OCR PDF

Add searchable text to scanned PDFs with OCR. Supports 11 languages. Free, no signup, up to 200MB.

3 free operations remaining today

Drop your scanned PDF here

Add a searchable text layer — up to 200 MB

Browse files

Step by step

How to OCR a PDF

Smart PDF Lab adds searchable text to scanned PDFs in three steps with no software install.

Upload your PDF.

Drop your scanned PDF or click Browse files to upload documents up to 200MB.

Choose your OCR language.

Select from 11 supported languages for accurate text recognition.

Download the searchable PDF.

Save your file with a hidden text layer that makes content searchable and copyable.

Why Smart PDF Lab

Why Run OCR With Smart PDF Lab

Smart PDF Lab makes scanned PDFs searchable, copyable, and accessible at no cost. Scanned documents look like text but are actually images, which means search, copy-paste, screen readers, and indexing tools cannot find a single word inside them. OCR adds an invisible text layer matched to the visual content, turning image-based PDFs into fully searchable documents. Use this for old contracts, scanned books, archived records, legal exhibits, or any document that needs to be searchable. Files up to 200MB, no signup, no watermark, no paywall on languages.

Reference

OCR Language Support

Smart PDF Lab recognizes text in 11 languages with high accuracy:

European

English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch — major Latin-script languages with full diacritics support.

Arabic

Right-to-left script recognized end to end.

CJK

Chinese (Simplified), Japanese, and Korean — handles mixed character sets and punctuation.

Hybrid pages

Pages that already contain text are skipped automatically, so mixed digital + scanned PDFs only OCR what needs it.

High accuracy

95% or higher recognition on clean, high-resolution scans.

Quality caveats

Accuracy drops on handwriting, faded text, or scans below 200 DPI.

What is the difference between OCR PDF and PDF to Word?

OCR PDF keeps the original PDF format and adds a searchable text layer. PDF to Word converts the whole document to an editable DOCX file. Use OCR when you want to keep the PDF, use PDF to Word when you need to edit.

How accurate is the OCR conversion?

Clean, high-resolution scans typically achieve 95% or higher accuracy. Accuracy drops with low-resolution scans, handwriting, complex layouts, or faded source documents.

Are my scanned documents private?

Yes. Files upload through HTTPS-encrypted connections, process on our servers, and auto-delete the moment OCR completes. No content is stored or analyzed.

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