Recognize the text in PDFs with OCR

Converting a physical document into editable text is easy with PDF Expert. Our built-in scanner can scan any printed page or photo and turn it into a digital text file in seconds. To scan a document and recognize text in PDF:
- Download PDF Expert for free and launch the app.
- Open a PDF that you want PDF Expert to scan by using the drag-and-drop feature or by simply clicking Select File.
- Click Scan & OCR on the toolbar, then select Recognize text.
- When you OCR PDF to text, PDF Expert automatically detects the main language of the document. If the language was not detected correctly, you can choose a language (if there are several, you can choose among 20 different) and click Recognize…
- In a new pop-up window, choose whether you want to use OCR on all pages, the current page, or certain pages. Then, click Apply.
That’s it! Now, you can copy, highlight, and search the text within the document.

Making a PDF searchable is crucial for efficient document management, allowing you to locate specific information within your files quickly. With PDF Expert, you can transform scanned documents into searchable text in just a few clicks. Here's how to make a PDF searchable:
- Launch PDF Expert and open your PDF file. Drag and drop your PDF into the PDF Expert or click Select File.
- Once your document is open, navigate to the toolbar and click on the Scan & OCR option. - Start the OCR process by clicking Recognize Text.
- Once the OCR is complete, you can easily search for specific words or phrases by using the search bar at the upper right corner of the app. Simply start typing, and PDF Expert will instantly find a match in the PDF so that you can highlight important sections or copy text as needed.

PDF Expert supports OCR for various file formats, including PDF, JPEG, PNG, and Word. Simply open any of these file types in PDF Expert, and you can use the OCR feature to recognize the text.

Yes, PDF Expert allows you to process multiple documents for OCR simultaneously. This process saves time and ensures all your documents are searchable. By merging files and applying OCR, you can efficiently manage multiple documents in one go. Here's how you can do it:
- First, merge the files you want to OCR. Open PDF Expert and click File > Merge Files. Add the documents you wish to combine and merge them into a single PDF file.
- Once the files are merged, click on Scan & OCR in the toolbar.
- Select the language of the text in your document from the available options and click Recognize Text to begin the OCR process.