OCR My
PDF Tool.
Make scanned PDFs searchable by adding text recognition to pages that currently behave like pictures.
Add search and selection to scanned PDFs with one OCR step.
It is useful when a scan looks fine on screen but cannot be searched, selected, or copied yet.
Options
No extra options needed for this tool.
Progress
Why OCR changes scanned PDFs
Scanned PDFs often look fine but behave like image files, which means the text cannot be searched or selected. This tool adds recognition so the document becomes more useful afterward.
It is especially helpful for old scans, photographed pages, and archived files that need to be searchable.
How to OCR a scanned PDF
- Upload the scanned PDF files you want to process.
- Start OCR and let the pages be analyzed.
- Wait for the searchable PDF output to be created.
- Download the new PDFs when the job is done.
OCR adds a searchable layer without repairing the scan
A scanned PDF is often a set of page images. OCR analyzes those pixels and adds recognized text so words can be searched, selected, and copied. The visible scan usually remains the page, which means stains, skew, shadows, and low resolution are not magically removed. Recognition quality improves when pages are upright, evenly lit, sharply focused, and large enough for individual letters to be distinct.
Mixed documents may already contain text on some pages and images on others. Check whether search works before processing; unnecessary OCR can increase file size or create a second imperfect text layer. Handwriting, decorative fonts, mathematical notation, and dense tables remain difficult. A document that looks readable to a person may still contain shapes that the recognition engine cannot confidently distinguish.
Language choice affects character patterns and dictionaries. Names, serial numbers, and multilingual pages deserve manual review even when ordinary paragraphs look accurate. Common substitutions include O and zero, I and one, or punctuation interpreted as letters. Searchability is helpful for discovery, but a recognized result should not be treated as a certified transcription without comparison to the page image.
Validate the searchable PDF after processing
Search for a word near the beginning, middle, and end, then select a sentence and paste it into a plain-text editor. Confirm that reading order is sensible and that spaces appear between words. Multi-column pages may produce a confusing sequence even when individual words are recognized. Tables can become a stream of cells that is searchable but unsuitable for data reuse.
Inspect file size and page appearance. The OCR layer should not shift or degrade the visible scan. Test the PDF in the viewer used by your team because text selection and accessibility behavior can vary. If the document is intended for screen-reader access, OCR is only a first step; proper tags, headings, language settings, alternative text, and reading order may still need dedicated remediation.
Preserve the original scan alongside the OCR copy and distinguish their filenames. Sensitive records remain sensitive after they become searchable, and searchability can make personal data easier to discover. Apply access controls and retention rules appropriate to the content. For archives or legal evidence, document the processing step and keep checksums or source records according to your organization’s requirements.