The difference in one example
Imagine a screenshot of a social post mentioning a GitHub repository.
OCR might read the visible words in the screenshot. Resource extraction tries to decide that the screenshot represents a GitHub repository, recover the canonical repository URL when possible, and save a card with an Open action.
Screenshot OCR
OCR is useful when you need text from an image. On iPhone, Live Text can help select and copy recognized text in photos and screenshots. On any device, our free screenshot to text converter does the same in the browser without uploading the image.
OCR is usually enough when the full URL or exact text is visible and your next step is manual copy/paste.
Resource extraction
Resource extraction — what a screenshot AI does — tries to identify the intent behind the screenshot. It asks: what resource did the user mean to save?
For SnapAction, that resource may be a GitHub repo, article, post, video, app, paper, website, invoice, place, contact, note, event, todo, product, travel booking, or generic link.
Why SnapAction focuses on extraction
A screenshot is often a bookmark in disguise. Raw text does not always tell you which link to open, which metadata matters, or which action should come next. SnapAction turns the screenshot into a typed card so follow-up is easier.