OCR PDF

Make scanned PDFs and images searchable by adding a selectable text layer.

  • Free, no sign-up
  • No watermark
  • Files deleted automatically
Supported Formats
PDF JPG JPEG PNG WEBP BMP TIFF TIF GIF

or drop a file here · paste with Ctrl+V

PDF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, WEBP, BMP, TIFF, TIF, GIF

Up to 1 GB

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About OCR PDF

OCR PDF turns a scanned PDF or a photo of a document (JPG, PNG, WebP, BMP, TIFF, GIF) into a searchable PDF. The page image stays exactly as it was, and an invisible text layer is added on top, so you can search with Ctrl+F, select and copy text.

Recognition is done with the Tesseract OCR engine for English text. Each PDF page is rendered at 200 DPI before recognition. Clear, straight, well-lit scans give the best results. Files are sent over HTTPS, processed on our server and deleted automatically after you download the result.

How to use OCR PDF

  1. Upload a scanned PDF or an image of a document.
  2. Press Convert and wait — OCR takes a few seconds per page.
  3. Download the searchable PDF and try searching it.

Key features

  • Adds a selectable, searchable text layer
  • Original page image unchanged
  • Scanned PDFs and common image formats
  • Tesseract OCR engine (English)

When to use OCR PDF

  • Making scanned contracts, letters and receipts searchable with Ctrl+F.
  • Copying text from a photo of a document instead of retyping it.
  • Preparing scans so PDF to Text or Compare PDF can work with them.

Tips and common problems

  • Scan at 300 DPI in good, even light; blurry or skewed pages are recognised poorly.
  • Recognition is for English text; Gujarati and Hindi are not recognised yet.
  • Large documents take longer — every page is rendered and read separately.

Frequently asked questions

Not yet — recognition is currently set up for English text. Other scripts will not be recognised correctly.

Guides