diff --git a/src/app/api/ai-settings/ocr/route.ts b/src/app/api/ai-settings/ocr/route.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2ccf3ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/app/api/ai-settings/ocr/route.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+import { NextRequest, NextResponse } from 'next/server'
+import { requireAuth } from '@/lib/auth'
+import { getAiConfig } from '@/lib/app-settings'
+
+export async function GET(request: NextRequest) {
+  const auth = await requireAuth(request)
+  if (auth instanceof NextResponse) return auth
+
+  const { ocrMode, ocrLanguages } = getAiConfig()
+  return NextResponse.json({ ocrMode, ocrLanguages })
+}
diff --git a/src/app/api/ai-tagging/extract-text/route.ts b/src/app/api/ai-tagging/extract-text/route.ts
index 5b6ad22..b213555 100644
--- a/src/app/api/ai-tagging/extract-text/route.ts
+++ b/src/app/api/ai-tagging/extract-text/route.ts
@@ -3,14 +3,14 @@ import { requireLibraryAccess } from '@/lib/auth'
 import { enqueueJob } from '@/lib/ai-jobs'
 
 export async function POST(request: NextRequest) {
-  let body: { itemKey?: string }
+  let body: { itemKey?: string; ocrLanguages?: string }
   try {
     body = await request.json()
   } catch {
     return NextResponse.json({ error: 'Invalid JSON body' }, { status: 400 })
   }
 
-  const { itemKey } = body
+  const { itemKey, ocrLanguages } = body
   if (!itemKey || typeof itemKey !== 'string') {
     return NextResponse.json({ error: 'itemKey is required' }, { status: 400 })
   }
@@ -19,6 +19,12 @@ export async function POST(request: NextRequest) {
   const auth = await requireLibraryAccess(request, libraryId)
   if (auth instanceof NextResponse) return auth
 
-  const jobId = enqueueJob(itemKey, 'extract', libraryId)
+  const jobId = enqueueJob(
+    itemKey,
+    'extract',
+    libraryId,
+    undefined,
+    ocrLanguages ? { ocrLanguages } : undefined,
+  )
   return NextResponse.json({ jobId }, { status: 202 })
 }
diff --git a/src/components/DoomScrollView.tsx b/src/components/DoomScrollView.tsx
index daa5f96..d750160 100644
--- a/src/components/DoomScrollView.tsx
+++ b/src/components/DoomScrollView.tsx
@@ -336,7 +336,7 @@ export default function DoomScrollView({ items, videoContext = 'mixed', onClose,
       {/* Text overlay */}
       {showTextOverlay && displayText && (
         <div
-          className="absolute bottom-16 left-4 right-4 z-20 rounded-xl p-4"
+          className="absolute bottom-4 left-4 right-4 z-20 rounded-xl p-4 max-w-fit"
           style={{ backgroundColor: 'rgba(0,0,0,0.75)' }}
           onClick={(e) => e.stopPropagation()}
         >
diff --git a/src/components/mixed/ImageLightbox.tsx b/src/components/mixed/ImageLightbox.tsx
index baa3742..d059616 100644
--- a/src/components/mixed/ImageLightbox.tsx
+++ b/src/components/mixed/ImageLightbox.tsx
@@ -39,6 +39,11 @@ export default function ImageLightbox({ url, name, onClose, onPrev, onNext, item
   const [descPending, setDescPending] = useState(false)
   const [descError, setDescError] = useState<string | null>(null)
 
