Recognize Text in Images with Firebase ML on Android

You can use Firebase ML to recognize text in images. Firebase ML has both a general-purpose API suitable for recognizing text in images, such as the text of a street sign, and an API optimized for recognizing the text of documents.

Before you begin

  1. If you haven't already, add Firebase to your Android project.
  2. In your module (app-level) Gradle file (usually <project>/<app-module>/build.gradle.kts or <project>/<app-module>/build.gradle), add the dependency for the Firebase ML Vision library for Android. We recommend using the Firebase Android BoM to control library versioning. 
    dependencies {
    // Import the BoM for the Firebase platform
    implementation(platform("com.google.firebase:firebase-bom:33.7.0"))

    // Add the dependency for the Firebase ML Vision library
    // When using the BoM, you don't specify versions in Firebase library dependencies
    implementation 'com.google.firebase:firebase-ml-vision'
}

    By using the Firebase Android BoM, your app will always use compatible versions of Firebase Android libraries.

    (Alternative)  Add Firebase library dependencies without using the BoM

    If you choose not to use the Firebase BoM, you must specify each Firebase library version in its dependency line.

    Note that if you use multiple Firebase libraries in your app, we strongly recommend using the BoM to manage library versions, which ensures that all versions are compatible. 

    dependencies {
    // Add the dependency for the Firebase ML Vision library
    // When NOT using the BoM, you must specify versions in Firebase library dependencies
    implementation 'com.google.firebase:firebase-ml-vision:24.1.0'
}
         Looking for a Kotlin-specific library module? Starting in October 2023 (Firebase BoM 32.5.0), both Kotlin and Java developers can depend on the main library module (for details, see the FAQ about this initiative).

  3. If you have not already enabled Cloud-based APIs for your project, do so now:

    1. Open the Firebase ML APIs page of the Firebase console.

    2. If you have not already upgraded your project to the Blaze pricing plan, click Upgrade to do so. (You will be prompted to upgrade only if your project isn't on the Blaze plan.)

      Only Blaze-level projects can use Cloud-based APIs.

    3. If Cloud-based APIs aren't already enabled, click Enable Cloud-based APIs.

Now you are ready to start recognizing text in images.

Input image guidelines

  • For Firebase ML to accurately recognize text, input images must contain text that is represented by sufficient pixel data. Ideally, for Latin text, each character should be at least 16x16 pixels. For Chinese, Japanese, and Korean text, each character should be 24x24 pixels. For all languages, there is generally no accuracy benefit for characters to be larger than 24x24 pixels.

    So, for example, a 640x480 image might work well to scan a business card that occupies the full width of the image. To scan a document printed on letter-sized paper, a 720x1280 pixel image might be required.

  • Poor image focus can hurt text recognition accuracy. If you aren't getting acceptable results, try asking the user to recapture the image.

Recognize text in images

To recognize text in an image, run the text recognizer as described below.

1. Run the text recognizer

To recognize text in an image, create a FirebaseVisionImage object from either a Bitmap, media.Image, ByteBuffer, byte array, or a file on the device. Then, pass the FirebaseVisionImage object to the FirebaseVisionTextRecognizer's processImage method.

  1. Create a FirebaseVisionImage object from your image.

    • To create a FirebaseVisionImage object from a media.Image object, such as when capturing an image from a device's camera, pass the media.Image object and the image's rotation to FirebaseVisionImage.fromMediaImage().

