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OCR PDF
Turn a scanned PDF into a searchable document or plain text file. Recognition runs locally and retains your original PDF pages unchanged.
- 1Upload
- 2Settings
- 3Process
- 4Download
Supported file types: .pdf. You can upload up to 1 files, and each file must be no larger than 25 MB.
Supported file types: .pdf. You can upload up to 1 files, and each file must be no larger than 25 MB.
Settings
Hold Ctrl or Cmd to select multiple languages.
Convert Scanned Pages Into Searchable PDF or Plain Text
Select an output that matches what you need to do next. A searchable PDF preserves the original pages available for viewing while making recognized text easier to find, while plain text is better when you mainly want to extract wording for notes, editing, or reuse.
Choose the Correct Language Before Recognition
Choosing the language used in the document helps the OCR engine interpret letters, accents, punctuation, and word patterns more accurately. Multiple languages can be selected for PDFs that contain bilingual text or sections written in various languages.
Keep the Original Page Appearance
OCR focuses on recognizing the words shown on each page rather than redesigning the document. The original PDF pages remain visually unchanged, making searchable PDF output suitable whenever you want to preserve scans, signatures, stamps, illustrations, and existing page formatting.
Common Questions
Why might the OCR language matter?
Languages use various character sets, accents, punctuation rules, and word patterns. Selecting the correct language gives the recognition engine better context. A mismatched language can cause valid characters to be interpreted as similar-looking letters or symbols.
Can I recognize a PDF containing several languages?
Yes. The language selector allows several languages to be chosen. Select every language that appears meaningfully in the document, but avoid adding unrelated languages because a more focused selection can reduce ambiguity during recognition.
Why are some words recognized incorrectly?
Recognition errors are more likely when pages are blurred, tilted, low-resolution, heavily compressed, stained, faint, or photographed under uneven lighting. Unusual fonts, text over images, narrow columns, stamps, and handwritten notes can also make characters harder to identify.
Can OCR recognize handwritten text?
OCR is generally more reliable with clear printed or typed text. Neat handwriting may be partially recognized, but results can vary considerably between writing styles. Handwritten names, signatures, notes, and numbers should be checked manually instead of treated as exact transcriptions.