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OCR PDF Online — Make Scanned PDFs Searchable

OCR up to 10 scanned PDFs in your browser. Create searchable PDF files or extract text with language, page-range and quality controls.

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PDF organization

Organize pages before you publish or share

Use the page controls to put the document in the order you actually need. For multi-file operations, confirm every source is included before creating the final PDF.

Input

.pdf

Output

PDF

Batch

1 file per run

Text RecognitionSearchable PdfMultiple Languages
Batch-aware

1 file per run. Only use one run when files share the same operation.

Workflow continuity

Move into a related operation instead of re-finding the tool.

Output-ready

Download a destination-ready result and verify it before sharing.

File limits

Configured runtime limit applies.

PDF quality check before download
Review page order
Confirm deleted/extracted pages
Open the final PDF before sharing

Natural next steps

Continue with a related tool using the same file workflow.

Pdf To JsonEdit PdfCompress Pdf
Supported input

PDF

Output

PDF

Single file

Process one source at a time

Keep your source

Review the result before sharing

Smart workflows

Finish the job, not just the file

Use the existing tool graph to continue into useful next steps. Bulk and output-packaging capabilities are surfaced automatically where the underlying tool supports them.

Bulk processingWorkflow-ready

OCR → compress the searchable copy

Bulk-ready

Create searchable text from scanned pages, then reduce the final PDF size for storage, email or upload.

  1. Ocr Pdf
  2. Compress Pdf
Output: Searchable compact PDF

Best after page cleanup is already complete.

Run workflowContinue

Scan → searchable → compact

Bulk-ready

Run OCR on scanned PDFs and then compress the searchable result for easier storage and sharing.

  1. Ocr Pdf
  2. Compress Pdf
Output: Searchable compact PDF

Best for scanned records, receipts and paper archives.

Continue

OCR → archive copy

Bulk-ready

Turn image-only documents into searchable PDFs and prepare a preservation-friendly copy.

  1. Ocr Pdf
  2. Pdf To Pdfa
Output: Searchable PDF/A

Best for long-term document retrieval.

Continue

Make a PDF searchable

Bulk-ready

Run OCR and keep the document as a searchable PDF for review and archiving.

  1. Ocr Pdf
Output: Searchable PDF

Best for scanned documents and paper archives.

Continue

Turn scanned tables into data

Bulk-ready

OCR the document and continue into table extraction when supported.

  1. Ocr Pdf
  2. Extract Tables
Output: Extracted table data

Best for invoices, statements and structured scans.

Continue

Create a clean OCR archive

Bulk-ready

OCR the scan, remove unnecessary pages and optimize the final archive.

  1. Ocr Pdf
  2. Remove Blank Pages
  3. Compress Pdf
Output: Searchable compact archive

Best for long scanned archives.

Continue

OCR a scanned PDF and extract its text

Run optical character recognition on scanned PDF pages to turn photographed or scanned text into usable text. MaxScanner processes the selected pages in your browser and lets you download the extracted text.

When OCR helps

OCR is useful when a PDF contains scanned pages, camera captures, receipts, forms, or other image-only documents where normal text selection does not work.

Choose the right language

Select the languages that actually appear in the document. Matching the OCR language to the source text can improve recognition, especially for multilingual or non-Latin documents.

Review important text

OCR can misread small fonts, unusual typefaces, tables, handwriting, skewed scans, or low-contrast pages. Check names, numbers, dates, signatures and other critical fields before relying on the extracted text.

Keep the original PDF

OCR creates a text extraction result; it does not replace the original document. Keep the source so you can verify the extracted text or process it again at a different quality setting.

Smart workflows

Finish the job, not just the file

Use the existing tool graph to continue into useful next steps. Bulk and output-packaging capabilities are surfaced automatically where the underlying tool supports them.

Bulk processingWorkflow-ready

OCR → compress the searchable copy

Bulk-ready

Create searchable text from scanned pages, then reduce the final PDF size for storage, email or upload.

  1. Ocr Pdf
  2. Compress Pdf
Output: Searchable compact PDF

Best after page cleanup is already complete.

Run workflowContinue

Scan → searchable → compact

Bulk-ready

Run OCR on scanned PDFs and then compress the searchable result for easier storage and sharing.

  1. Ocr Pdf
  2. Compress Pdf
Output: Searchable compact PDF

Best for scanned records, receipts and paper archives.

Continue

OCR → archive copy

Bulk-ready

Turn image-only documents into searchable PDFs and prepare a preservation-friendly copy.

  1. Ocr Pdf
  2. Pdf To Pdfa
Output: Searchable PDF/A

Best for long-term document retrieval.

Continue

Make a PDF searchable

Bulk-ready

Run OCR and keep the document as a searchable PDF for review and archiving.

  1. Ocr Pdf
Output: Searchable PDF

Best for scanned documents and paper archives.

Continue

Turn scanned tables into data

Bulk-ready

OCR the document and continue into table extraction when supported.

  1. Ocr Pdf
  2. Extract Tables
Output: Extracted table data

Best for invoices, statements and structured scans.

Continue

Create a clean OCR archive

Bulk-ready

OCR the scan, remove unnecessary pages and optimize the final archive.

  1. Ocr Pdf
  2. Remove Blank Pages
  3. Compress Pdf
Output: Searchable compact archive

Best for long scanned archives.

Continue

About This Tool

Have a PDF that is really just a stack of images? OCR adds a text layer so you can search, copy and reuse the words inside scanned pages.

OCR is the bridge between scanned paperwork and the rest of a document workflow. After OCR, you can move into PDF-to-Word, PDF-to-Markdown, PDF-to-JSON or other extraction workflows.

OCR accuracy depends on scan quality, language, typography and page layout. Always review critical names, numbers and legal or financial information.

How to Use

  1. Upload the scanned PDF

    Choose the scan or image-based PDF you want to make searchable.

  2. Choose recognition settings

    Select the appropriate OCR language and processing options when available.

  3. Run OCR

    Let the recognition process create a searchable text layer.

  4. Search and reuse

    Download the searchable PDF or continue into a text, Word or data-extraction workflow.

Use Cases

Digitize paper archives

Make scanned records searchable without manually typing every page.

Search old documents

Find names, dates and phrases inside image-based PDFs.

Prepare editable documents

Use OCR as the first step before converting scans into editable formats.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does OCR actually do?+

OCR recognizes characters in page images and adds machine-readable text to the document.

Will OCR be 100% accurate?+

No. Accuracy varies with scan quality, language, fonts, skew, noise and page complexity. Review important results.

Can OCR make a PDF searchable?+

Yes. A successful OCR process can add a searchable text layer to an otherwise image-only PDF.

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