How To OCR Files To Generate Searchable and Editable PDFs

In the digital age, PDF has become an irreplaceable document standard. However, traditional PDF features have limitations when dealing with scanned documents. Fortunately, the introduction of OCR PDF brings new hope, making scanned files searchable and even editable.

Differences Between Scanned PDF and Regular PDF

Regular PDFs are typically generated from electronic text, while scanned document PDFs result from scanning paper documents. This cause a problem: electronic text in regular PDFs is machine-readable, but text in scanned PDFs exists as images, hindering direct searching and editing. However, the introduction of OCR PDF solves this problem perfectly, making scanned files searchable and editable.

How to Make Scanned Docs Searchable and Copyable?

Step 1: Open scanned PDFs >Click the Perform OCR button.

Step 2: Or Convert Tab > OCR PDF to perform OCR, and customize the range of pages to be converted in the pop-up menu.

Step 3: Copy and paste text from scanned PDFs.

Step 4:  Or press Ctrl+F to open the Find and Replace tab to search for key information.

How to Make Scanned Docs Editable?

Step 1: Click the Home Tab and Select OCR PDF.

Step 2: Choose Make Text Editable.

Step 3: Select the Page Range according to your preferences.

Step 4: Press Apply and open the Edit Tab to get started.

What's New with Upgraded OCR PDF?

The OCR feature makes editing scanned PDF and image-based PDF as easy as editing a Word document. With optical character recognition (OCR) in WPS PDF, you can extract text and convert scanned documents into editable, searchable PDF files instantly. Here are there highlights from the recent updates:

• Deskew Pages:
  After scanning a document, you may encounter issues like inconsistent font spacing and misalignment. However, with the powerful OCR PDF feature, it can adjust disordered text into more neatly organized.

• Matches Your Fonts:
  Once OCR is complete, newly-added text can sync with the existing fonts in your scanned PDF. And you can use the original font from the scanned document, contributing to a unified and coordinated appearance.

• Powerful Edit Tab:
  The Edit Tab offers great flexibility, enabling you to select text and execute various operations effortlessly. For example, you can easily adjust font size and switch fonts according to your preferences, providing a versatile and user-friendly editing experience.

Real-world Scenarios of OCR PDF

OCR PDF excels at transforming scanned documents into dynamic, editable formats.

• Legal Documents:

In the legal field, document accuracy and searchability are significant. Many legal documents are either handwritten or in scanned form. With the OCR PDF feature, users can easily search, annotate and even make revisions directly on scanned documents. This not only boosts productivity but also minimizes the risk of errors.

• Company Files:

Companies can scan and convert numerous paper documents into editable PDFs, contributing to the digitization of document management. The utilization of OCR PDF not only streamlines the process but also facilitates convenient modifications and updates to documents as required.

Whether in academia, legal domains, or corporate environments, OCR PDF provides users with the capability to handle and manage documents more efficiently and accurately.