About Scanned PDF to Text
A scanned PDF holds pictures of pages, so you can't select, search or copy its text. This tool renders every page at scanning resolution and reads it with Tesseract, an open-source OCR engine, then saves all the text in one file. Pages that already contain real text are read directly, which is faster and exact, so mixed documents work well too. Choose which pages to read, the resolution and the text layout, and add a marker before each page if you like.
How to Use It
- 01
Add a scanned PDF
Drop the PDF into the box, or tap to choose it.
- 02
Choose pages
Keep all pages or pick a range. 300 dpi suits most scans; use 400 for small print.
- 03
Get the text
Press Extract Text. Copy it from the preview, or download the .txt file.
Questions
How long does it take?
Usually a few seconds per page on a laptop and longer on phones. The first run also downloads the OCR engine, about 7 MB, once.
Does it create a searchable PDF?
Not yet. It saves the recognised text as a .txt file you can copy, search and edit.
Which languages does it read?
English. Scans in other languages may give poor results.
Why are there mistakes in the text?
OCR depends on scan quality. Skewed, faint or low-resolution scans, handwriting and decorative fonts cause errors. Try a higher resolution, and check names and numbers.
Is my PDF uploaded?
No. Pages are rendered and recognised in your browser, so the PDF stays on your device.