How to Enable Do Not Skew for Batch OCR in Adobe Acrobat
Question details
The user wants to prevent Acrobat from automatically straightening or skewing pages when performing batch OCR on multiple PDF files.
- Product
- Adobe Acrobat
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Applying Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to thousands of slightly rotated PDFs using batch actions.
- Observed behavior
- Acrobat automatically straightens pages during batch OCR. The 'Do Not Skew' option is available for single files but is difficult to locate or missing in batch processing actions.
Before configuring your batch action, gather a small sample of 3 to 5 rotated PDFs into a separate test folder to safely verify the Action Wizard settings without affecting your main documents.
Check OCR Settings in Acrobat's Action Wizard
Verify if the 'Do Not Skew' option is available in your specific version of Acrobat by configuring the Action Wizard steps.
Adobe Acrobat allows you to automate tasks using the Action Wizard. However, advanced OCR preferences available in individual processing might be hidden or omitted in batch actions depending on your software version.
Launch Adobe Acrobat and navigate to 'Tools' > 'Action Wizard' from the main menu.
Create a new action or select your existing batch OCR action and click 'Edit'.
From the left panel, find the 'Recognize Text' tool and add it to your action steps on the right.
Click the settings gear icon next to the newly added 'Recognize Text' step to open the configuration dialog.
Look for a 'Do Not Skew' or 'Deskew' toggle in the recognition settings. If it is unavailable, your current Acrobat version does not support disabling the automatic deskew feature for batch processing.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Acrobat automatically skew pages during OCR?
By default, Acrobat attempts to improve text readability by straightening (deskewing) scanned images. This feature is meant to correct misaligned scans but can unintentionally alter pages that were purposely rotated.
Can I apply 'Do Not Skew' to a single PDF instead of a batch?
Yes. When performing OCR on an individual file, you can access the 'Scan & OCR' tool settings and uncheck the option to deskew or straighten pages before running text recognition.
What if 'Do Not Skew' is completely missing in the Action Wizard?
If the option is missing in the gear settings of the Action Wizard, it means your specific version of Acrobat does not expose this setting to batch operations. You will have to process files individually or explore third-party scripts.
Does WPS Office offer OCR functionality for PDFs?
Yes, WPS PDF includes a built-in OCR feature that allows you to accurately extract, edit, and search text from scanned PDF documents and image files.