+  // OCR settings
+  const [ocrMode, setOcrMode] = useState<string | null>(null)
+  const [defaultOcrLanguages, setDefaultOcrLanguages] = useState('eng')
+  const [ocrLanguageInput, setOcrLanguageInput] = useState('')
+
   // Text overlay state
   const [showTextOverlay, setShowTextOverlay] = useState(false)
   const [showOriginal, setShowOriginal] = useState(false)
@@ -68,6 +73,13 @@ export default function ImageLightbox({ url, name, onClose, onPrev, onNext, item
 
   useEffect(() => {
     fetchAiFields()
+    fetch('/api/ai-settings/ocr')
+      .then((r) => r.json())
+      .then((d: { ocrMode: string; ocrLanguages: string }) => {
+        setOcrMode(d.ocrMode)
+        setDefaultOcrLanguages(d.ocrLanguages)
+      })
+      .catch(() => {})
     return () => {
       if (pollRef.current) clearInterval(pollRef.current)
     }
@@ -439,58 +451,79 @@ export default function ImageLightbox({ url, name, onClose, onPrev, onNext, item
                   Text Extraction
                 </p>
 
-                <button
-                  onClick={async () => {
-                    setExtracting(true)
-                    setExtractError(null)
-                    setExtractPending(false)
-                    try {
-                      const res = await fetch('/api/ai-tagging/extract-text', {
-                        method: 'POST',
-                        headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
-                        body: JSON.stringify({ itemKey }),
-                      })
-                      if (res.status === 202) {
-                        setExtractPending(true)
-                        startPolling(extractedText, translatedText, aiDescription)
-                        return
+                <div className="flex items-center gap-2 flex-wrap">
+                  <button
+                    onClick={async () => {
+                      setExtracting(true)
+                      setExtractError(null)
+                      setExtractPending(false)
+                      try {
+                        const res = await fetch('/api/ai-tagging/extract-text', {
+                          method: 'POST',
+                          headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
+                          body: JSON.stringify({
+                            itemKey,
+                            ...(ocrLanguageInput.trim() && { ocrLanguages: ocrLanguageInput.trim() }),
+                          }),
+                        })
+                        if (res.status === 202) {
+                          setExtractPending(true)
+                          startPolling(extractedText, translatedText, aiDescription)
+                          return
+                        }
+                        if (!res.ok) {
+                          const data = await res.json().catch(() => ({}))
+                          throw new Error((data as { error?: string }).error ?? 'Failed to extract text')
+                        }
+                        const result = await res.json()
+                        setExtractedText(result.extractedText || null)
+                        setEditedExtractedText(result.extractedText || '')
+                        setTranslatedText(result.translatedText || null)
+                      } catch (err) {
+                        setExtractError(err instanceof Error ? err.message : 'Failed to extract text')
+                        setTimeout(() => setExtractError(null), 4000)
+                      } finally {
+                        setExtracting(false)
                       }
-                      if (!res.ok) {
-                        const data = await res.json().catch(() => ({}))
-                        throw new Error((data as { error?: string }).error ?? 'Failed to extract text')
+                    }}
+                    disabled={extracting || extractPending}
+                    className="text-xs px-2 py-1 rounded-lg transition-colors disabled:opacity-50 self-start flex-shrink-0"
+                    style={{
+                      backgroundColor: extractPending ? 'var(--accent)' : 'var(--border)',
+                      color: extractPending ? '#fff' : 'var(--text-secondary)',
+                    }}
+                    onMouseEnter={(e) => {
+                      if (!extracting && !extractPending) {
+                        ;(e.currentTarget as HTMLElement).style.backgroundColor = 'var(--text-secondary)'
+                        ;(e.currentTarget as HTMLElement).style.color = 'var(--background)'
                       }
-                      const result = await res.json()
-                      setExtractedText(result.extractedText || null)
-                      setEditedExtractedText(result.extractedText || '')
-                      setTranslatedText(result.translatedText || null)
-                    } catch (err) {
-                      setExtractError(err instanceof Error ? err.message : 'Failed to extract text')
-                      setTimeout(() => setExtractError(null), 4000)
-                    } finally {
-                      setExtracting(false)
-                    }
-                  }}
-                  disabled={extracting || extractPending}
-                  className="text-xs px-2 py-1 rounded-lg transition-colors disabled:opacity-50 self-start"
-                  style={{
-                    backgroundColor: extractPending ? 'var(--accent)' : 'var(--border)',
-                    color: extractPending ? '#fff' : 'var(--text-secondary)',
-                  }}
-                  onMouseEnter={(e) => {
-                    if (!extracting && !extractPending) {
-                      ;(e.currentTarget as HTMLElement).style.backgroundColor = 'var(--text-secondary)'
-                      ;(e.currentTarget as HTMLElement).style.color = 'var(--background)'
-                    }
-                  }}
-                  onMouseLeave={(e) => {
-                    if (!extractPending) {
-                      ;(e.currentTarget as HTMLElement).style.backgroundColor = 'var(--border)'
-                      ;(e.currentTarget as HTMLElement).style.color = 'var(--text-secondary)'
-                    }
-                  }}
-                >
-                  {extracting ? '⟳ Extracting…' : extractPending ? '⟳ Queued…' : extractedText ? '🔍 Re-extract Text' : '🔍 Extract Text'}
-                </button>
+                    }}
+                    onMouseLeave={(e) => {
+                      if (!extractPending) {
+                        ;(e.currentTarget as HTMLElement).style.backgroundColor = 'var(--border)'
+                        ;(e.currentTarget as HTMLElement).style.color = 'var(--text-secondary)'
+                      }
+                    }}
+                  >
+                    {extracting ? '⟳ Extracting…' : extractPending ? '⟳ Queued…' : extractedText ? '🔍 Re-extract Text' : '🔍 Extract Text'}
+                  </button>
+                  {ocrMode && ocrMode !== 'llm' && (
+                    <input
+                      type="text"
+                      value={ocrLanguageInput}
+                      onChange={(e) => setOcrLanguageInput(e.target.value)}
+                      placeholder={defaultOcrLanguages}
+                      className="text-xs px-2 py-0.5 rounded-full outline-none"
+                      style={{
+                        backgroundColor: 'var(--background)',
+                        border: '1px solid var(--border)',
+                        color: 'var(--text-primary)',
+                        width: 120,
+                      }}
+                      title="Tesseract language(s) for this extraction (e.g. jpn+jpn_vert). Leave blank to use the configured default."
+                    />
+                  )}
+                </div>
 
