How to Add OCR Languages to Capture2Text (tessdata Guide)
Which Languages Need Installing?
Capture2Text ships with seven bundled languages: English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Russian and Spanish. Everything else — Chinese (Simplified/Traditional), Arabic, Hindi, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Thai, and 90+ more — must be added manually. The good news: adding a language takes about two minutes and follows the official documented process.
Step 1 — Download the Dictionary
Get the language dictionary from the dictionaries section of the Capture2Text SourceForge page (linked from our download page). Alternatively, download the .traineddata file for your language from the tessdata GitHub repository — the files are identical in function. For Chinese you need chi_sim.traineddata (Simplified) and/or chi_tra.traineddata (Traditional); for Japanese jpn.traineddata is already bundled.
Step 2 — Unzip It
Open the downloaded zip with Windows Explorer or 7-Zip. You need the .traineddata file(s) inside.
Step 3 — Copy Files into tessdata
Open your Capture2Text program folder (where Capture2Text.exe lives) and find the tessdata subfolder. Drag all the .traineddata files directly into it — not into a subfolder, right at the top level of tessdata.
Step 4 — Restart and Select
Restart Capture2Text (exit from the tray icon, launch again). Right-click the tray icon → OCR Language → your new language should now be listed. Select it, and remember: if garbage characters come out, you almost certainly have the wrong language selected (official troubleshooting tip #5).
Tips for CJK Languages
- Chinese: install both chi_sim and chi_tra if you read mixed content; see the Chinese OCR guide for Simplified vs Traditional details.
- Japanese: bundled by default; Capture2Text auto-strips furigana, and
Win+Otoggles text direction — see the Japanese OCR guide. - Korean: bundled by default (kor).
- For Chinese/Japanese, use the text-direction hotkey (
Win+O) or tray menu to switch horizontal/vertical/auto — vertical text OCR’d as horizontal produces garbage.
Managing Many Languages
Once several languages are installed, use Win+1 / Win+2 / Win+3 quick-access slots for your top three (Settings → OCR → Quick-Access Languages). Our language management guide covers switching strategies, and the download page’s language packs section has the direct links. Browse all guides for more.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I add Chinese to Capture2Text?
Download the chi_sim (Simplified) and/or chi_tra (Traditional) dictionaries from the SourceForge dictionaries page, unzip them, copy the .traineddata files into the tessdata folder next to Capture2Text.exe, restart the app, and select the language from the tray icon. Full walkthrough in our Chinese OCR guide.
Where is the tessdata folder?
It is inside the Capture2Text program folder, next to Capture2Text.exe (e.g. C:\Tools\Capture2Text\tessdata). Drag the downloaded dictionary files there.
Do I need to restart Capture2Text after adding a language?
Yes — the official instructions say to restart Capture2Text after copying dictionary files into tessdata. The new language then appears in the tray icon’s OCR Language menu.
Which languages come with Capture2Text by default?
English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Russian and Spanish are bundled. Everything else — Chinese, Arabic, Hindi, Portuguese, and 90+ more — is a separate download.
Can I download languages from the Tesseract GitHub instead of SourceForge?
Yes. The tessdata GitHub repository hosts .traineddata files for 90+ languages; they work the same way — drop them into tessdata and restart. Our download page also documents this in the language packs section.
The language I want is not in the OCR Language menu. What now?
That means its dictionary is not installed — follow this guide’s steps. If it still does not appear after a restart, double-check the files landed directly in tessdata (not in a subfolder inside it).