canonical: https://jentic.com/apis/cloudmersive.com/cloudmersive # Cloudmersive OCR API The Cloudmersive OCR API converts scanned images and PDF pages into machine-readable text. It covers plain text extraction, word- and line-level outputs with bounding boxes, photograph cleanup that turns mobile phone captures into legible scans, and structured recognition of business cards, receipts, and forms. Authentication is an Apikey header issued from the Cloudmersive dashboard, and the API exposes 20 endpoints across image, PDF, and photo recognition flows. ## For AI agents Extract text and structured data from images, PDFs, and photographs - including business cards, receipts, and forms - using a Cloudmersive Apikey. ## Scope Does not translate text, summarise documents, or render PDFs from scratch - use for OCR text and layout extraction from images and PDFs only. ## Capabilities - Convert an image to plain text via /ocr/image/toText - Return text with bounding box locations at /ocr/image/to/lines-with-location and /ocr/image/to/words-with-location - Extract text from PDF pages via /ocr/pdf/toText - Recognise structured data from business card photos at /ocr/photo/recognize/business-card - Recognise filled-in form data at /ocr/photo/recognize/form and /ocr/photo/recognize/form/advanced - Track long-running PDF OCR jobs via /ocr/pdf/get-job-status ## Use cases ### Scanned Document Digitisation Convert a backlog of scanned PDFs into searchable text for archival or compliance. POST /ocr/pdf/toText for plain text output, or use /ocr/pdf/to/lines-with-location when downstream systems need bounding boxes for highlight rendering. Long files use the async job pattern via /ocr/pdf/get-job-status. Example prompt: POST a PDF to /ocr/pdf/toText and write the returned text into the document index keyed by file ID. ### Mobile Receipt and Business Card Capture Turn phone-camera photos of receipts and business cards into structured records. /ocr/photo/recognize/business-card returns parsed name, title, company, phone, and email; /ocr/photo/recognize/form (and the advanced variant) extract filled-in form values. Suitable for expense or CRM import flows. Example prompt: POST a phone photo to /ocr/photo/recognize/business-card and write the parsed contact into the CRM. ### Layout-Preserving Text Extraction Reconstruct document layout by combining word-level OCR with bounding boxes. /ocr/image/to/words-with-location returns each word with its coordinates so renderers can position text on a canvas, build searchable highlights, or feed downstream NLP that needs spatial context. Example prompt: POST an image to /ocr/image/to/words-with-location and reconstruct the layout in a frontend overlay using the returned coordinates. ### AI Agent OCR Workflows Let a Jentic-powered agent extract text from an attachment without writing OCR plumbing. The agent searches Jentic for 'extract text from a PDF' or 'OCR a business card', loads the matching Cloudmersive operation, and executes it. The Apikey header is injected from your Jentic One instance. Example prompt: Search Jentic for 'extract text from a scanned PDF', load the Cloudmersive pdfToText operation, and execute it with the source file. ## Key endpoints | Method | Path | Description | | --- | --- | --- | | POST | /ocr/image/toText | Extract plain text from an image | | POST | /ocr/image/to/words-with-location | Extract words with bounding boxes | | POST | /ocr/image/to/lines-with-location | Extract lines with bounding boxes | | POST | /ocr/pdf/toText | Extract text from a PDF | | POST | /ocr/pdf/to/words-with-location | Extract PDF text with bounding boxes | | GET | /ocr/pdf/get-job-status | Check async PDF OCR job status | | POST | /ocr/photo/recognize/business-card | Parse a business card photo | | POST | /ocr/photo/recognize/form/advanced | Extract form field data with advanced detection | ## Key resources - **Image OCR** — Image-to-text and word/line-with-location endpoints under /ocr/image. - **PDF OCR** — PDF text extraction and async job status under /ocr/pdf. - **Photo Recognition** — Photo-based recognition for business cards, forms, and receipts under /ocr/photo. ## Why Jentic - **Setup:** Wiring the Cloudmersive OCR API by hand means adding your Apikey header on every request and posting the image or PDF to api.cloudmersive.com yourself. Through Jentic you install once, import the Cloudmersive OCR API from the API Directory, store the key once, and your agent calls it. - **Permission scoping:** Cloudmersive OCR takes the document in the request body rather than pinning one id in the URL path, so scope the agent by the operations it needs, such as extracting text from an image, reading a PDF, or parsing a business card. You choose that set, so it only reaches the OCR operations you include. - **Credential handling:** Your Cloudmersive Apikey is stored once, encrypted, by your own Jentic One instance and injected at execution time. It never enters the agent's prompt, logs, or context. - **Discovery method:** Agents search Jentic by intent such as 'extract text from a PDF' or 'parse a business card', and Jentic returns the matching Cloudmersive operation with its input schema so the agent calls the right endpoint without browsing the reference docs. ## Related APIs - **Mindee API** — Document AI focused on parsing invoices, receipts, and IDs into structured fields. - **Veryfi API** — Receipt and invoice OCR with structured field extraction. - **ABBYY API** — Enterprise OCR and document capture with multi-language support. ## FAQ ### What authentication does the Cloudmersive OCR API use? The API uses an Apikey header. Generate the key in the Cloudmersive dashboard and pass it on every request as Apikey: . Through Jentic, the key is stored encrypted in the vault and never enters the agent's context. ### Can the Cloudmersive OCR API extract text from a PDF? Yes. POST a PDF to /ocr/pdf/toText for plain text, or to /ocr/pdf/to/words-with-location and /ocr/pdf/to/lines-with-location for output with bounding box coordinates. Long documents use the async pattern via /ocr/pdf/get-job-status. ### Does the Cloudmersive OCR API recognise business cards and forms? Yes. /ocr/photo/recognize/business-card parses name, title, company, phone, and email from a card photo; /ocr/photo/recognize/form and /ocr/photo/recognize/form/advanced extract filled-in form values, with the advanced variant tuned for noisier captures. ### How do I OCR an image through Jentic? Run jentic search 'extract text from an image', load the Cloudmersive imageToText operation, and execute it with the source image. Jentic injects the Apikey header from the stored credential. ### What are the rate limits for the Cloudmersive OCR API? Rate limits depend on the Cloudmersive plan tier. The free tier allows a small monthly quota across all endpoints, while paid plans raise the per-minute and per-month ceilings. Check the Cloudmersive dashboard for the exact limits applied to your Apikey. ### Can I get word-level coordinates for layout reconstruction? Yes. /ocr/image/to/words-with-location and /ocr/pdf/to/words-with-location return each word with its bounding box, suitable for rendering highlight overlays or feeding NLP that needs spatial context. ### Can I limit what my agent is allowed to do with the Cloudmersive OCR API? Yes. Because you run Jentic One yourself, your own rules decide which Cloudmersive OCR operations and credentials the agent may use. The API passes the document in the request body rather than pinning an id in the URL path, so you scope the agent by the specific operations you import, such as extracting plain text from an image via /ocr/image/toText, reading a PDF via /ocr/pdf/toText, or parsing a business card via /ocr/photo/recognize/business-card. The agent can only reach the OCR operations you include, and your stored Apikey is injected at execution time without ever entering the agent's context.