Softonic

Searchable PDF Maker

Step 1 / 3

Choose a scanned PDF

PDF only · 10 MB

PDF only, up to 10 MB and 10 pages

A scanned PDF is really just a stack of images wrapped in a PDF container, so you cannot highlight, copy or search the text. This tool runs optical character recognition over each page in your browser and adds the result as an invisible text layer aligned with the original page. The page artwork stays in place, while Ctrl+F and text selection can use the recognised words. Recognition can make mistakes, and this output is not a tagged accessibility PDF, so check important text against the scan.

How to OCR a scanned PDF

  1. 1

    Upload the scan

    Drop in a scanned PDF (contracts, invoices, archived reports). Printed text works best; handwriting will not.

  2. 2

    Pick the language

    Choose the document language (English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese or Dutch) so the OCR engine loads the right character model.

  3. 3

    Run recognition

    Each page is rendered at high resolution in your browser and passed to the OCR engine. Long documents can take a few minutes.

  4. 4

    Text layer embedded

    Recognised words are placed as an invisible layer aligned with the original page, so every page looks unchanged.

  5. 5

    Download the new PDF

    Get a PDF that keeps the original scans and is now searchable in any modern reader.

When OCR works well (and when it doesn’t)

OCR quality depends on the scan. Always compare important names, figures and legal wording with the original page.

Input What to expect
Clean printed scan Often strong results; proofread important text.
Photo of a printed page Results depend on focus, lighting and page angle.
Old book or faded typewriter print Review the recognised text carefully.
Handwriting or cursive Not supported reliably.
Receipts or thermal-printer output Review numbers and faint characters carefully.
Heavy background bleed Results can be incomplete or inaccurate.

Searchable PDF vs image-only PDF

  • Image-only PDF: pure bitmaps, no text. What your scanner produces by default.
  • Searchable PDF: bitmaps plus an invisible text layer (what this tool outputs). Looks identical, Ctrl+F works.
  • PDF/A: an archival subset of PDF that embeds its fonts and forbids external resources, often required by courts and archives. This tool outputs a normal searchable PDF, not a certified PDF/A; convert and validate with a dedicated PDF/A tool if your workflow requires one.

Tips for best results

  • Start at about 300 DPI. It is often a useful balance between readable detail and processing time. Higher resolution uses more time and memory.
  • Deskew before OCR. Most scanners offer auto-rotate; even a slight tilt can reduce recognition quality.
  • One language per run. The engine recognises a single language at a time, so pick the dominant one. For a bilingual document, run it once per language and keep the better result.
  • Always keep the original. OCR introduces small errors; the invisible layer is a convenience, not evidence.

Frequently Asked Questions

The original page content is preserved. The recognised text is added as an invisible layer aligned with it, so the page artwork should look unchanged. Review the result if exact visual fidelity matters.

Seven Latin-script languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Dutch. Pick the one that matches your document. Scripts such as Cyrillic, Arabic and CJK (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) are not available in this tool.

Not reliably. This tool is intended for printed text. Handwriting recognition is a different technology, so review or transcribe handwritten material separately.

No. The output is a normal searchable PDF: your original page images plus an invisible OCR text layer. It is not a certified PDF/A archival file. If your workflow requires PDF/A, convert and validate the result with a dedicated PDF/A tool.

OCR runs entirely in your browser, so your source PDF is not sent to a server for recognition. A normal local download stays on your device. Only if you choose Create a download page is the finished searchable PDF uploaded to our server; the source PDF stays local, and the uploaded result is retained for up to 7 days.

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