Make a scanned PDF searchable in a Overleaf PDF
Add an invisible text layer to scanned pages so you can search and copy them. This works on the PDF Overleaf exported, so you do not need the original file.
How to do it
- 1.Open the PDF exported from Overleaf in MythosPDF.
- 2.Add the scanned PDF.
- 3.Download the searchable PDF.
How Overleaf writes PDFs
- • Overleaf compiles LaTeX, so PDFs use Type1 fonts such as Computer Modern or Latin Modern.
- • Ligatures such as fi and fl are single glyphs.
What that means when you make a scanned PDF searchable
- • Small fixes in text, references and captions can be made in the PDF. Larger changes are cleaner in the Overleaf source.
What happens to the rest of the page
- • The scan image is kept as it is; the text layer is added on top.
- • Accuracy depends on scan quality.
Questions people ask
+Does OCR change how the page looks?
No. The text layer is invisible.
+Is it better to edit in Overleaf?
If you have the original Overleaf file and a lot to change, yes. For quick changes to the PDF itself, editing the PDF is faster and keeps it exactly as sent.
Other edits in Overleaf PDFs
Make a scanned PDF searchable in PDFs from
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