PDF OCR Scanner
Run OCR on scanned PDFs to extract a searchable, copy-ready text layer. 100+ languages. Free, no signup.
Key Features
- Creates true searchable PDFs with invisible text layer — original scan appearance preserved
- Tesseract.js OCR engine — same engine used by Google Drive, running entirely in your browser
- 100+ language support including Arabic, Hebrew (RTL), Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and 94 more
- Auto-deskew — corrects pages scanned at slight angles before OCR for improved accuracy
- Contrast enhancement — improves OCR accuracy on light, faded, or uneven scans
- Confidence scoring — marks uncertain words so you can review low-confidence extractions
- Processes up to 200 pages per PDF
- Searchable output compatible with Adobe Acrobat, Preview, Chrome, and all PDF readers
About PDF OCR Scanner
PDF OCR Scanner makes scanned PDFs searchable and copy-pasteable by running Optical Character Recognition (OCR) on image-based pages and embedding an invisible text layer behind the visuals. The original scan appearance is preserved exactly — you still see the scanned image — but now you can select text, search with Ctrl+F, and copy content to the clipboard. The tool uses Tesseract.js (a WebAssembly port of Google's open-source Tesseract OCR engine) running entirely in your browser. It supports 100+ languages including right-to-left scripts (Arabic, Hebrew), CJK ideographs (Chinese, Japanese, Korean), and Cyrillic. Each page is deskewed and contrast-enhanced before OCR to improve accuracy on low-quality scans.
Most online OCR tools replace your scan with extracted text, destroying the original layout. This tool creates a true searchable PDF — the scan image stays on the page exactly as-is, with an invisible OCR text layer positioned behind each word. The result is indistinguishable from the original visually, but fully text-searchable — the same format produced by professional document scanners.
Who Uses This Tool
- Making years of archived paper documents searchable after batch scanning
- Creating searchable versions of textbooks and academic papers scanned as image PDFs
- Adding searchability to scanned legal documents for case management systems
- Enabling text selection in scanned invoices and receipts for bookkeeping
- Making government-issued identity documents searchable for data entry workflows
- Converting scanned medical records into searchable PDFs for EHR systems
How to Use PDF OCR Scanner
- Step 1: Upload your scanned PDF (the one that shows images but can't be searched or selected)
- Step 2: Choose the document language to improve OCR accuracy
- Step 3: Click "Run OCR" — each page is processed and a text layer is embedded
- Step 4: Download the new searchable PDF — it looks identical but is now fully searchable
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between PDF OCR Scanner and the OCR PDF tool?
PDF OCR Scanner creates a searchable PDF with an invisible text layer behind the original scan. The OCR PDF tool extracts text to a text file or editable format. Use PDF OCR Scanner when you want to keep the scanned look but add searchability.
Will the scanned appearance change?
No — the original scan image is preserved exactly. Only an invisible text layer is added behind it.
How accurate is the OCR?
Tesseract achieves 95–99% character accuracy on clean, standard-font scans. Accuracy drops on handwriting, very small fonts, or low-resolution scans below 150 DPI.
Does it work on multi-language documents?
You can specify a primary language. For mixed-language documents, use the "auto-detect" option which runs multiple language models.