                 {extractError && (
                   <p className="text-xs" style={{ color: '#f87171' }}>{extractError}</p>
diff --git a/src/components/mixed/MixedView.tsx b/src/components/mixed/MixedView.tsx
index e51735d..ebd856d 100644
--- a/src/components/mixed/MixedView.tsx
+++ b/src/components/mixed/MixedView.tsx
@@ -83,6 +83,9 @@ export default function MixedView({ libraryId, initialPath }: Props) {
     setDoomScrollLoading(false)
   }, [currentPath])
 
+  const [ocrMode, setOcrMode] = useState<string | null>(null)
+  const [defaultOcrLanguages, setDefaultOcrLanguages] = useState('eng')
+
   const fetchAssignments = useCallback(() => {
     fetch(`/api/tags/library-assignments?libraryId=${encodeURIComponent(libraryId)}`)
       .then((r) => r.json())
@@ -92,6 +95,16 @@ export default function MixedView({ libraryId, initialPath }: Props) {
 
   useEffect(() => { fetchAssignments() }, [fetchAssignments])
 
+  useEffect(() => {
+    fetch('/api/ai-settings/ocr')
+      .then((r) => r.json())
+      .then((d: { ocrMode: string; ocrLanguages: string }) => {
+        setOcrMode(d.ocrMode)
+        setDefaultOcrLanguages(d.ocrLanguages)
+      })
+      .catch(() => {})
+  }, [])
+
   const filtersActive = search !== '' || selectedTagIds.size > 0
 
