Make scanned PDF text searchable

Students, legal professionals and administrative teams can work with a scan when they need to search or copy its written content.

Turn a scanned PDF into searchable, copyable text with OCR, making a specific detail easier to find and a passage ready to reuse.

How to use

Prepare a scanned PDF whose text is not yet searchable.
Add the PDF while respecting the 64 MB limit indicated in the interface.
Choose the recognition language from the available options, such as French, English, German, Spanish or Italian.
Run recognition, then download the PDF and test a search in the resulting text.
Open the document and check a few passages before reusing the recognized text.

Example

A student receives a scanned course PDF. They apply OCR with French selected so they can search for a specific term and copy a passage into their notes. They then proofread the copied passage before using it.

Limits and formats

Recognition quality depends on scan sharpness, page orientation and the language selected.
OCR may make errors on handwriting, complex tables or very noisy documents.
Proofread important passages before reusing recognized text in an official document.
A heavily skewed scan or low resolution can greatly reduce the quality of the resulting text.

Where processing happens

The PDF is sent to the YOORfree compute server for OCR. It is processed in memory without disk writing on the gateway, then deleted when the operation ends. The file and the result are kept for at most 15 minutes by default on the web server before removal. No name or content is logged, and no third party is involved.

Frequently asked questions

Which languages can I choose for OCR?

The interface offers French and English together, then French, English, German, Spanish and Italian separately. Pick the main language of the document to improve recognition.

Will my scanned PDF become copyable?

Yes. OCR adds a searchable text layer to the PDF. You can then select and copy the recognized text, provided the scan quality is good enough.

What should I do if the recognized text has errors?

Proofread important passages and correct them in your destination document. For better results, use a straight, high-contrast scan and choose the right language.