      If you use the CameraX library, the OnImageCapturedListener and ImageAnalysis.Analyzer classes calculate the rotation value for you, so you just need to convert the rotation to one of Firebase ML's ROTATION_ constants before calling FirebaseVisionImage.fromMediaImage():

      Kotlin

      private class YourImageAnalyzer : ImageAnalysis.Analyzer {
    private fun degreesToFirebaseRotation(degrees: Int): Int = when(degrees) {
        0 -> FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.ROTATION_0
        90 -> FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.ROTATION_90
        180 -> FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.ROTATION_180
        270 -> FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.ROTATION_270
        else -> throw Exception("Rotation must be 0, 90, 180, or 270.")
    }

    override fun analyze(imageProxy: ImageProxy?, degrees: Int) {
        val mediaImage = imageProxy?.image
        val imageRotation = degreesToFirebaseRotation(degrees)
        if (mediaImage != null) {
            val image = FirebaseVisionImage.fromMediaImage(mediaImage, imageRotation)
            // Pass image to an ML Vision API
            // ...
        }
    }
}

      Java

      private class YourAnalyzer implements ImageAnalysis.Analyzer {

    private int degreesToFirebaseRotation(int degrees) {
        switch (degrees) {
            case 0:
                return FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.ROTATION_0;
            case 90:
                return FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.ROTATION_90;
            case 180:
                return FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.ROTATION_180;
            case 270:
                return FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.ROTATION_270;
            default:
                throw new IllegalArgumentException(
                        "Rotation must be 0, 90, 180, or 270.");
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void analyze(ImageProxy imageProxy, int degrees) {
        if (imageProxy == null || imageProxy.getImage() == null) {
            return;
        }
        Image mediaImage = imageProxy.getImage();
        int rotation = degreesToFirebaseRotation(degrees);
        FirebaseVisionImage image =
                FirebaseVisionImage.fromMediaImage(mediaImage, rotation);
        // Pass image to an ML Vision API
        // ...
    }
}

      If you don't use a camera library that gives you the image's rotation, you can calculate it from the device's rotation and the orientation of camera sensor in the device:

      Kotlin

      private val ORIENTATIONS = SparseIntArray()

init {
    ORIENTATIONS.append(Surface.ROTATION_0, 90)
    ORIENTATIONS.append(Surface.ROTATION_90, 0)
    ORIENTATIONS.append(Surface.ROTATION_180, 270)
    ORIENTATIONS.append(Surface.ROTATION_270, 180)
}
/**
 * Get the angle by which an image must be rotated given the device's current
 * orientation.
 */
@RequiresApi(api = Build.VERSION_CODES.LOLLIPOP)
@Throws(CameraAccessException::class)
private fun getRotationCompensation(cameraId: String, activity: Activity, context: Context): Int {
    // Get the device's current rotation relative to its "native" orientation.
    // Then, from the ORIENTATIONS table, look up the angle the image must be
    // rotated to compensate for the device's rotation.
    val deviceRotation = activity.windowManager.defaultDisplay.rotation
    var rotationCompensation = ORIENTATIONS.get(deviceRotation)

    // On most devices, the sensor orientation is 90 degrees, but for some
    // devices it is 270 degrees. For devices with a sensor orientation of
    // 270, rotate the image an additional 180 ((270 + 270) % 360) degrees.
    val cameraManager = context.getSystemService(CAMERA_SERVICE) as CameraManager
    val sensorOrientation = cameraManager
        .getCameraCharacteristics(cameraId)
        .get(CameraCharacteristics.SENSOR_ORIENTATION)!!
    rotationCompensation = (rotationCompensation + sensorOrientation + 270) % 360

    // Return the corresponding FirebaseVisionImageMetadata rotation value.
    val result: Int
    when (rotationCompensation) {
        0 -> result = FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.ROTATION_0
        90 -> result = FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.ROTATION_90
        180 -> result = FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.ROTATION_180
        270 -> result = FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.ROTATION_270
        else -> {
            result = FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.ROTATION_0
            Log.e(TAG, "Bad rotation value: $rotationCompensation")
        }
    }
    return result
}
      VisionImage.kt

      Java

      private static final SparseIntArray ORIENTATIONS = new SparseIntArray();
static {
    ORIENTATIONS.append(Surface.ROTATION_0, 90);
    ORIENTATIONS.append(Surface.ROTATION_90, 0);
    ORIENTATIONS.append(Surface.ROTATION_180, 270);
    ORIENTATIONS.append(Surface.ROTATION_270, 180);
}

