Make scanned PDFs searchable with OCR

1 min read·25 July 2026

Scanned PDFs are just images — you can't select or search the text. PDFrust's OCR tool analyses each page and adds a hidden text layer, making your scanned document fully searchable and copy-pasteable.

What is OCR?

OCR (Optical Character Recognition) analyses pixel patterns on scanned pages and converts them into machine-readable text. The result is a PDF where you can select text, search with Ctrl+F, and copy content to other applications.

Which documents work well with OCR?

Scanned letters, contracts, invoices, and reports. Handwritten forms (print handwriting works better than cursive). Smartphone photos of documents. The sharper the scan, the better the recognition accuracy.

PDF OCR — scan to text

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How to use the OCR tool

Upload your scanned PDF to the OCR tool. It processes each page and produces a new PDF with an invisible text layer placed over the original image — the layout looks identical, but the text is now selectable.

Export text to a text file

Need the recognised text as a plain file? Use the pdf2text tool to export a .txt file. Useful for importing into databases, CRM systems, or document management tools.