How to Make a Scanned PDF Editable with OCR

OCR for Scanned Documents

Scanned PDFs are essentially images — you can't select, copy, or edit the text. UnblockPDF's OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology converts these images into searchable, editable text.

When to Use OCR

Use OCR when you have a scanned document, a photo of a page, or any PDF where the text is not selectable. This is common with documents received from scanners, fax machines, or cameras.

How OCR Works

Our OCR engine analyzes each page, identifies text characters in the images, and creates a text layer over the original scan. The visual appearance stays the same, but now you can search, select, and copy the text.

Supported Languages

Our OCR supports multiple languages and can handle documents with mixed languages on the same page.

Related Tools