   const fetchRecursive = useCallback(() => {
@@ -387,6 +400,8 @@ export default function MixedView({ libraryId, initialPath }: Props) {
                   entry={entry}
                   onOpen={handleEntry}
                   onTag={handleTagEntry}
+                  ocrMode={ocrMode}
+                  defaultOcrLanguages={defaultOcrLanguages}
                   onAiTag={async (e) => {
                     const itemKey = itemKeyFor(e)
                     const res = await fetch('/api/ai-tagging', {
@@ -401,7 +416,7 @@ export default function MixedView({ libraryId, initialPath }: Props) {
                     fetchAssignments()
                     setFilterRefreshKey((k) => k + 1)
                   }}
-                  onExtractText={async (e) => {
+                  onExtractText={async (e, ocrLanguages) => {
                     if (e.type === 'directory') {
                       // Bulk extract for directory
                       const dirRel = filtersActive ? e.name : (currentPath ? `${currentPath}/${e.name}` : e.name)
@@ -420,7 +435,7 @@ export default function MixedView({ libraryId, initialPath }: Props) {
                       const res = await fetch('/api/ai-tagging/extract-text', {
                         method: 'POST',
                         headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
-                        body: JSON.stringify({ itemKey }),
+                        body: JSON.stringify({ itemKey, ...(ocrLanguages && { ocrLanguages }) }),
                       })
                       if (!res.ok) {
                         const data = await res.json().catch(() => ({}))
@@ -594,7 +609,7 @@ export default function MixedView({ libraryId, initialPath }: Props) {
   )
 }
 
-function EntryTile({ entry, onOpen, onTag, onDelete, onRename, onAiTag, onExtractText, onDescribe, onTranslate }: { entry: FileEntry; onOpen: (e: FileEntry) => void; onTag: (e: FileEntry) => void; onDelete?: (e: FileEntry) => void; onRename?: (e: FileEntry, newName: string) => Promise<boolean>; onAiTag?: (e: FileEntry) => Promise<void>; onExtractText?: (e: FileEntry) => Promise<void>; onDescribe?: (e: FileEntry) => Promise<void>; onTranslate?: (e: FileEntry) => Promise<void> }) {
+function EntryTile({ entry, onOpen, onTag, onDelete, onRename, onAiTag, onExtractText, onDescribe, onTranslate, ocrMode, defaultOcrLanguages }: { entry: FileEntry; onOpen: (e: FileEntry) => void; onTag: (e: FileEntry) => void; onDelete?: (e: FileEntry) => void; onRename?: (e: FileEntry, newName: string) => Promise<boolean>; onAiTag?: (e: FileEntry) => Promise<void>; onExtractText?: (e: FileEntry, ocrLanguages?: string) => Promise<void>; onDescribe?: (e: FileEntry) => Promise<void>; onTranslate?: (e: FileEntry) => Promise<void>; ocrMode?: string | null; defaultOcrLanguages?: string }) {
   type ImgState = 'loading' | 'loaded' | 'error'
   const [imgState, setImgState] = useState<ImgState>(
     entry.thumbnailUrl ? 'loading' : 'error'
@@ -615,6 +630,8 @@ function EntryTile({ entry, onOpen, onTag, onDelete, onRename, onAiTag, onExtrac
   const [describeError, setDescribeError] = useState<string | null>(null)
   const [translating, setTranslating] = useState(false)
   const [translateError, setTranslateError] = useState<string | null>(null)
+  const [showOcrPrompt, setShowOcrPrompt] = useState(false)
+  const [ocrLanguageInput, setOcrLanguageInput] = useState('')
 
