make PDF searchable

Use this PDF creator online to make PDF documents searchable. Create searchable PDF online & for free

This tool is best for turning a scanned contract, invoice, receipt, etc into a searchable PDF. All and foremost, as the name suggests, it makes a PDF searchable.That way, you can search for numbers and keywords in the scan by simply using the search function of your PDF reader. In addition, this tool eliminates scanning artifacts, as well as aligns pages and improves quality.

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We use the best encryption methods to protect your data. All documents are automatically deleted from our servers after 60 minutes. If you prefer, you can delete your file manually right after processing by clicking the bin icon.

Settings

To get the best results, select all languages that your files contains.
Enter a name for the output PDF file. If not specified, a randomly generated name will be used.
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Turn any Scanned Image into a Searchable PDF

How to generate a searchable PDF

It is very easy. You don't have to install any software and worry about uninstalling it after use, you just need to chose the files you want to apply character recognition to and then:

  1. Drag and drop your files to the file upload form above. PDF, multi-page TIFF and other image formats are supported.
  2. Select your OCR languages between English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, and others. 120+ languages are supported.)
  3. Click the icon of the loaded document to access additional recognition settings.
  4. Click on Start and let us do the rest.

What is image-only (scanned) PDFs

When scanning hard copy documents on MFPs and office scanners, or when converting a camera image, jpg, tiff or screenshot into a PDF, the content is locked in a snapshot-like image.

Such image-only PDF documents contain just the scanned/photographed images of pages, without an underlying text layer. Consequently, image-only PDF files are not searchable, and their text usually cannot be modified or marked up. An image-only PDF can be made searchable by applying OCR with which a text layer is added, normally under the page image.

What is searchable PDFs

Searchable PDFs usually result through the application of OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to scanned PDFs or other image-based documents. During the text recognition process, characters and the document structure are analyzed and read. A text layer is added to the image layer, usually placed underneath. Such PDF files are almost indistinguishable from the original documents and are fully searchable. Text in searchable PDF documents can be selected, copied, and marked up.