Join millions of users who have successfully applied OCR to a PDF using Acrobat.
Key takeaways.
- Use our free OCR converter for your PDFs. Upload, convert and share in an instant.
- Transfer PDF text into a searchable document you can edit and update.
- Adobe invented the PDF format. Our robust PDF conversion tools are quick, simple, and reliable to use across all devices and browsers.
What is OCR software?
Applying OCR (optical character recognition) to a PDF will convert non-editable images and text into an editable, searchable, machine-readable document. All you need to do is upload a PDF into OCR software to convert your file and download your new document.
It’s used across a variety of industries and settings. Thanks to its text recognition technology, you can turn static images or scanned documents into fully functioning text that you can search, copy, highlight and even rewrite as you need.
How to use our free OCR software to edit PDF text
Adobe’s free online PDF OCR software can help you find, copy and edit scanned text in a flash. Here’s how to do it.
- Drag and drop your PDF into the grey-dotted drop box or click the Select a file button underneath.
- Choose a PDF document that you want to scan with OCR, so that you can easily search, edit and interact with the text.
- Once the file is uploaded, Adobe Acrobat will use optical character recognition to scan the text in your document.
- Sign in to your Adobe Account to share your PDF or download it.
Try our free PDF OCR online tool
Here’s how our online OCR to PDF converter can help you save time and work smarter with your documents:
Instant optical character recognition
Make manual data entry a thing of the past. With optical character recognition (OCR), Acrobat automatically extracts text from any scanned document or image file and converts it to editable text in a PDF.
Make PDF text easy to search
Search for words or key phrases in your documents, saving you time and effort. OCR is also compatible with screen readers, increasing accessibility.
Preserves your fonts and formatting
Acrobat can recognise text and its formatting to retain the exact layout of your documents. Your new PDF will match your original printout thanks to automatic customised font generation.
No need to install extra OCR software
You can access Adobe Acrobat from a web browser with no downloads or installs. From there, you can export it to a Microsoft Word (DOCX) document, PowerPoint file (PPT), Excel spreadsheet (XLS) , or a plain text document (TXT).
Trusted security and privacy
We’ll keep your OCR PDF files safe, encrypted and compliant with GDPR.
The best online OCR reader
We've been innovating the PDF format since its inception, which means you can trust the quality of our OCR tools.
OCR examples and use cases
- Education. If your company has courses as part of training and development, it’s easy to scan printed textbooks and turn them into searchable resources. This is handy in the exam-heavy world of medicine, law and engineering.
- Branded assets. Brands can digitise their marketing materials or signage to turn print assets into editable formats. You can then repurpose them into social campaigns or digital promotions.
- Sharing creative ideas. For designers and creatives, OCR PDF scanners make it easy to extract text from mood board clippings or scanned sketches and convert it into editable copy for presentations and social content.
- Book digitisation. If your company has old publications, magazines, or books, make them digital so you can easily search through them.
- Data extraction. OCR can pull invoice data into spreadsheets, perfect for tracking finance and inventory. Use our PDF to Excel tool to organise your data.
- Quick translation. Snap a photo of a foreign-language menu or sign, run OCR, and then paste the result into a translation tool. Perfect for multi-market businesses or trips abroad.
- Legal/compliance. Lawyers can digitise contracts or government documents using an OCR text scanner for archiving, full-text search or editing.
Key considerations when applying OCR to a PDF.
When you convert a PDF with OCR, it helps to follow a few simple tips to get the most accurate and useful results. Here are a few considerations.
- Accurate results. OCR works best on clear, crisp text. So, if you’re scanning a physical document, make sure to scan it in high resolution. Likewise, ink and coffee stains on the page can obscure text and make it difficult to scan.
- Language. Make sure your OCR software knows the language of the document – this helps it know exactly which characters and dictionary to use in its scan. You’ll often find this in settings such as “language” or “recognise text in” fields.
- Output types. Be specific as to what you want from the result. Do you want a searchable image, editable text, or both?
- Image processing features. Some OCR software can offer features like de-skewing pages and binarization to help format and clarify the PDF. Be sure to research its full capabilities before you get started.
Questions? We have answers.
Yes, you can recognise text in files that aren’t PDFs with Adobe Acrobat Pro. With a 7-day free trial, you can use OCR on image formats like PNG, JPG, and TIFF.
The trial also unlocks advanced PDF features, including sensitive text redaction, web form creation and e-signature tracking.
Optical character recognition has several important benefits, including:
- Accuracy
- Cost effectiveness
- Speed.
However, OCR PDF text recognition can sometimes struggle to identify more complex text and characters. So, while OCR is an excellent tool, it isn’t always a failsafe one.
ICR, or Intelligent Character Recognition, is a form of OCR. Crucially, though, it can read different languages, fonts, sizes, and styles – including hand-written notes. While it’s like OCR, it uses more advanced algorithms and features.
Read more about the differences between OCR and ICR.
Yes, ChatGPT can perform OCR. Acrobat in ChatGPT offers a secure and intuitive way to edit documents with simple prompts.
Just upload your PDF or scan as an attachment to the programme using the paperclip or plus icon. Be specific in your prompt to get the best results, specifying exactly what you want extracted, the end file format, and anything else required.
Explore our guide on how to use ChatGPT for PDF editing to learn more.
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