Files are processed in your browser, not uploaded. Privacy →
Deckle
Open a PDF

Make PDF Searchable

Beta

Make a scanned PDF searchable with OCR, adding a hidden text layer you can search, select and copy.

How to make a scanned PDF searchable

  1. Choose a scanned PDF.
  2. Pick the document language: English, German, French or Spanish.
  3. Keep All pages, or choose the pages to read.
  4. Choose whether pages that already have text are skipped or read again.
  5. Press Make searchable, then download the searchable PDF.

Options

Document language
English, German, French or Spanish. Choose the language the pages are written in; the wrong one gives more mistakes.
Pages
All pages, or page numbers and ranges such as 1, 3-5.
Skip these pages
Pages that already have selectable text are left as they are. This is the default.
Read them again
Runs OCR on pages that already have text too. This can add duplicate or incorrect text on top of the existing text.
Undo, Redo and Reset
Step through or clear your language and page choices.

What you get

  • One PDF that looks the same as the original, with invisible recognised text placed over the words on each processed page.
  • You can search, select and copy that text in any PDF reader.
  • Pages you did not select, and readable pages you chose to skip, are unchanged.
  • The result counts how many pages were made searchable and how many already had text.

Limits

  • One PDF at a time.
  • Four languages: English, German, French and Spanish.
  • Pages are read at 300 DPI. On large pages or devices with less memory, a lower resolution is used, down to 120 DPI. A page too large to read at 120 DPI on this device stops the run, and the original stays intact.
  • OCR makes mistakes, especially on poor scans, handwriting and small print.
  • Characters the built-in Helvetica font cannot encode are left out of the text layer.
  • A searchable PDF is not an accessible PDF. No tags or reading order are added.

Check the result

Open the saved PDF, search for a few words you can see on the page and select a line to check the copied text. Look closely at names, numbers and accented characters, and at the last selected page as well as the first.

Questions

Will OCR change how my PDF looks?

No. The recognised text is added as an invisible layer over the page image. The page appearance stays the same.

Which languages are supported?

English, German, French and Spanish. Choose one per run.

Why does Deckle say no OCR was needed?

Every selected page already had selectable text, so it was skipped. Choose Read them again if that text is wrong or incomplete.

How accurate is the text?

It depends on the scan. Clean, straight, high-resolution pages read well; skewed, blurred or handwritten pages produce errors. Check important words before you rely on them.

Can I then convert the scan to Word or text?

Use PDF to Text or PDF to Markdown on the searchable copy to get the recognised text as a file. Word export is not available.

Can I run OCR on only some pages?

Yes. Choose pages and type page numbers or ranges such as 1, 3-5. Other pages are copied into the new PDF unchanged.

Is the PDF uploaded for OCR?

No. Text recognition runs in your browser. The first page takes longer while the recognition engine and language data load.

Related tools