OCR PDF
Recognise text in scanned documents and make them searchable and selectable.
How to use OCR PDF
OCR reads the text in scanned pages and adds it as an invisible layer on top of the image, so the document becomes searchable, selectable and usable by other tools. Premium.
- Upload the scanned PDF.
- Choose the document language, and a page range if you only need part of it.
- Run OCR and download the searchable PDF. The page looks unchanged.
Good to know
- Pick the right language: it affects accuracy more than any other setting.
- Turn on "Enhance faint scans" for faded photocopies or light pencil; leave it off for clean scans.
- Handwriting is generally not recognised.
- Run OCR before PDF to Word, PDF to Excel, Smart Redact, Read Aloud and the AI tools — they all need real text.
Guides
- How to make a PDF smaller for email
- How to scan documents to PDF with your phone
- How to make a scanned PDF searchable
- How to redact a PDF so the text is really gone
- Why PDF to Word gives an empty document (and the fix)
- How to convert a scanned bank statement to Excel
- How to compare two versions of a contract
Questions about OCR PDF
- Is OCR PDF free?
- No. OCR PDF is part of Premium and Business, along with bigger files and batches. The rest of Papermint's tools are free to use.
- Which files can I use?
- PDF files (.pdf). One file at a time.
- What happens to my files?
- They are uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on Papermint's own servers and deleted automatically: after 2 hours if you are not signed in, or 24 hours if you are. "Delete now" on the result removes them straight away. Your documents are not read, shared or sent to other services.
- Do I need to install anything?
- No. OCR PDF runs in your browser on phones, tablets and computers, so there is nothing to download.
- Do I need an account?
- Yes: sign in with a Premium or Business account. You can cancel any time.