PDF | 3 min

How to make a scanned PDF searchable or editable

A scanned PDF is a picture of each page, so you cannot search it or copy from it. PDF OCR reads the pictures on your own device. English, Urdu and Arabic are available.

Steps

1. 1

   Open PDF OCR

   Go to the tool and add your scanned PDF.

2. 2

   Pick the language

   Under Language of the text choose English, Urdu, Arabic, or a combination such as English and Urdu together. Choosing the right language matters more than anything else for accuracy.

3. 3

   Pick what you want back

   Choose A searchable PDF that looks the same, A Word document of the text, or A plain text file.

4. 4

   Try a few pages first

   Recognition takes a few seconds per page. For a long document, type a short range in Pages first to check quality, then run the whole file.

Tips

• The first run in a language downloads a small language file. Later runs start straight away.
• Clean printed text reads well. Handwriting and faint scans do not.
• Always proofread numbers and names in the result.

Questions

Is my scan uploaded?

No. The text is read on your own device and the scan never leaves it.

How do I improve a poor result?

Use the correct language, scan at a higher resolution and keep the page straight. Poor scans give poor text.