/**
 * Get the angle by which an image must be rotated given the device's current
 * orientation.
 */
@RequiresApi(api = Build.VERSION_CODES.LOLLIPOP)
private int getRotationCompensation(String cameraId, Activity activity, Context context)
        throws CameraAccessException {
    // Get the device's current rotation relative to its "native" orientation.
    // Then, from the ORIENTATIONS table, look up the angle the image must be
    // rotated to compensate for the device's rotation.
    int deviceRotation = activity.getWindowManager().getDefaultDisplay().getRotation();
    int rotationCompensation = ORIENTATIONS.get(deviceRotation);

    // On most devices, the sensor orientation is 90 degrees, but for some
    // devices it is 270 degrees. For devices with a sensor orientation of
    // 270, rotate the image an additional 180 ((270 + 270) % 360) degrees.
    CameraManager cameraManager = (CameraManager) context.getSystemService(CAMERA_SERVICE);
    int sensorOrientation = cameraManager
            .getCameraCharacteristics(cameraId)
            .get(CameraCharacteristics.SENSOR_ORIENTATION);
    rotationCompensation = (rotationCompensation + sensorOrientation + 270) % 360;

    // Return the corresponding FirebaseVisionImageMetadata rotation value.
    int result;
    switch (rotationCompensation) {
        case 0:
            result = FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.ROTATION_0;
            break;
        case 90:
            result = FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.ROTATION_90;
            break;
        case 180:
            result = FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.ROTATION_180;
            break;
        case 270:
            result = FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.ROTATION_270;
            break;
        default:
            result = FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.ROTATION_0;
            Log.e(TAG, "Bad rotation value: " + rotationCompensation);
    }
    return result;
}
      VisionImage.java

      Then, pass the media.Image object and the rotation value to FirebaseVisionImage.fromMediaImage():

      Kotlin

      val image = FirebaseVisionImage.fromMediaImage(mediaImage, rotation)
      VisionImage.kt

      Java

      FirebaseVisionImage image = FirebaseVisionImage.fromMediaImage(mediaImage, rotation);
      VisionImage.java
    • To create a FirebaseVisionImage object from a file URI, pass the app context and file URI to FirebaseVisionImage.fromFilePath(). This is useful when you use an ACTION_GET_CONTENT intent to prompt the user to select an image from their gallery app.

      Kotlin

      val image: FirebaseVisionImage
try {
    image = FirebaseVisionImage.fromFilePath(context, uri)
} catch (e: IOException) {
    e.printStackTrace()
}
      VisionImage.kt

      Java

      FirebaseVisionImage image;
try {
    image = FirebaseVisionImage.fromFilePath(context, uri);
} catch (IOException e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
}
      VisionImage.java
    • To create a FirebaseVisionImage object from a ByteBuffer or a byte array, first calculate the image rotation as described above for media.Image input.

      Then, create a FirebaseVisionImageMetadata object that contains the image's height, width, color encoding format, and rotation:

      Kotlin

      val metadata = FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.Builder()
    .setWidth(480) // 480x360 is typically sufficient for
    .setHeight(360) // image recognition
    .setFormat(FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.IMAGE_FORMAT_NV21)
    .setRotation(rotation)
    .build()
      VisionImage.kt

      Java

      FirebaseVisionImageMetadata metadata = new FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.Builder()
        .setWidth(480)   // 480x360 is typically sufficient for
        .setHeight(360)  // image recognition
        .setFormat(FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.IMAGE_FORMAT_NV21)
        .setRotation(rotation)
        .build();
      VisionImage.java

      Use the buffer or array, and the metadata object, to create a FirebaseVisionImage object:

      Kotlin

      val image = FirebaseVisionImage.fromByteBuffer(buffer, metadata)
// Or: val image = FirebaseVisionImage.fromByteArray(byteArray, metadata)
      VisionImage.kt

      Java

      FirebaseVisionImage image = FirebaseVisionImage.fromByteBuffer(buffer, metadata);
// Or: FirebaseVisionImage image = FirebaseVisionImage.fromByteArray(byteArray, metadata);
      VisionImage.java
    • To create a FirebaseVisionImage object from a Bitmap object:

      Kotlin

      val image = FirebaseVisionImage.fromBitmap(bitmap)
      VisionImage.kt

      Java

      FirebaseVisionImage image = FirebaseVisionImage.fromBitmap(bitmap);
      VisionImage.java
      The image represented by the Bitmap object must be upright, with no additional rotation required.

