Use OCR to extract the text content from scanned PDFs. Get plain text or formatted output ready for editing and reuse.
You have a scanned document and need the text — not to view it, but to use it. Copy it into another document, edit it, analyze it, or feed it into another system.
OCR text extraction reads the page images and outputs the recognized text as usable content. No more retyping entire documents.
Convert scanned PDFs into searchable and editable documents.
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Maximum file size: 20MB (OCR limit)
OCR text extraction applies optical character recognition to scanned PDF pages and outputs the recognized text as a standalone text file or formatted document. Unlike making a PDF searchable (which keeps the PDF format), text extraction gives you the raw text content — separated from the original page images — in a format you can directly edit, copy, or process.
Use cases include:
Extracting text from scanned contracts for editing or comparison.
Getting text from scanned research papers for citation and reference.
Extracting data from scanned forms for entry into a database.
Converting scanned letters or correspondence into editable documents.
Extracting text from scanned invoices for accounting data entry.
Extracted text is immediately usable for editing, data entry, or further processing.
Upload, recognize, download the text.
Upload your scanned PDF.
Select the document language and output format (plain text or Word).
Download the extracted text file.
Upload, select language and format, download the text.
Each page image is processed by the OCR engine. Character recognition produces text with position and confidence data.
Recognized text is assembled in reading order, preserving paragraph structure where possible.
The text is written to the selected output format — plain text or Word document — and made available for download.
Text extraction and searchable PDF creation use the same OCR engine but produce different outputs.
Searchable PDF: OCR text is embedded as an invisible layer in the PDF. Output is a PDF file with the original image plus a text layer.
Text extraction: OCR text is written to a standalone text file or Word document. Output is the text content only, without the original page images.
Text extraction is better when you need to edit, process, or reuse the content. Searchable PDF is better when you need to preserve the original document appearance.
When you need the content, not the document format.
You get a tool that’s:
When you need the content, not the format, text extraction is the direct path.
Convert PDF to editable Word documents. Preserves formatting, tables, and images.
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Find answers to common questions about our PDF tools
Making a PDF searchable adds a text layer to the PDF file — the output is still a PDF. Extracting text gives you the recognized text as plain text or a Word document — the output is the text content, not a PDF. Use text extraction when you need to work with the content, not just search it.
Extracted text is typically provided as plain text (.txt) or can be formatted into a Word document (.docx). Plain text loses formatting; Word format attempts to preserve paragraph structure.
Table extraction accuracy varies. Simple tables with clear borders are handled reasonably well. Complex tables with merged cells, nested tables, or borderless layouts are harder to extract accurately. For precise table data, our PDF to Excel tool is more specialized.
Yes. You can specify which pages to extract text from rather than processing the entire document.
For clean scans with standard fonts, accuracy is typically 95–99%. Accuracy decreases with poor scan quality, unusual fonts, or complex layouts.
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