   useEffect(() => {
     if (!menuOpen) return
@@ -804,16 +821,21 @@ function EntryTile({ entry, onOpen, onTag, onDelete, onRename, onAiTag, onExtrac
                   📝 Describe Folder
                 </button>
               )}
-              {onExtractText && entry.mediaType === 'image' && (
+              {onExtractText && entry.mediaType === 'image' && !showOcrPrompt && (
                 <button
                   onClick={(e) => {
                     e.stopPropagation()
-                    setMenuOpen(false)
-                    setTextExtracting(true)
-                    setTextExtractError(null)
-                    onExtractText(entry)
-                      .catch((err) => setTextExtractError(err instanceof Error ? err.message : 'Text extraction failed'))
-                      .finally(() => setTextExtracting(false))
+                    if (ocrMode && ocrMode !== 'llm') {
+                      setOcrLanguageInput('')
+                      setShowOcrPrompt(true)
+                    } else {
+                      setMenuOpen(false)
+                      setTextExtracting(true)
+                      setTextExtractError(null)
+                      onExtractText(entry)
+                        .catch((err) => setTextExtractError(err instanceof Error ? err.message : 'Text extraction failed'))
+                        .finally(() => setTextExtracting(false))
+                    }
                   }}
                   disabled={textExtracting}
                   className="flex items-center gap-2 w-full px-4 py-2 text-sm text-left transition-colors disabled:opacity-50"
@@ -824,6 +846,57 @@ function EntryTile({ entry, onOpen, onTag, onDelete, onRename, onAiTag, onExtrac
                   🔍 Extract Text
                 </button>
               )}
+              {onExtractText && entry.mediaType === 'image' && showOcrPrompt && (
+                <div className="px-4 py-2 flex flex-col gap-2" onClick={(e) => e.stopPropagation()}>
+                  <p className="text-xs" style={{ color: 'var(--text-secondary)' }}>OCR language</p>
+                  <input
+                    autoFocus
+                    type="text"
+                    value={ocrLanguageInput}
+                    onChange={(e) => setOcrLanguageInput(e.target.value)}
+                    onKeyDown={(e) => {
+                      if (e.key === 'Escape') { setShowOcrPrompt(false) }
+                      if (e.key === 'Enter') {
+                        setShowOcrPrompt(false)
+                        setMenuOpen(false)
+                        setTextExtracting(true)
+                        setTextExtractError(null)
+                        onExtractText(entry, ocrLanguageInput.trim() || undefined)
+                          .catch((err) => setTextExtractError(err instanceof Error ? err.message : 'Text extraction failed'))
+                          .finally(() => setTextExtracting(false))
+                      }
+                    }}
+                    placeholder={defaultOcrLanguages ?? 'eng'}
+                    className="text-xs px-2 py-1 rounded-lg outline-none w-full"
+                    style={{ backgroundColor: 'var(--background)', border: '1px solid var(--border)', color: 'var(--text-primary)' }}
+                    title="Tesseract language(s) for this extraction (e.g. jpn+jpn_vert). Leave blank to use the configured default."
+                  />
+                  <div className="flex gap-2">
+                    <button
+                      onClick={() => {
+                        setShowOcrPrompt(false)
+                        setMenuOpen(false)
+                        setTextExtracting(true)
+                        setTextExtractError(null)
+                        onExtractText(entry, ocrLanguageInput.trim() || undefined)
+                          .catch((err) => setTextExtractError(err instanceof Error ? err.message : 'Text extraction failed'))
+                          .finally(() => setTextExtracting(false))
+                      }}
+                      className="text-xs px-2 py-1 rounded-lg"
+                      style={{ backgroundColor: 'var(--accent)', color: '#fff' }}
+                    >
+                      Extract
+                    </button>
+                    <button
+                      onClick={() => setShowOcrPrompt(false)}
+                      className="text-xs px-2 py-1"
+                      style={{ color: 'var(--text-secondary)' }}
+                    >
+                      Cancel
+                    </button>
+                  </div>
+                </div>
+              )}
               {onExtractText && entry.type === 'directory' && (
                 <button
                   onClick={(e) => {
diff --git a/src/lib/ai-jobs.ts b/src/lib/ai-jobs.ts
index 70ca66e..6e4b8c6 100644
--- a/src/lib/ai-jobs.ts
+++ b/src/lib/ai-jobs.ts
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ interface AiJobRow {
   started_at: number | null
   completed_at: number | null
   item_title: string | null
+  payload: string | null
 }
 
 function rowToJob(row: AiJobRow): AiJob {
@@ -75,6 +76,7 @@ export function enqueueJob(
   jobType: AiJobType,
   libraryId: string,
   sourceLanguage?: string,
+  payload?: Record<string, string>,
 ): string {
   const db = getDb()
 