  2. Get an instance of FirebaseVisionTextRecognizer.

    Kotlin 

    val detector = FirebaseVision.getInstance().cloudTextRecognizer
// Or, to change the default settings:
// val detector = FirebaseVision.getInstance().getCloudTextRecognizer(options)
    TextRecognitionActivity.kt
     
    // Or, to provide language hints to assist with language detection:
// See https://cloud.google.com/vision/docs/languages for supported languages
val options = FirebaseVisionCloudTextRecognizerOptions.Builder()
    .setLanguageHints(listOf("en", "hi"))
    .build()
    TextRecognitionActivity.kt

    Java 

    FirebaseVisionTextRecognizer detector = FirebaseVision.getInstance()
        .getCloudTextRecognizer();
// Or, to change the default settings:
//   FirebaseVisionTextRecognizer detector = FirebaseVision.getInstance()
//          .getCloudTextRecognizer(options);
    TextRecognitionActivity.java
     
    // Or, to provide language hints to assist with language detection:
// See https://cloud.google.com/vision/docs/languages for supported languages
FirebaseVisionCloudTextRecognizerOptions options = new FirebaseVisionCloudTextRecognizerOptions.Builder()
        .setLanguageHints(Arrays.asList("en", "hi"))
        .build();
    TextRecognitionActivity.java

  3. Finally, pass the image to the processImage method:

    Kotlin 

    val result = detector.processImage(image)
    .addOnSuccessListener { firebaseVisionText ->
        // Task completed successfully
        // ...
    }
    .addOnFailureListener { e ->
        // Task failed with an exception
        // ...
    }
    TextRecognitionActivity.kt

    Java 

    Task<FirebaseVisionText> result =
        detector.processImage(image)
                .addOnSuccessListener(new OnSuccessListener<FirebaseVisionText>() {
                    @Override
                    public void onSuccess(FirebaseVisionText firebaseVisionText) {
                        // Task completed successfully
                        // ...
                    }
                })
                .addOnFailureListener(
                        new OnFailureListener() {
                            @Override
                            public void onFailure(@NonNull Exception e) {
                                // Task failed with an exception
                                // ...
                            }
                        });
    TextRecognitionActivity.java

2. Extract text from blocks of recognized text

If the text recognition operation succeeds, a FirebaseVisionText object will be passed to the success listener. A FirebaseVisionText object contains the full text recognized in the image and zero or more TextBlock objects.

Each TextBlock represents a rectangular block of text, which contains zero or more Line objects. Each Line object contains zero or more Element objects, which represent words and word-like entities (dates, numbers, and so on).

For each TextBlock, Line, and Element object, you can get the text recognized in the region and the bounding coordinates of the region.

For example:

Kotlin 

val resultText = result.text
for (block in result.textBlocks) {
    val blockText = block.text
    val blockConfidence = block.confidence
    val blockLanguages = block.recognizedLanguages
    val blockCornerPoints = block.cornerPoints
    val blockFrame = block.boundingBox
    for (line in block.lines) {
        val lineText = line.text
        val lineConfidence = line.confidence
        val lineLanguages = line.recognizedLanguages
        val lineCornerPoints = line.cornerPoints
        val lineFrame = line.boundingBox
        for (element in line.elements) {
            val elementText = element.text
            val elementConfidence = element.confidence
            val elementLanguages = element.recognizedLanguages
            val elementCornerPoints = element.cornerPoints
            val elementFrame = element.boundingBox
        }
    }
}
TextRecognitionActivity.kt

