PDF OCR - Recognize text - easily, online, free (2024)

PDF24Tools

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PDF24 Creator

Recognize text via OCR and create searchable PDF files.

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Information

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How to recognize text

Select your files you want to apply OCR for or drop the files into the file box. Modify the settings and start the OCR. After a few seconds you can download your new searchable PDF files.

OCR settings

You can modify several settings to control the OCR process. You can save as PDF/A, remove artefacts and noise, deskew pages, set meta information and join to a single output file.

Easy to use

PDF24 makes it as easy as possible for you to recognize text via OCR. You don't need to install and worry about any software, you just have to choose your files you want to apply OCR for.

Supports your system

You do not need any special system to recognize text via OCR. This OCR app runs in your browser and therefore functions under all operating systems. Just drop your files and start OCR.

No installation required

You don't need to download or install any software. The text is recognized on our servers in the cloud and therefore will not consume any resources from your computer.

Security is important to us

This OCR tool does not store your files on our server longer than necessary. Your files and results will be deleted from our server after a short period of time. File transmissions are SSL secured.

Developed by Stefan Ziegler

What others are saying

This tool allows me to apply OCR to my scanned documents and invoices very easily. I get a searchable PDF/A back for archiving.
I use this tool to convert images and photos taken with my smart-phone into searchable PDFs, so that I can search and copy text.

Questions and Answers

How can I recognize text in files using OCR?

  1. Use the file selection box at the top of the page to select the files in which you want to recognize text.
  2. Change the settings to tell the app how the text recognition should work.
  3. Start the recognition by pressing the corresponding button.
  4. Press the Download button to save the PDFs with recognized text to your computer.

Is it secure to use PDF24 Tools?

PDF24 takes the protection of files and data very seriously. We want our users to be able to trust us. Security aspects are therefore a permanent part of our work.

  1. All file transfers are encrypted.
  2. All files are automatically deleted from the processing server within one hour after processing.
  3. We do not store files and do not evaluate them. Files will only be used for the intended purpose.
  4. PDF24 is operated by a German company, Geek Software GmbH. All processing servers are located in data centres within the EU.
  5. Alternatively, you can get a desktop version of the PDF24 tools with the PDF24 Creator. All files remain on your computer here, as this software works offline.

Can I use PDF24 on a Mac, Linux or Smartphone?

Yes, you can use PDF24 Tools on any system with which you have access to the Internet. Open PDF24 Tools in a web browser such as Chrome and use the tools directly in the web browser. You do not need to install any other software.

You can also install PDF24 as an app on your smartphone. To do so, open the PDF24 Tools in Chrome on your smartphone. Then click on the "Install" icon in the upper right corner of the address bar or add PDF24 to your start screen via the Chrome menu.

Can I use PDF24 offline without an Internet connection?

Yes, Windows users can also use PDF24 offline, i.e. without an Internet connection. Simply download the free PDF24 Creator and install the software. The PDF24 Creator brings all PDF24 tools to your PC as a desktop application. Users of other operating systems should continue to use PDF24 Tools.

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PDF OCR - Recognize text - easily, online, free (2024)

FAQs

How do I recognize text in a scanned PDF document free? ›

How To Do OCR on PDF for Free
  1. ​​Import or drag & drop your file to our PDF OCR tool.
  2. Wait a few seconds while our OCR tech works its magic.
  3. Edit the PDF with our other tools if needed.
  4. Download or share your editable PDF file—done!

What is the best free PDF OCR online? ›

Consider using Xodo if you're looking for a reliable PDF OCR conversion tool. Xodo enables you to easily convert your scanned PDF into an editable TXT file directly in your browser.

How do I recognize text in a PDF using OCR? ›

Open Scan and OCR Tool

If you open a PDF with un-recognized text, click the main document of the PDF. From the menu, choose Recognize Text. This will open the Scan and OCR tool. You can also right click the main document and choose Recognize Text from the menu.

