PDF OCR
Extract text from scanned PDFs and create searchable documents.
Drag and drop your PDF file here
or
Select a single PDF file to perform OCR.
What is PDF OCR?
OCR stands for **Optical Character Recognition**. It is a technology that "reads" text from an image. A scanned PDF is just a collection of images of pages. You can't select, copy, or search the text in a scanned PDF.
Our PDF OCR tool scans these images, recognizes the characters and words, and then places an invisible, searchable text layer over the original image. This creates a **searchable PDF** that looks identical to the original but allows you to search for words and copy text.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Is this process secure?
Absolutely. Your file is sent to our server over an encrypted (HTTPS) connection. We perform the OCR process, generate your new files, and then permanently delete all original and converted files from our servers within one hour.
What's the difference between "Standard" and "Enhanced" OCR?
Standard OCR is faster and works perfectly for high-quality, computer-generated PDFs. Enhanced OCR uses a more advanced (and slower) engine designed to handle difficult, low-quality, or grainy scans to improve text accuracy.
What is a "Searchable PDF"?
A searchable PDF looks exactly like your original scanned document, but it has a hidden text layer. This means you can use Ctrl+F (or Cmd+F) to find words in the document, and you can select and copy text just like a normal digital file.
Why is selecting the correct language important?
The OCR engine uses language-specific dictionaries and character sets to recognize words. Selecting the correct language (e.g., "French" for a French document) dramatically improves accuracy, especially for words with special characters or accents (like é, à, or ü).