Java 

String resultText = result.getText();
for (FirebaseVisionText.TextBlock block: result.getTextBlocks()) {
    String blockText = block.getText();
    Float blockConfidence = block.getConfidence();
    List<RecognizedLanguage> blockLanguages = block.getRecognizedLanguages();
    Point[] blockCornerPoints = block.getCornerPoints();
    Rect blockFrame = block.getBoundingBox();
    for (FirebaseVisionText.Line line: block.getLines()) {
        String lineText = line.getText();
        Float lineConfidence = line.getConfidence();
        List<RecognizedLanguage> lineLanguages = line.getRecognizedLanguages();
        Point[] lineCornerPoints = line.getCornerPoints();
        Rect lineFrame = line.getBoundingBox();
        for (FirebaseVisionText.Element element: line.getElements()) {
            String elementText = element.getText();
            Float elementConfidence = element.getConfidence();
            List<RecognizedLanguage> elementLanguages = element.getRecognizedLanguages();
            Point[] elementCornerPoints = element.getCornerPoints();
            Rect elementFrame = element.getBoundingBox();
        }
    }
}
TextRecognitionActivity.java

Next steps

Recognize text in images of documents

To recognize the text of a document, configure and run the document text recognizer as described below.

The document text recognition API, described below, provides an interface that is intended to be more convenient for working with images of documents. However, if you prefer the interface provided by the FirebaseVisionTextRecognizer API, you can use it instead to scan documents by configuring the cloud text recognizer to use the dense text model.

To use the document text recognition API:

1. Run the text recognizer

To recognize text in an image, create a FirebaseVisionImage object from either a Bitmap, media.Image, ByteBuffer, byte array, or a file on the device. Then, pass the FirebaseVisionImage object to the FirebaseVisionDocumentTextRecognizer's processImage method.

  1. Create a FirebaseVisionImage object from your image.

    • To create a FirebaseVisionImage object from a media.Image object, such as when capturing an image from a device's camera, pass the media.Image object and the image's rotation to FirebaseVisionImage.fromMediaImage().

      If you use the CameraX library, the OnImageCapturedListener and ImageAnalysis.Analyzer classes calculate the rotation value for you, so you just need to convert the rotation to one of Firebase ML's ROTATION_ constants before calling FirebaseVisionImage.fromMediaImage():

      Kotlin

      private class YourImageAnalyzer : ImageAnalysis.Analyzer {
    private fun degreesToFirebaseRotation(degrees: Int): Int = when(degrees) {
        0 -> FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.ROTATION_0
        90 -> FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.ROTATION_90
        180 -> FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.ROTATION_180
        270 -> FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.ROTATION_270
        else -> throw Exception("Rotation must be 0, 90, 180, or 270.")
    }

    override fun analyze(imageProxy: ImageProxy?, degrees: Int) {
        val mediaImage = imageProxy?.image
        val imageRotation = degreesToFirebaseRotation(degrees)
        if (mediaImage != null) {
            val image = FirebaseVisionImage.fromMediaImage(mediaImage, imageRotation)
            // Pass image to an ML Vision API
            // ...
        }
    }
}

      Java

      private class YourAnalyzer implements ImageAnalysis.Analyzer {

    private int degreesToFirebaseRotation(int degrees) {
        switch (degrees) {
            case 0:
                return FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.ROTATION_0;
            case 90:
                return FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.ROTATION_90;
            case 180:
                return FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.ROTATION_180;
            case 270:
                return FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.ROTATION_270;
            default:
                throw new IllegalArgumentException(
                        "Rotation must be 0, 90, 180, or 270.");
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void analyze(ImageProxy imageProxy, int degrees) {
        if (imageProxy == null || imageProxy.getImage() == null) {
            return;
        }
        Image mediaImage = imageProxy.getImage();
        int rotation = degreesToFirebaseRotation(degrees);
        FirebaseVisionImage image =
                FirebaseVisionImage.fromMediaImage(mediaImage, rotation);
        // Pass image to an ML Vision API
        // ...
    }
}

