Make a scanned PDF searchable with OCR
Recognise words in scanned pages so you can search, select, copy and mark up the text without changing the visible scan.
Open the scanned PDF
Add the PDF, arrange the pages you want to keep, then continue to Customise.
Open Recognise text
Choose Finish, then Recognise text. Select Current page or All included pages.
Choose the language and run OCR
Open Advanced settings when you need a different installed recognition language, then choose Recognise pages and wait for processing to finish.
Check and export
Search for important words and try selecting or copying them. Correct your source or rerun recognition if needed, then export the PDF and check it again.
Common questions
What happens after printing a document into the app?
Recognition can continue in the background while you work in Customise. When the Text recognition complete notification appears, choose Reload viewer to make the recognised text selectable and searchable. Dismiss or the close button hides only the notification; you can still use Finish → Load recognised text later without rerunning recognition. If some pages were skipped, the notification says so and you can load text from the successful pages. Continuing to Review also uses the ready text.
Does OCR change how the scan looks?
No. It adds a searchable text layer while leaving the visible scanned page unchanged.
Can I edit the recognised lettering?
OCR makes words searchable and selectable; it does not turn the visible scan into editable PDF text.