How to make a PDF OCR searchable? ›

To make a PDF searchable using Adobe Acrobat, you can follow these steps:
  1. Open Adobe Acrobat on your computer.
  2. Click Open.
  3. Find and select the document you want to make searchable, then click Open.
  4. Head to Tools and select Recognize Text.
  5. Press PDF Output Style Searchable Image.
  6. Select OK.

Is there a free app that reads text from PDF? ›

Speech Central AI Voice Reader Pro is a free with in-app purchases audio PDF reader available on IOS, Mac, Android, and Microsoft platforms. It offers text to speech capabilities for various content types, OCR scanning, the ability to annotate documents, synchronization with Pocket, and export options.

Which PDF editor detects text? ›

OCR stands for "Optical Character Recognition", this tool recognizes text within a digital image. It is commonly used to recognize text in scanned documents and images. PDFSimpli uses the latest technology to help you edit any image using OCR software.

Is there a free OCR? ›

FreeOCR is software for Windows that allows most scanned PDF's and multi page Tiff images to be outputted either as plain text or as a Microsoft Word document. It can also scan text from other image files. The software is free to use, even for commercial purposes.

Is Adobe Acrobat OCR free? ›

Free OCR PDF tools are now available and they allow static content to transform into a smart, searchable file.

Is Easy OCR free? ›

EasyOCR is a free developer-friendly OCR "Optical Character Recognition" that supports 80+ languages including Latin, Chinese, Arabic, and Cyrillic.

How to detect text using OCR? ›

Applying OCR:

Loop through each contour and take the x and y coordinates and the width and height using the function cv2. boundingRect(). Then draw a rectangle in the image using the function cv2. rectangle() with the help of obtained x and y coordinates and the width and height.

How do I unmask text in a PDF? ›

You can undo text that you blacked out in Acrobat by following these steps:
  1. Click the Edit tab at the top of the screen.
  2. Select Redact Text & Images.
  3. Remove redactions.

How to OCR a PDF in Google Docs? ›

Log in to Google Drive on your browser.
  1. Select New > File upload to open the File Explorer window.
  2. Select the target scanned PDF file here and then click Open.
  3. Scroll to select the uploaded file, right-click it, and then select Open with > Google Docs.
  4. Wait for the Google Docs OCR (Google Drive OCR) process to complete.
Jun 9, 2023

How to OCR a PDF for free? ›

To start, drop your file (more than 100 formats are supported) or upload it from your device or your cloud storage service. Select your OCR languages between English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese. Click on the Start OCR button.

What is the difference between OCR and searchable PDF? ›

The basic function of a searchable-PDF is to make image-based PDFs text-searchable. To do this, OCR (Optimal Character Recognition) is applied to the document. This recognition tool is able to read handwritten text in a variety of fonts and digitise it for use on a computer. OCR technology dates back to the 1970s.

Why is OCR not working on PDF? ›

There are several common reasons why OCR might fail to recognize text in a PDF. Addressing these common pitfalls can significantly improve OCR performance and ensure more accurate text recognition: Image quality. Low-resolution scans, poor image clarity, or text distortion can hamper OCR accuracy.

How to find words in scanned PDF? ›

All it takes is a few simple steps, and you'll be done quickly!
  1. Step 1: Open PDF and Access to the OCR Icon. Click on "Open File" to import the PDF. ...
  2. Step 2: Turn the Scanned PDF into Searchable. Once installed, click the same "Recognize Text Using OCR" button again. ...
  3. Step 3: Search Words in the Scanned PDF.
Nov 1, 2023

How do you Scan a PDF and read text? ›

To get the text from the image, follow these steps to apply OCR: Open a PDF file containing a scanned image in Adobe Acrobat for Mac or PC. Click the Edit PDF tool in the right pane. Acrobat automatically applies OCR to your document and converts it to a fully editable copy of your PDF.

How do I know if text is embedded in a PDF? ›

To check that your fonts are embedded in Adobe Acrobat, go to File on the top menu and select Properties… then select the Fonts tab, this will list the font used in the document. You want to check that they are either (Embedded) or (Embedded Subset).

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