Make a scanned PDF searchable and copy the text out of it - the pages look exactly the same, but now you can search, select and copy. Works in 48 languages, up to 100 pages, all in your browser. Just a photo or screenshot? Use Image to Text.
Too big or too many pages? Split PDF or Compress PDF first. Password on it? Unlock PDF.
A scanned PDF is just pictures of pages - you cannot search it or copy from it. OCR reads the words and places them, invisible, exactly over the picture.
The page looks the same, but Ctrl+F, copy and screen readers now work. Your original pages are kept as they are, so quality and file size barely change.
| Your PDF | What happens |
|---|---|
| Saved from Word, Excel or a website | Real text is copied directly - no OCR needed |
| Scanned on a copier or scanner | Each page is read with OCR |
| Photos joined into a PDF | Read with OCR - sharp, flat photos work best |
| A mix of both | Each page gets what it needs |
Want OCR on every page anyway? Set Text already in the PDF to Always OCR. To edit a digital PDF as a document, PDF to Word is the better fit.
Drop the PDF above, choose the language and press Read. Then press Download Searchable PDF - the pages look the same, but you can search, select and copy the text.
Yes. There is no sign-up and no watermark. Up to 100 pages per run.
No. PDF.js renders the pages and the OCR engine reads them inside your browser. The file never leaves your device - safe for contracts, invoices and medical records.
No. The original pages are kept and an invisible text layer is added on top. Pages you rotate or crop here are saved as a picture with a text layer instead.
48 languages, including English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Polish, Russian, Arabic, Hindi, Chinese, Japanese and Korean. Add a second language for mixed documents.
A few seconds per page on a modern computer at 300 dpi. Pages that already contain text are instant. Phones are slower - try 200 dpi there.
Yes. Download TXT, Word, Excel, or a ZIP with one text file per page.