A scanned PDF often contains page images rather than selectable text. Optical character recognition (OCR) analyzes those images and estimates the characters they contain.
Use the OCR tool
- Open OCR PDF to Text.
- Select the scanned PDF.
- Choose a language that matches the document.
- Start recognition and download the text file.
Improve recognition
Use clear, high-resolution scans with straight pages and good contrast. OCR can make mistakes with handwriting, columns, tables, faint text, or unusual fonts. Proofread the result before relying on it.
What this tool exports
The current workflow exports recognized text to a TXT file. It does not generate a searchable PDF with an invisible text layer.
Editorial note: Tool behavior may change as the site is updated. Always follow the limitation notice shown on each tool page.