@@ -96,9 +98,9 @@ export function enqueueJob(
   const metadata = jobType === 'translate' && sourceLanguage ? sourceLanguage : null
 
   db.prepare(
-    `INSERT INTO ai_jobs (id, item_key, library_id, job_type, status, error, attempt, max_retries, created_at, item_title)
-     VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, 'queued', ?, 0, ?, ?, ?)`
-  ).run(id, itemKey, libraryId, jobType, metadata, maxRetries, Date.now(), title)
+    `INSERT INTO ai_jobs (id, item_key, library_id, job_type, status, error, attempt, max_retries, created_at, item_title, payload)
+     VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, 'queued', ?, 0, ?, ?, ?, ?)`
+  ).run(id, itemKey, libraryId, jobType, metadata, maxRetries, Date.now(), title, payload ? JSON.stringify(payload) : null)
 
   // Wake the processor
   wakeProcessor()
@@ -251,6 +253,8 @@ async function processNextJob(): Promise<boolean> {
 
   // Extract sourceLanguage for translate jobs (stored in error field at enqueue)
   const sourceLanguage = row.job_type === 'translate' ? row.error : null
+  // Parse job payload (carries per-call overrides, e.g. ocrLanguages for extract jobs)
+  const jobPayload = row.payload ? (JSON.parse(row.payload) as Record<string, string>) : null
 
   db.prepare(
     "UPDATE ai_jobs SET status = 'running', started_at = ?, error = NULL WHERE id = ?"
@@ -265,7 +269,7 @@ async function processNextJob(): Promise<boolean> {
         await generateItemDescription(row.item_key)
         break
       case 'extract':
-        await extractItemText(row.item_key)
+        await extractItemText(row.item_key, jobPayload?.ocrLanguages)
         break
       case 'translate':
         await translateItemText(row.item_key, sourceLanguage || undefined)
diff --git a/src/lib/ai-tagger.ts b/src/lib/ai-tagger.ts
index a5b0acf..09a6510 100644
--- a/src/lib/ai-tagger.ts
+++ b/src/lib/ai-tagger.ts
@@ -538,7 +538,7 @@ async function extractWithTesseract(
  * Translation is not performed automatically — call translateItemText() separately.
  * Returns { extractedText, translatedText } where translatedText is always null.
  */
-export async function extractItemText(itemKey: string): Promise<{ extractedText: string; translatedText: string | null }> {
+export async function extractItemText(itemKey: string, ocrLanguagesOverride?: string): Promise<{ extractedText: string; translatedText: string | null }> {
   const libraryId = itemKey.split(':')[0]
   const config = getEffectiveAiConfig(libraryId)
 
@@ -567,7 +567,8 @@ export async function extractItemText(itemKey: string): Promise<{ extractedText:
     throw Object.assign(new Error('Text extraction is only available for images'), { code: 'NO_IMAGE' })
   }
 
-  const { ocrMode, ocrLanguages, ocrConfidenceThreshold } = config
+  const { ocrMode, ocrLanguages: configOcrLanguages, ocrConfidenceThreshold } = config
+  const ocrLanguages = ocrLanguagesOverride?.trim() || configOcrLanguages
 
   // ── Tesseract path ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
   if (ocrMode === 'tesseract' || ocrMode === 'hybrid') {
diff --git a/src/lib/db.ts b/src/lib/db.ts
index 9525cc7..bb6d2a4 100644
--- a/src/lib/db.ts
+++ b/src/lib/db.ts
@@ -338,4 +338,12 @@ function migrateAiJobs(db: Database.Database): void {
     CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS ai_jobs_status ON ai_jobs(status);
     CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS ai_jobs_created_at ON ai_jobs(created_at);
   `)
+
+  // Add payload column if not present
+  const aiJobsRow = db
+    .prepare("SELECT sql FROM sqlite_master WHERE type='table' AND name='ai_jobs'")
+    .get() as { sql: string } | undefined
+  if (aiJobsRow && !aiJobsRow.sql.includes('payload')) {
+    db.exec('ALTER TABLE ai_jobs ADD COLUMN payload TEXT')
+  }
 }