Why Acrobat Standard Does Not Show Editable Text in Scanned PDFs
Question details
The user is trying to edit a scanned PDF but cannot see the text bounding boxes required for editing in Adobe Acrobat Standard 2017, even though the same file is editable in Acrobat Pro DC.
- Product
- Adobe Acrobat Standard 2017
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Attempting to modify and interact with text inside a scanned PDF document.
- Observed behavior
- Acrobat Standard 2017 fails to display editable text bounding boxes for the scanned document, revealing a functional discrepancy between the Standard and Pro versions of the software.
Ensure you have an active internet connection to download any available software updates, and confirm whether the PDF document is a scanned image or a natively exported text file.
Update Acrobat Standard and Verify Version Limitations
Since advanced OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and scanned document editing are primarily Acrobat Pro features, updating your software ensures you have the latest available functionality and bug fixes for the Standard version.
Adobe Acrobat Pro DC includes more advanced OCR capabilities compared to Acrobat Standard. While Standard can perform basic text recognition, it may struggle to render editable bounding boxes on complex scanned documents. Keeping the software updated minimizes bugs that might worsen this limitation.
Launch your Adobe Acrobat Standard 2017 application on your computer.
Navigate to the 'Help' menu located at the top toolbar and select 'Check for Updates'.
If a newer version or patch is available, follow the on-screen prompts to download and install the update. Restart the application once finished.
Open the scanned PDF again and click the 'Edit PDF' tool. If the bounding boxes still do not appear, the document's editing requirements exceed the OCR capabilities of the Standard version.
Test with an Alternative Scanned Document
Testing a different scanned file helps determine whether the issue is isolated to a specific document's formatting or is a universal limitation of the software.
Edit Scanned PDFs Seamlessly with WPS Office
If your current PDF software lacks the advanced OCR capabilities needed to edit scanned documents, WPS Office provides a powerful, built-in PDF editor equipped with state-of-the-art Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology, allowing you to easily extract and edit text from scanned images.
- 1. Open the PDF in WPS Office: Launch WPS Office and open your scanned PDF document within the application.
- 2. Apply OCR technology: Navigate to the 'Tools' tab and select 'OCR' to convert the flat scanned image into editable text.
- 3. Edit the document: Once the text is recognized, click 'Edit' to interact with the text bounding boxes, modify content, and adjust formatting.
- 4. Save your changes: Click 'Save' or press Ctrl+S to preserve your newly edited PDF document.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the main difference between Acrobat Standard and Pro regarding scanned PDFs?
Acrobat Pro includes advanced Optical Character Recognition (OCR) features that automatically convert scanned documents into editable text with distinct bounding boxes. Acrobat Standard has more basic text recognition capabilities, which often fail to render complex scanned text as editable blocks.
Can I force Acrobat Standard to recognize text in a scanned document?
Yes, you can manually attempt to recognize text by going to 'Enhance Scans' in the right pane, and selecting 'Recognize Text' > 'In This File'. However, the editing flexibility will still be more restricted than what is available in the Pro version.
Why does my computer treat a scanned PDF like a picture?
A scanned PDF is essentially a digital photograph of a physical page. Unless the PDF software applies OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to identify the individual letters and words, the system treats the entire page as a single, uneditable flat image.
