Passport

Name: PicToText OCR API
Author: PicToText

Extract data from passports with high accuracy using our advanced OCR technology. See the passport OCR API product page for use cases, MRZ background, and pricing.

Request Parameters

Required Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`image`	File	✅	Passport image file (JPG, PNG, WebP, HEIC and HEIF max 10MB)
`documentType`	String	✅	Must be `passport`

Response Format

Success Response (200 OK)

{
  "passportNumber": "P12345678",
  "name": "JOHN MICHAEL DOE",
  "gender": "Male",
  "birthDay": "1990-01-01",
  "birthPlace": "NEW YORK, USA",
  "issueDay": "2020-01-01",
  "expiryDay": "2030-01-01",
  "issuePlace": "WASHINGTON D.C.",
  "nationality": "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA",
  "mrz": "P<USADOE<<JOHN<MICHAEL<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<\n1234567890USA9001011M3001012<<<<<<<<<<<<<<08"
}

Response Fields

Field	Type	Description	Example
`passportNumber`	string	Passport number	P12345678
`name`	string	Full name as in passport	JOHN MICHAEL DOE
`gender`	string	Gender	Male
`birthDay`	string	Date of birth (YYYY-MM-DD)	1990-01-01
`birthPlace`	string	Place of birth	NEW YORK, USA
`issueDay`	string	Issue date (YYYY-MM-DD)	2020-01-01
`expiryDay`	string	Expiry date (YYYY-MM-DD)	2030-01-01
`issuePlace`	string	Place of issue	WASHINGTON D.C.
`nationality`	string	Nationality	UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
`mrz`	string	Machine Readable Zone. Preserve line breaks as `\n` exactly as printed.	P<USADOE<<JOHN...`\n`1234567890USA...

Code Examples

cURL

curl -X POST "https://pictotext.io/api/v1/ocr" \\
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_live_123456789abcdef" \\
  -F "[email protected]" \\
  -F "documentType=passport"

JavaScript (Browser)

async function processPassport(imageFile, apiKey) {
  const formData = new FormData();
  formData.append('image', imageFile);
  formData.append('documentType', 'passport');

  try {
    const response = await fetch('https://pictotext.io/api/v1/ocr', {
      method: 'POST',
      headers: {
        'Authorization': `Bearer ${apiKey}`
      },
      body: formData
    });

    if (!response.ok) {
      const error = await response.json();
      throw new Error(error.error.message);
    }

    return await response.json();
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Error processing passport:', error);
    throw error;
  }
}

// Usage example
const fileInput = document.getElementById('passport-file');
fileInput.addEventListener('change', async (event) => {
  const file = event.target.files[0];
  if (file) {
    try {
      const result = await processPassport(file, 'YOUR_API_KEY');
      console.log('Extracted data:', result);
    } catch (error) {
      alert('Processing failed: ' + error.message);
    }
  }
});

Python

import requests
import os

def extract_passport_data(image_path, api_key):
    """Extract data from passport image"""

    url = 'https://pictotext.io/api/v1/ocr'
    headers = {'Authorization': f'Bearer {api_key}'}

    try:
        with open(image_path, 'rb') as f:
            files = {
                'image': (os.path.basename(image_path), f, 'image/jpeg')
            }
            data = {'documentType': 'passport'}

            response = requests.post(url, headers=headers, files=files, data=data, timeout=30)
            response.raise_for_status()

            return response.json()

    except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e:
        print(f"Request failed: {e}")
        if hasattr(e, 'response') and e.response is not None:
            print(f"Status code: {e.response.status_code}")
            print(f"Error response: {e.response.text}")
        return None

# Usage
result = extract_passport_data('passport.jpg', 'YOUR_API_KEY')
if result:
    print("Passport Number:", result['passportNumber'])
    print("Name:", result['name'])
    print("Full response:", result)
else:
    print("Failed to extract passport data")

Node.js

const FormData = require('form-data');
const fs = require('fs');
const axios = require('axios');

async function processPassport(imagePath, apiKey) {
  const formData = new FormData();
  formData.append('image', fs.createReadStream(imagePath));
  formData.append('documentType', 'passport');

  try {
    const response = await axios.post('https://pictotext.io/api/v1/ocr', formData, {
      headers: {
        ...formData.getHeaders(),
        'Authorization': `Bearer ${apiKey}`
      }
    });

    return response.data;
  } catch (error) {
    if (error.response) {
      console.error('API Error:', error.response.data);
    }
    throw error;
  }
}

// Usage
processPassport('./passport.jpg', 'YOUR_API_KEY')
  .then(result => console.log(result))
  .catch(error => console.error('Error:', error.message));