Builder review and refinement steps and verify that later Actions consume the OCR result.

Requirements and limits

Folder monitoring and image OCR require Rulr Pro, plus access to the selected folder. This workflow reads image files; it does not capture the screen or extract every page of a PDF.

Recognition can lose punctuation, line order, or characters in small or blurred text. The watcher is not recursive and does not process the existing folder contents automatically. To capture visible text directly, use Copy Text from Your Screen.

Can I extract text from an existing image or PDF?

To try an existing image, add a disposable copy to the watched folder after enabling the Rule. For an image already open on screen, use the screen OCR Rule instead. The filename filter and OCR input here are for image files; this is not PDF OCR or a batch conversion of existing documents.

Compare built-in OCR, screen shortcuts, and image-folder automation

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