OCR PDF

Find and copy text in scanned PDF pages.

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OCR PDF help

Recognize words in scanned PDF pages so you can find or copy their text. For photos, create a PDF with Images to PDF or Scan to PDF first. Clear printed pages work better than faded print, complex tables or handwriting; always review important results.

How to use OCR PDF

  1. Choose a scanned PDF and set Pages (leave blank for all).
  2. Choose Text languages and Save as before starting; open More options and click Prepare languages for any that are missing.
  3. Select Recognize text and review the recognized words against the original pages.
  4. Download the result and verify important names, dates and numbers before using it.
Options explained
Save as
Choose Searchable PDF, Word (.docx), Excel tables (.xlsx), Text (.txt) or Markdown (.md) depending on what you need to edit.
Pages (leave blank for all)
Recognize only selected pages when the rest already has usable text.
Text languages
Select the languages actually used; unnecessary languages can make recognition less accurate.
Prepare languages
Prepare the chosen recognition data before processing; larger language selections need more storage and download time.
Limits and supported files

PDF documents. An opening password is required when the file needs one to be read.

Local tests used synthetic 10, 50, 100 and 200 MB PDFs containing large images. Chromium, Firefox and WebKit: completed 10, 50, 100, 200 MB.

Chromium, Firefox and WebKit: completed 50, 300, 1000 text pages. Text-page tests reused existing text. Image-PDF tests exercised recognition; this is a capacity check, not an OCR accuracy rating.

OCR PDF was tested on a 16 GB Mac with Chromium, Firefox and WebKit. These are observed examples, not guaranteed limits on your device. WebKit tests do not replace a check in Safari on your own device.

Questions

Is recognized text guaranteed to be correct?

No. Similar-looking characters, unusual names, fractions and faint marks can be misread. Check amounts, dates and identifiers carefully. A confidence indicator does not prove that a specific word or number is correct.

Do I need OCR for an ordinary text PDF?

Usually not. If you can already select the words, use PDF to Text, Word or Excel as appropriate. OCR is intended for text stored as pictures, and recognizing it again can introduce errors.

Which file formats can I save recognized text in?

Choose Searchable PDF, Word (.docx), Excel tables (.xlsx), Text (.txt) or Markdown (.md) depending on what you need to edit.

Do I need a password for a PDF that opens normally?

No. PDFs that open without a password are read automatically. If an opening password is required, use Unlock PDF first. Keep signed originals and use an unsigned copy for a searchable PDF.

Can I run OCR on only the scanned pages?

Recognize only selected pages when the rest already has usable text.

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