OCR PDF
Make text in scanned PDFs selectable, searchable and editable.
How do I ocr pdf?
Quick Answer: Upload your scanned PDF document. Select the language of the text inside the document for better accuracy. Download your new, fully searchable and selectable PDF.
How to use OCR PDF
- Upload your scanned PDF document.
- Select the language of the text inside the document for better accuracy.
- Download your new, fully searchable and selectable PDF.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is OCR?
OCR stands for Optical Character Recognition. It's a technology that reads text inside images or scanned documents and converts it into selectable, searchable computer text.
Does OCR work on handwritten text?
Our OCR engine is highly accurate for printed text. Handwritten text may yield varying results depending on legibility.
Can I copy text from the OCR'd document?
Absolutely. Once processed, you can highlight, copy, and paste text directly from the PDF just like a normal document.
OCR PDF — Specifications
- Free file size limit
- 10 MB per request
- Pro file size limit
- 100 MB (OCR is memory-intensive)
- Price
- Free — Pro from $4.99/month
- Watermark
- None, on any plan
- Account required
- No
- Transfer security
- 256-bit SSL
- File retention
- Deleted automatically within 2 hours
- Installation
- None — runs in the browser
- Platforms
- Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, ChromeOS
- Input formats
- PDF, scanned images
- Output formats
- Searchable PDF, plain text, or table extraction
- Engine
- Tesseract 5
- Languages
- 25, including Urdu, Arabic, Persian, Hindi, Bengali, Punjabi, Chinese, Japanese and Korean
- Right-to-left scripts
- Supported — Urdu, Arabic and Persian use a dedicated layout mode
When to use OCR PDF
- Making a scanned archive searchable so you can find a clause by keyword.
- Turning an Urdu or Arabic scan into selectable, copyable text — right-to-left scripts most free tools do not attempt.
- Extracting figures from a photographed invoice or statement.
- Preparing a scan for conversion to Word or Excel, which need a text layer to work at all.
Troubleshooting OCR PDF
Accuracy was poor.
OCR quality depends on the scan. 300 DPI, straight pages and good contrast make the biggest difference; a photo taken at an angle is the hardest case. Straighten the page and rescan before assuming the text cannot be read.
Which languages are supported?
25 languages including Urdu, Arabic, Persian, Hindi, Bengali, Punjabi, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and the major European languages. The picker only lists what this server can actually run, so anything shown will work.
My Urdu or Arabic text came out in the wrong order.
Select the language explicitly rather than leaving it on English. Right-to-left scripts use a different layout mode that only engages when the language is set.
The file was rejected as too large.
OCR is capped at 100MB even on Pro because it holds each page in memory. Split the document and run it in parts.
Related tools
Is TheyLovePDF a free alternative to iLovePDF for OCR PDF?
Yes. TheyLovePDF runs OCR PDF free in the browser with no watermark, no account, and no daily operation cap. Files travel over 256-bit SSL and are deleted automatically within 2 hours.
Free iLovePDF Alternative — OCR PDF
iLovePDF limits free accounts to a set number of tasks per day and asks you to sign in for larger files. TheyLovePDF applies no daily task limit, adds no watermark, and requires no account for files up to 10MB — Pro raises that to 2GB. Both run entirely in the browser; neither needs an install.