      If you don't use a camera library that gives you the image's rotation, you can calculate it from the device's rotation and the orientation of camera sensor in the device:

      Kotlin

      private val ORIENTATIONS = SparseIntArray()

init {
    ORIENTATIONS.append(Surface.ROTATION_0, 90)
    ORIENTATIONS.append(Surface.ROTATION_90, 0)
    ORIENTATIONS.append(Surface.ROTATION_180, 270)
    ORIENTATIONS.append(Surface.ROTATION_270, 180)
}
/**
 * Get the angle by which an image must be rotated given the device's current
 * orientation.
 */
@RequiresApi(api = Build.VERSION_CODES.LOLLIPOP)
@Throws(CameraAccessException::class)
private fun getRotationCompensation(cameraId: String, activity: Activity, context: Context): Int {
    // Get the device's current rotation relative to its "native" orientation.
    // Then, from the ORIENTATIONS table, look up the angle the image must be
    // rotated to compensate for the device's rotation.
    val deviceRotation = activity.windowManager.defaultDisplay.rotation
    var rotationCompensation = ORIENTATIONS.get(deviceRotation)

    // On most devices, the sensor orientation is 90 degrees, but for some
    // devices it is 270 degrees. For devices with a sensor orientation of
    // 270, rotate the image an additional 180 ((270 + 270) % 360) degrees.
    val cameraManager = context.getSystemService(CAMERA_SERVICE) as CameraManager
    val sensorOrientation = cameraManager
        .getCameraCharacteristics(cameraId)
        .get(CameraCharacteristics.SENSOR_ORIENTATION)!!
    rotationCompensation = (rotationCompensation + sensorOrientation + 270) % 360

    // Return the corresponding FirebaseVisionImageMetadata rotation value.
    val result: Int
    when (rotationCompensation) {
        0 -> result = FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.ROTATION_0
        90 -> result = FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.ROTATION_90
        180 -> result = FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.ROTATION_180
        270 -> result = FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.ROTATION_270
        else -> {
            result = FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.ROTATION_0
            Log.e(TAG, "Bad rotation value: $rotationCompensation")
        }
    }
    return result
}
      VisionImage.kt

      Java

      private static final SparseIntArray ORIENTATIONS = new SparseIntArray();
static {
    ORIENTATIONS.append(Surface.ROTATION_0, 90);
    ORIENTATIONS.append(Surface.ROTATION_90, 0);
    ORIENTATIONS.append(Surface.ROTATION_180, 270);
    ORIENTATIONS.append(Surface.ROTATION_270, 180);
}

/**
 * Get the angle by which an image must be rotated given the device's current
 * orientation.
 */
@RequiresApi(api = Build.VERSION_CODES.LOLLIPOP)
private int getRotationCompensation(String cameraId, Activity activity, Context context)
        throws CameraAccessException {
    // Get the device's current rotation relative to its "native" orientation.
    // Then, from the ORIENTATIONS table, look up the angle the image must be
    // rotated to compensate for the device's rotation.
    int deviceRotation = activity.getWindowManager().getDefaultDisplay().getRotation();
    int rotationCompensation = ORIENTATIONS.get(deviceRotation);

    // On most devices, the sensor orientation is 90 degrees, but for some
    // devices it is 270 degrees. For devices with a sensor orientation of
    // 270, rotate the image an additional 180 ((270 + 270) % 360) degrees.
    CameraManager cameraManager = (CameraManager) context.getSystemService(CAMERA_SERVICE);
    int sensorOrientation = cameraManager
            .getCameraCharacteristics(cameraId)
            .get(CameraCharacteristics.SENSOR_ORIENTATION);
    rotationCompensation = (rotationCompensation + sensorOrientation + 270) % 360;

    // Return the corresponding FirebaseVisionImageMetadata rotation value.
    int result;
    switch (rotationCompensation) {
        case 0:
            result = FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.ROTATION_0;
            break;
        case 90:
            result = FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.ROTATION_90;
            break;
        case 180:
            result = FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.ROTATION_180;
            break;
        case 270:
            result = FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.ROTATION_270;
            break;
        default:
            result = FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.ROTATION_0;
            Log.e(TAG, "Bad rotation value: " + rotationCompensation);
    }
    return result;
}
      VisionImage.java

