Chronicle
Chronicle · Document reading for Mac and Windows

Chronicle — bringing documents to life

Turn difficult scans and documents into readable, accessible text.

Chronicle is open-source software. View the source code on GitHub.

Chronicle goes beyond standard optical character recognition (OCR). It uses AI visual understanding, primarily Google Gemini, to recover text and organise reading order, headings, and tables from handwriting, archives, newspapers, books, and comics. Save results as HTML, Word, plain text, or other formats.

Designed for keyboard and screen-reader use. AI can misread, omit, or invent text. Check important results against the original. Read the AI accuracy and privacy disclaimer.

Download Chronicle Read the User Guide Contact the Developer

Download Chronicle

Choose your computer below. The ZIP downloads directly; no GitHub account is needed.

macOS

Download for Mac

For Apple silicon Macs. Download and extract the ZIP, then read the included first-launch instructions.

Download for Mac

macOS 12 or later; Apple silicon (M-series).

Windows

Download for Windows

For 64-bit Windows. Download and extract the ZIP before opening Chronicle.

Download for Windows

Windows 10 or later; 64-bit (x64).

Getting started

  1. Install Chronicle and add your own AI provider API key, or set up Private Offline Mode with Ollama.
  2. Add files, choose a document preset and output format, then select Start Reading.
  3. Review the recovered text and compare important details with the original.

Online processing sends document content to your chosen provider. Optional Private Offline Mode requires you to install Ollama and download a local model separately. It is intended for simple, clear, typed documents, not difficult scans or complex layouts. See the offline setup and limitations.

See examples

Compare original pages with Chronicle’s results. Choose an example below; keyboard users can switch tabs with the arrow keys.

Before and after comparison for a World War II war diary page. On the left is a faded scanned military order with typed lines, handwritten marks, and a distribution list at the bottom. On the right is Chronicle's structured output with a clear heading, readable order points, and the recovered distribution table.
Military Records / War Diaries / Orders
One sample page from WO 95/1668/3/2 showing Chronicle turning a difficult archival scan into structured, review-ready HTML.

Support Chronicle

Contact the developer

Chronicle is developed by Michael Marshall. Questions, feedback, and bug reports are welcome.

Email Michael: [email protected] Contact Michael on GitHub

The email link opens your email app. No GitHub account is needed to email Michael.

GitHub requires an account to post. Messages there are public; do not include private documents, API keys, or other sensitive information.

Why I built Chronicle · AI accuracy and privacy disclaimer · Source code