Is there an automated REST API for Amharic OCR in RAG and AI pipelines?

Yes, FastOCR provides a developer REST API at https://api.fastocr.org/v1/documents for automated Amharic text extraction. It returns raw UTF-8 text or dual-layer searchable PDFs with invisible text layer overlay for LLMs, RAG applications, and vector search, with 20 free pages a month for every signed-in account. The API accepts PDF files up to 1 GiB, and PNG, JPG, JPEG, GIF, WebP and BMP images up to 20 MiB. An image counts as one page.

Amharic OCR — Image to Text & PDF

ከምስሎች እና ከስካን የተደረጉ ሰነዶች የአማርኛ ጽሑፍን ያውጡ

Ge'ez script (Fidel) engine
Ethiopian numerals
Official document support

Free image OCR. No account needed. PDFs use pages.

Open OCR for all languages

Geography book europe

Real scan. Unedited OCR.

Scanned page from a public-domain Amharic document — BeforeOriginal scan

After Selectable text

1 found

፲፰ ኤውሮጳ፡፡
ምለካቸውም: ጵሮትስታንቶች: ሩሞችም: አርሜኖች
ም:ሶኪንያኖችም:Pሮምያ፡ወገኖችም ናቸው፡፡
የመንግሥት: መግዛት:፡ ይህች፡ መንግሥትም:
ላውስትርያ፡ተገዛች:: Pሕዝብም፡ ጉባኤ፡ ከንጉሥ፡ ጋ
ራ፡ሕጋጋትን፡ይሰራሉ፡
መከፈል በሰክስን፡አገር፡፡ በሁንጋርያም: አገ፡፡ በ
ስክሎችም፡አገር፡፡
ሀርመ፺ስታት ከተማ፡፲፭፲፻: ሰው:: Pጋዦች: ሠ
ኖርያ Pጳጳሳትም: መቀ: አያሌ: ማስተማርPች
ምክሮን ታት: ፳፭IP: ሰወች፡፡ ክለውስንቡርግ፡
በሳሞሽ: ወንዝ፡ ፲፱፲፻ ሰወች፡፡
Pኤውሮጳ ቱርክያ፡፡
ስፍራ፡፡ ወሰንም፡፡ ታላቅነትም:: ርዝመት፡
፲፯ ፴; ፳፱°: ወርድም: ፴፯ ፵፰፤ ወደ፡ ሰሜን
ም፡በሁኚጋርያ፡በትረጓሲልዋንያም፡በገሊጽያም በሩስያ
ም፡ወደ፡ምዕራብም፡በደልማትያ: ባድርያና በPንያ፡
ባሕርም ወደ ደቡብም በረም: መንግሥት፡ ወደ፡ም
ሥራቅም፡በረም: አርኺጴለኀስ በደርደነሎች ደድም፡
በመርሞራ፡ባሕርም፡በቀንስተን ንያ፡ደድም፡በጥቁር፡
ባሕርም ተወሰነች:: ታላቅነትዋም: P፯I፻: ሚላ: ያ
ህላል፡፡
የምድር፡ ጠባይዕ፡ ምድር፡ በብዙ፡ ስፍራ፡ፍርያ
ም:ናት:ደሩ፡ በጥቂት፡: ስፍራ፡ ይሰርዋቷል፡፡ ወደ፡ ሰ
ሜንም ብዙ ሜደ ናት፡፡ ምድር፡ ታላቅ፡ ሥቀይ፡ከ
ሌላ፡መከራ፡ ጋራ፡ ቸነፈርና ፡ኮለራ፡ ናቸው፡፡ ታላቆች፡
ተራሮች፡ ሄሞስ፡ወይስ በልከኝ ጫፎቹም ሮደጴና፡
ጰንጊኖስ፡ ከስከርያስ: ተራሮች ከአክሮክረውምስ=፡ ተራሮ
ችም:ጋራ:Pሚዠና፡ ኦሊምጶስም: Pጰንደስ፡ ተራሮ
ችም:ጰርናሶስም ተሞጲሌም ሄሊካኝም:ኣቶስም::
ታላቆች ወንዞች: ደኑብ ከባልንጀሮቹ፡ ጋራ፡ Pምድ
ር ባሕሮችም:ሮሸዋ ሞልደው ስኩተሪም ባልባንያ፡፡

Original text order preserved

Amharic OCR converts images, scans and PDFs containing Amharic (አማርኛ) text into editable, searchable digital text. FastOCR reads Amharic online: upload an image with no account, or a PDF with a free account, then copy the text or download a searchable PDF. Accuracy depends on scan quality, so check the result against your original.