      Then, pass the media.Image object and the rotation value to FirebaseVisionImage.fromMediaImage():

      Kotlin

      val image = FirebaseVisionImage.fromMediaImage(mediaImage, rotation)
      VisionImage.kt

      Java

      FirebaseVisionImage image = FirebaseVisionImage.fromMediaImage(mediaImage, rotation);
      VisionImage.java
    • To create a FirebaseVisionImage object from a file URI, pass the app context and file URI to FirebaseVisionImage.fromFilePath(). This is useful when you use an ACTION_GET_CONTENT intent to prompt the user to select an image from their gallery app.

      Kotlin

      val image: FirebaseVisionImage
try {
    image = FirebaseVisionImage.fromFilePath(context, uri)
} catch (e: IOException) {
    e.printStackTrace()
}
      VisionImage.kt

      Java

      FirebaseVisionImage image;
try {
    image = FirebaseVisionImage.fromFilePath(context, uri);
} catch (IOException e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
}
      VisionImage.java
    • To create a FirebaseVisionImage object from a ByteBuffer or a byte array, first calculate the image rotation as described above for media.Image input.

      Then, create a FirebaseVisionImageMetadata object that contains the image's height, width, color encoding format, and rotation:

      Kotlin

      val metadata = FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.Builder()
    .setWidth(480) // 480x360 is typically sufficient for
    .setHeight(360) // image recognition
    .setFormat(FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.IMAGE_FORMAT_NV21)
    .setRotation(rotation)
    .build()
      VisionImage.kt

      Java

      FirebaseVisionImageMetadata metadata = new FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.Builder()
        .setWidth(480)   // 480x360 is typically sufficient for
        .setHeight(360)  // image recognition
        .setFormat(FirebaseVisionImageMetadata.IMAGE_FORMAT_NV21)
        .setRotation(rotation)
        .build();
      VisionImage.java

      Use the buffer or array, and the metadata object, to create a FirebaseVisionImage object:

      Kotlin

      val image = FirebaseVisionImage.fromByteBuffer(buffer, metadata)
// Or: val image = FirebaseVisionImage.fromByteArray(byteArray, metadata)
      VisionImage.kt

      Java

      FirebaseVisionImage image = FirebaseVisionImage.fromByteBuffer(buffer, metadata);
// Or: FirebaseVisionImage image = FirebaseVisionImage.fromByteArray(byteArray, metadata);
      VisionImage.java
    • To create a FirebaseVisionImage object from a Bitmap object:

      Kotlin

      val image = FirebaseVisionImage.fromBitmap(bitmap)
      VisionImage.kt

      Java

      FirebaseVisionImage image = FirebaseVisionImage.fromBitmap(bitmap);
      VisionImage.java
      The image represented by the Bitmap object must be upright, with no additional rotation required.

  2. Get an instance of FirebaseVisionDocumentTextRecognizer:

    Kotlin 

    val detector = FirebaseVision.getInstance()
    .cloudDocumentTextRecognizer
    TextRecognitionActivity.kt
     
    // Or, to provide language hints to assist with language detection:
// See https://cloud.google.com/vision/docs/languages for supported languages
val options = FirebaseVisionCloudDocumentRecognizerOptions.Builder()
    .setLanguageHints(listOf("en", "hi"))
    .build()
val detector = FirebaseVision.getInstance()
    .getCloudDocumentTextRecognizer(options)
    TextRecognitionActivity.kt

    Java 

    FirebaseVisionDocumentTextRecognizer detector = FirebaseVision.getInstance()
        .getCloudDocumentTextRecognizer();
    TextRecognitionActivity.java
     
