Make a scanned PDF searchable
A scan is a picture of text, so you can't search it or copy from it. OCR reads the words and places an invisible text layer exactly over them. The page looks the same, but now Find, copy and screen readers work.
- ✓The scan image is left exactly as it was
- ✓Pages that already have text are skipped
- ✓English text recognition
How to use OCR PDF
- 1
Add your scanned PDF
Drop in the file. Up to 20 scanned pages per run.
- 2
Choose pages
Leave the pages box empty to recognise every scanned page, or pick some.
- 3
Download
Press Make searchable. Open the file and try searching for a word.
Invisible, not replaced
Some OCR tools rebuild the page from what they recognised, which can change how it looks. We keep the scan exactly as it is and add the recognised words as invisible text on top, placed over each word.
Better scans, better results
Recognition works best on straight, well lit scans at 200 DPI or more. Handwriting and decorative fonts are hard for any OCR engine.
Searchable is not editable
OCR makes text findable and copyable. It doesn't turn the scan into editable text in the original typeface.
Questions people ask
+Which languages are supported?
English today. More languages are planned.
+Will OCR change how my PDF looks?
No. The text layer is invisible and the scan is kept as it was.
+Why was nothing recognised?
Pages that already contain real text are skipped. Very faint, blurry or handwritten pages may give few or no words.
+Are my files kept on your server?
No. The file is processed in memory for this one request and the result is sent straight back to your browser. Nothing is written to storage and nothing is shared.
Ready to fix your PDF?
Free, in your browser, and it takes about a minute. No account needed.