Try it with your Amharic document

Drop your file here

PDF, PNG, JPG, WebP, BMP, HEIC

PDF up to 1 GB · images up to 20 MB

Browse Files

Tips for a clear photo

Lay the page flat.
Use even light, with no shadows.
Turn off the flash to avoid glare.
Fill the frame with the page.

What is Amharic OCR & Developer API?

Developer API docs →

Amharic OCR is the automated process of converting scanned multi-page PDFs up to 1GB and documents into editable, searchable Amharic text while preserving accents, complex ligatures, and native character shapes. FastOCR reads printed text in this script and generates full-text searchable PDFs with selectable text overlays. For engineering teams building RAG pipelines, vector search databases, or automated document ingestion, FastOCR also provides a Amharic OCR REST API at api.fastocr.org with 20 free pages a month for every signed-in account. The API accepts PDF files up to 1 GiB, and PNG, JPG, JPEG, GIF, WebP and BMP images up to 20 MiB. An image counts as one page.

Ge'ez script (Fidel) engine

Full recognition of all Ge'ez syllabary characters used in Amharic.

Ethiopian numerals

Supports traditional Ethiopian numbers as well as Arabic numerals.

Official document support

Processes Ethiopian administrative forms, identity papers, and legal texts.

Searchable PDF output

Creates PDFs with invisible text layer for full-text search.

Translate after extraction

Extract Amharic text and translate to English or 100+ languages.

Why Amharic OCR Is Challenging

Recognizing over 200 distinct Ge'ez syllabary character shapes
Distinguishing visually similar Fidel characters with subtle stroke variations

How to Extract Amharic Text from a PDF & Images

Go to fastocr.org
Upload your Amharic image or PDF. Language is detected automatically.
Wait for processing — images take seconds, PDFs show a progress bar.
Download results: searchable PDF, raw text file, or copy text directly.

Tips for Better Amharic OCR Accuracy

Scan at 300+ DPI to resolve intricate details in Fidel character loops
Ensure even lighting across scanned Ethiopian documents

Common Use Cases for Amharic OCR

Digitizing Ethiopian government forms, land titles, and legal certificates
Extracting text from Amharic books, newspapers, and academic publications
Archiving historical Ge'ez and Amharic manuscripts

FastOCR vs Standard OCR Apps for Amharic

Capability	FastOCR Dedicated Cloud AI	Standard Online OCR Tools
Amharic Script Recognition	✅ Full native cloud recognition for Amharic (complex alphabets and diacritics)	Limited character sets or unhandled accents
Multi-Column & Table Layouts	✅ Preserves proper paragraph and table alignment	Merges unrelated columns together
Searchable PDF Output	✅ Dual-layer searchable PDF with coordinate-aligned text overlay	Plain unformatted text dump only or unsupported
Instant Web Access	✅ Zero software installation (runs in mobile & desktop browser)	Requires local CLI libraries or complex desktop setup

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Amharic OCR support the full Ge'ez (Fidel) script?

Yes. FastOCR supports the full Ge'ez syllabary script used in modern Amharic.

Is Amharic OCR free?

Image OCR is free without registration. PDF extraction requires a free account.

Explore Specialized OCR Workflows

FastOCR provides dedicated AI text recognition engines optimized for complex document types and formats:

Invoice OCRTable & Total Extraction Receipt OCRExpense & Tax Data Handwriting OCRCursive & Notes Image to WordEditable DOCX Output PDF to WordScanned PDF to DOCX Math to LaTeXEquation Recognition PDF for AI / LLMsText & Markdown for RAG Book & Library OCRHistorical Archive Scans

Upload Amharic text →

Free for images. No registration required.