A PDF OCR text extractor uses optical character recognition to read text from scanned PDFs — documents that were scanned as images rather than created digitally. Unlike regular text extraction, OCR analyzes the visual pattern of each letter to convert the image into editable, searchable text.
Upload Scanned PDF
Drop a scanned PDF here or
Works best with scanned documents (image-based PDFs)
document.pdf
Separate pages with commas, ranges with dashes (e.g. 1-3, 5, 7-9)
OCR Progress
Extracted Text
How to Extract Text from Scanned PDFs Using OCR
Scanned PDFs are essentially images embedded in a PDF container — the text is not stored as text, it's stored as pixels. To make that text readable and searchable, you need Optical Character Recognition (OCR), which analyzes the visual pattern of characters and converts them into machine-readable text.
Step 1: Upload Your Scanned PDF
Click "Choose PDF File" or drag your scanned PDF onto the upload area. The tool reads the file locally using PDF.js to determine the page count and file size. Nothing is uploaded to any server at this stage — or any stage.
Step 2: Select Pages (Optional)
By default, OCR runs on all pages. For large documents where you only need text from specific pages, select "Specific pages" and enter a page range (e.g., "1-5, 8, 11-13"). This saves significant processing time for long scanned documents.
Step 3: Start OCR
Click "Start OCR." On first use, the tool downloads Tesseract.js — the most popular open-source OCR library, used by major enterprises worldwide. The ~6MB download happens once and is cached locally by your browser. Progress shows which page is currently being processed.
Step 4: Copy or Download the Text
Once complete, the extracted text appears in a scrollable text area. Use "Copy" to copy it to your clipboard, or "Download .txt" to save it as a plain text file. The text preserves the reading order detected by the OCR engine.
Tips for Better OCR Accuracy
For best results: use PDFs scanned at 300 DPI or higher; ensure the document is right-side up; avoid heavily compressed images. This PDF OCR tool works well for typed text in standard fonts. Handwriting and unusual typefaces will have lower accuracy — they require specialized handwriting recognition models.
FAQ
How is OCR different from regular PDF text extraction?
Regular PDF text extraction reads text that was digitally created and stored in the PDF structure. OCR (Optical Character Recognition) reads text from scanned images — it analyzes the visual pattern of letters and converts them to text. Scanned PDFs look like images to computers; OCR is required to make the text readable.
How accurate is browser-based OCR?
Tesseract.js achieves very good accuracy (90%+) on clean, high-resolution scans of typed text. Accuracy decreases for handwriting, unusual fonts, low-resolution scans, or heavily compressed images. For best results, use scans at 300 DPI or higher.
Why does it need to download data on first use?
Tesseract.js loads approximately 6MB of language model data (about 2MB WASM engine + 4MB English language data) on first use. This is downloaded once and cached by your browser. Subsequent uses on the same device are faster. The data is used locally — nothing is sent to any server.
How long does OCR take?
OCR time depends on page count and scan quality. A single clear page typically takes 5–15 seconds in the browser. A 10-page document may take 1–3 minutes. The progress bar shows download progress and per-page recognition status. Keep the browser tab active for best performance.
Can I select specific pages to OCR?
Yes — use the page range option to specify individual pages (e.g., '1,3,5') or ranges (e.g., '1-5'). This is useful for large documents where you only need text from certain pages, saving time by skipping unnecessary OCR.
Is my PDF sent to any server?
No. All OCR processing happens entirely in your browser using WebAssembly. Your PDF file never leaves your device. This makes it safe to use with confidential documents, medical records, or any sensitive scanned material.