The 7 Built-in Languages
Out of the box, Capture2Text OCRs English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Russian and Spanish — no downloads needed. (Note: Italian is not bundled despite what some old write-ups claim; Korean and Russian are.) 90+ additional languages install in minutes — see how to add languages.
Switching the Active Language
Three ways, fastest last:
- Tray menu: right-click the Capture2Text icon → OCR Language → pick a language. Reliable, but slow.
- Settings: Settings → OCR → Current OCR language. Same list, plus access to the options below.
- Quick-access hotkeys: assign your three most-used languages under Settings → OCR → Quick-Access Languages, then flip between them with
Win+1,Win+2,Win+3. If you regularly OCR English + Chinese + Japanese, this is the workflow.
Text Direction: The CJK Setting Everyone Misses
When Chinese or Japanese is active, a Text Orientation option appears (Settings → OCR, tray menu, or the Win+O hotkey): horizontal / vertical / auto. Auto picks horizontal when the capture is wider than twice its height, else vertical. Vertical manga dialogue or Chinese columns OCR’d as horizontal produce garbage — set this first. The direction setting also controls how furigana is stripped from Japanese text (Capture2Text removes furigana readings automatically).
Whitelist & Blacklist: Accuracy Dials
In Settings → OCR you will find two precision tools:
- Whitelist: “the captured text will only contain these characters” — e.g.
0123456789for invoice numbers or timers. - Blacklist: “the captured text will never contain these characters” — e.g. exclude
Owhen you know only zeros appear.
Use them when your captures are structured (codes, amounts, IDs) rather than prose.
Advanced: Tesseract Config Files
Settings → OCR also offers a Tesseract Config File field for engine-level tuning — an advanced feature for users who know Tesseract’s config variables. Most users will never need it; whitelist/blacklist and correct language selection solve the vast majority of accuracy issues.
Language-Specific Guides
- Chinese OCR — chi_sim vs chi_tra, Simplified/Traditional setup.
- Japanese OCR — vertical text, furigana, Bubble OCR for manga.
- Adding new languages — the tessdata walkthrough.
Also see the hotkey reference and all guides.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I change the OCR language in Capture2Text?
Right-click the tray icon, choose OCR Language, and pick from the list. Or use Win+1/Win+2/Win+3 to jump between your three quick-access languages configured in Settings → OCR.
Why is Capture2Text outputting garbage characters?
Nine times out of ten, the wrong OCR language is selected — English selected while capturing Chinese, for example. Switch to the correct language via the tray menu. (This is official troubleshooting tip #5.)
What languages come with Capture2Text by default?
English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Russian and Spanish. Chinese, Arabic, Hindi and 90+ others are separate downloads from the tessdata repository — see how to add languages.
How do I OCR vertical Japanese or Chinese text?
Select Japanese or Chinese as the active language, then press Win+O to cycle text direction: horizontal / vertical / auto. On auto, horizontal is used when the capture box is wider than twice its height, otherwise vertical.
What are whitelist and blacklist in the OCR settings?
They constrain the OCR engine: whitelist tells it the capture contains only the given characters (e.g. “0123456789” for serial numbers), blacklist tells it certain characters never appear. Both live in Settings → OCR and can sharpen accuracy on structured text.
Does Capture2Text translate the OCR result?
Yes — enable it in Settings → Translate tab: it can append the translation to the clipboard and/or show it in the popup. Note the translation feature requires internet access (the OCR itself is fully offline).