What does PDF OCR do?
OCR (optical character recognition) reads the text in a scanned page and adds an invisible text layer behind the image. The PDF looks the same, but you can now search it, select text, and copy it.
PDF Tools
Make scanned PDFs searchable by extracting their text.
Choose a scanned or photographed PDF, or drag it into the box.
Craftora reads the text on every page and adds an invisible text layer.
Download your searchable PDF. Use Ctrl+F to find words and select text to copy.
OCR (optical character recognition) reads the text in a scanned page and adds an invisible text layer behind the image. The PDF looks the same, but you can now search it, select text, and copy it.
Upload the scanned PDF, click Make Searchable, and download the result. Open it and press Ctrl+F to search for any word.
English text is supported right now. Support for more languages is planned.
Clear, straight, well-lit scans give the best results. Blurry photos, handwriting, or very small print may have some errors.
Once your PDF has a text layer, you can convert it to Word or Excel with Craftora to get fully editable text and tables.
OCR reads every page as an image, which takes much more server power than other conversions. A free account gets 10 OCR jobs per day.
JPG, PNG, and WebP all store images, but picking the wrong one gives you blurry photos, huge files, or lost transparency. Here is exactly when to use each, in plain English.
Read guide →A large PDF is a pain to email or upload, but most compressors either barely shrink it or turn your crisp text into a blurry mess. Here is how to reduce PDF file size while keeping it looking clean.
Read guide →Combining several PDFs into one file used to mean paid software or uploading private documents to a stranger server. Here is the faster, safer way to merge PDF files for free.
Read guide →