PDF OCR - Make Scanned PDFs Searchable
Add searchable text layer to scanned documents with automatic language detection.
Drop up to 50 PDF files at once — no install, no sign-up required.
Drop PDF Files Here
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How it works
- 1 · Drop your files
Drag & drop or choose PDF files. No account required on Free—paid plans unlock bigger batches, higher limits, and priority queues.
- 2 · We OCR securely
Processed on our dedicated servers. Encrypted in transit & at rest. All pages are OCR'd for consistent, searchable results. We never store filenames—only file types & sizes for accounting. We never train AI models on uploads.
- 3 · Download & auto-delete
Grab your searchable PDFs in seconds. Text is now selectable and searchable. Files delete automatically after 1 hour. Delete anytime after downloading with one click.
PDF (Portable Document Format) is Adobe's universal document standard, designed to present text, images, and layout consistently across any device or platform. First released in 1993 and later standardized as ISO 32000, PDF supports vector graphics, embedded fonts, forms, annotations, and encryption. It has become the de facto format for document exchange, digital publishing, and archival—billions of PDFs are created daily worldwide.
Learn more: PDF on Wikipedia
PDF excels at preserving document fidelity and works universally—every operating system and browser includes native PDF support. For long-term archival or regulatory compliance, PDF/A is the appropriate variant.
About OCR Technology
OCR (Optical Character Recognition) analyzes images of text and converts them into machine-readable characters. Our system uses Tesseract OCR, the most widely-used open-source OCR engine, trusted by organizations worldwide.
Learn more: OCR on Wikipedia
The OCR process adds an invisible text layer to your PDF while preserving the original scanned images. This makes your documents fully searchable (Ctrl+F works!) and allows copy-paste of text content.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is PDF OCR and when do I need it?
How does automatic language detection work?
Will OCR change how my document looks?
What languages are supported?
We support 20+ languages including:
- European: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Turkish, Ukrainian
- Asian: Chinese (Simplified & Traditional), Japanese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, Hindi, Filipino
- Other: Russian, Arabic
For documents with multiple languages, select the primary language or use auto-detection.
What do the Deskew and Clean options do?
Deskew automatically straightens pages that were scanned at a slight angle. This significantly improves OCR accuracy for crooked scans.
Clean removes noise, specks, and artifacts from scanned images before OCR processing. Enable this for documents scanned from old or damaged paper, but disable it for documents with small text or fine details that might be mistaken for noise.
How accurate is the OCR?
What are the limits for this converter?
| Tier | Max File Size | Max Files/Batch | Parallel Processing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | 50 MB | 50 files | 3 at once |
| Pro | 200 MB | 200 files | 6 at once |
| Business | 1024 MB | 1000 files | 10 at once |
Note: File size limits are specific to this converter. Batch and parallel processing limits apply to all documents converters site-wide. See all converter limits →
How are credits calculated for this conversion?
Cost: 1 credit per 10 MB
How it works:
- Files up to 10 MB: 1 credit (minimum)
- 11-20 MB: 2 credits
- 21-30 MB: 3 credits
- 31-40 MB: 4 credits
- Over 1024 MB: 103 credits (maximum cap)
Example: A 5 MB document = 1 credit. A 95 MB document = 10 credits.
Why per-megabyte? Larger files require more resources (processing, bandwidth, storage).
What are my daily and monthly credit limits?
Credit allocations vary by account tier:
| Tier | Daily Limit | Monthly Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 50 credits/day | — |
| Pro | — | 10,000 credits/month |
| Business | — | 25,000 credits/month |
Daily credits (Free tier, including guests) reset every day at midnight UTC. Monthly credits (Pro & Business) reset on your billing cycle date.
Note: With 1 credit per 10 MB, a typical document costs 1 credit. Pro users can convert 10000 documents per month.
Answers at a Glance
Quick answers to common questions.
- Are my files secure?
- How long do you keep my files?
- What metadata do you keep?
- What happens after I drop a file?
- Why are conversions so fast?
- How do you measure performance?
- What are the exact limits for each plan?
- Can I process files in bulk?
- Why did my file fail to convert?
- Do you use my files to train AI?
Choose Your Plan
Limits shown for PDF OCR conversion. One subscription unlocks the entire Tools.FAST Network. Plans cover Convert.FAST, Compress.FAST, PDF.FAST (soon), and all future tools.
Free
For occasional personal use
- 50 MB per file
- 50 files per batch
- 3 parallel standard conversions
- 2 parallel AI conversions
- 50 credits/day
- Standard priority
- Email support
No sign-up required.
Create an account for your own credit pool.
Pro
For independent work
- 200 MB per file
- 200 files per batch
- 6 parallel standard conversions
- 4 parallel AI conversions
- 10,000 credits/month across Tools.FAST
- High priority
- Email & chat support
- One subscription for the entire Tools.FAST network
Business
For production scale
- 1 GB per file
- 1000 files per batch
- 10 parallel standard conversions
- 6 parallel AI conversions
- 25,000 credits/month across Tools.FAST
- Add seats to invite team members
- Highest priority
- Priority email & chat support
- One subscription for the entire Tools.FAST network
How Credits Work
- Usually 1 credit per conversion. Exact cost shown before you start.
- Credits refresh monthly on your billing cycle.
- Unused credits roll over, capped at your plan's monthly amount.
- One subscription, all sites. Works across Convert.FAST, Compress.FAST, and future tools.
What's New in PDF OCR
Latest improvements to this converter
Initial release of PDF OCR converter. Add searchable text layer to scanned PDFs using automatic language detection.