How to Edit or Copy Text from Scanned PDFs in Acrobat Standard
Question details
The user wants to know how to edit or copy text from a scanned PDF document using Adobe Acrobat Standard.
- Product
- Adobe Acrobat Standard
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Extracting or modifying text within a scanned PDF document.
- Observed behavior
- Acrobat Standard allows running OCR to copy text but does not support direct editing of the scanned text like Acrobat Pro does.
Ensure your scanned PDF is clear and legible, as OCR accuracy depends heavily on the quality of the original scan.
Copying Text using OCR in Acrobat Standard
Use the Enhance Scans tool to recognize text so you can copy and paste it into another application.
Acrobat Standard does not support direct editing of scanned PDFs. However, you can use its OCR (Optical Character Recognition) feature to recognize the text. The recognized text is stored behind the original image, allowing you to select, copy, and paste it into other applications like Microsoft Word.
Open your scanned PDF in Adobe Acrobat Standard. Navigate to the 'Tools' menu and select 'Enhance Scans'.
Click on the 'Recognize Text' option in the toolbar and choose 'In This File' to run OCR on the current document.
Once the OCR process is complete, use the selection tool to highlight the recognized text. Right-click the highlighted text and select 'Copy'.
Open a word processor such as Microsoft Word, right-click on the blank document, and select 'Paste' to edit the extracted text.
Edit Scanned PDFs Directly with WPS Office
WPS Office provides a comprehensive PDF toolkit, including advanced OCR technology that converts scanned documents into fully editable text, offering a cost-effective and lightweight alternative to Acrobat Pro.
- 1. Open the scanned PDF: Launch WPS Office and open your scanned PDF document.
- 2. Access the OCR tool: Navigate to the 'Tools' tab on the top ribbon and click on the 'OCR' button.
- 3. Convert to editable text: Choose the option to extract the text or convert the entire document into an editable Word file.
- 4. Edit and save: Make your desired edits directly to the text and save the newly converted document.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why can't I edit the text directly in Acrobat Standard after running OCR?
Acrobat Standard stores the recognized text as a hidden layer behind the original scanned image. The ability to convert the image itself into a fully editable PDF document is a premium feature reserved for Adobe Acrobat Pro.
Can I convert a scanned PDF to Word using Acrobat Standard?
Yes, after running OCR via the Enhance Scans tool, you can export the PDF to Microsoft Word. This will allow you to edit the recognized text within the Word application.
Does Acrobat Reader have OCR capabilities?
No, Adobe Acrobat Reader is a free viewer and does not include OCR or scanned document editing features. You need Acrobat Standard, Acrobat Pro, or a capable alternative like WPS Office to recognize and extract text.