    // Or, to provide language hints to assist with language detection:
// See https://cloud.google.com/vision/docs/languages for supported languages
FirebaseVisionCloudDocumentRecognizerOptions options =
        new FirebaseVisionCloudDocumentRecognizerOptions.Builder()
                .setLanguageHints(Arrays.asList("en", "hi"))
                .build();
FirebaseVisionDocumentTextRecognizer detector = FirebaseVision.getInstance()
        .getCloudDocumentTextRecognizer(options);
    TextRecognitionActivity.java

  3. Finally, pass the image to the processImage method:

    Kotlin 

    detector.processImage(myImage)
    .addOnSuccessListener { firebaseVisionDocumentText ->
        // Task completed successfully
        // ...
    }
    .addOnFailureListener { e ->
        // Task failed with an exception
        // ...
    }
    TextRecognitionActivity.kt

    Java 

    detector.processImage(myImage)
        .addOnSuccessListener(new OnSuccessListener<FirebaseVisionDocumentText>() {
            @Override
            public void onSuccess(FirebaseVisionDocumentText result) {
                // Task completed successfully
                // ...
            }
        })
        .addOnFailureListener(new OnFailureListener() {
            @Override
            public void onFailure(@NonNull Exception e) {
                // Task failed with an exception
                // ...
            }
        });
    TextRecognitionActivity.java

2. Extract text from blocks of recognized text

If the text recognition operation succeeds, it will return a FirebaseVisionDocumentText object. A FirebaseVisionDocumentText object contains the full text recognized in the image and a hierarchy of objects that reflect the structure of the recognized document:

For each Block, Paragraph, Word, and Symbol object, you can get the text recognized in the region and the bounding coordinates of the region.

For example:

Kotlin 

val resultText = result.text
for (block in result.blocks) {
    val blockText = block.text
    val blockConfidence = block.confidence
    val blockRecognizedLanguages = block.recognizedLanguages
    val blockFrame = block.boundingBox
    for (paragraph in block.paragraphs) {
        val paragraphText = paragraph.text
        val paragraphConfidence = paragraph.confidence
        val paragraphRecognizedLanguages = paragraph.recognizedLanguages
        val paragraphFrame = paragraph.boundingBox
        for (word in paragraph.words) {
            val wordText = word.text
            val wordConfidence = word.confidence
            val wordRecognizedLanguages = word.recognizedLanguages
            val wordFrame = word.boundingBox
            for (symbol in word.symbols) {
                val symbolText = symbol.text
                val symbolConfidence = symbol.confidence
                val symbolRecognizedLanguages = symbol.recognizedLanguages
                val symbolFrame = symbol.boundingBox
            }
        }
    }
}
TextRecognitionActivity.kt

Java 

String resultText = result.getText();
for (FirebaseVisionDocumentText.Block block: result.getBlocks()) {
    String blockText = block.getText();
    Float blockConfidence = block.getConfidence();
    List<RecognizedLanguage> blockRecognizedLanguages = block.getRecognizedLanguages();
    Rect blockFrame = block.getBoundingBox();
    for (FirebaseVisionDocumentText.Paragraph paragraph: block.getParagraphs()) {
        String paragraphText = paragraph.getText();
        Float paragraphConfidence = paragraph.getConfidence();
        List<RecognizedLanguage> paragraphRecognizedLanguages = paragraph.getRecognizedLanguages();
        Rect paragraphFrame = paragraph.getBoundingBox();
        for (FirebaseVisionDocumentText.Word word: paragraph.getWords()) {
            String wordText = word.getText();
            Float wordConfidence = word.getConfidence();
            List<RecognizedLanguage> wordRecognizedLanguages = word.getRecognizedLanguages();
            Rect wordFrame = word.getBoundingBox();
            for (FirebaseVisionDocumentText.Symbol symbol: word.getSymbols()) {
                String symbolText = symbol.getText();
                Float symbolConfidence = symbol.getConfidence();
                List<RecognizedLanguage> symbolRecognizedLanguages = symbol.getRecognizedLanguages();
                Rect symbolFrame = symbol.getBoundingBox();
            }
        }
    }
}
TextRecognitionActivity.java

Next steps