OCR PDF
Make scanned PDFs searchable with text recognition while preserving the original layout.
or drop your PDFs here
How to make a scanned PDF searchable
Upload your scanned PDF
Click "Select PDF Files" or drag and drop your scanned PDF files onto the page.
Choose language and quality
Select the document language for better recognition accuracy, and choose a quality level — higher quality takes longer but improves results.
Download the searchable PDF
Download your PDF — it looks exactly the same but now has a hidden text layer, so you can search, select, and copy the text.
Why use PDF OCR with MakeitPDF
Searchable and copyable
OCR adds an invisible text layer to your scanned pages. The PDF looks unchanged, but you can now search, select, and copy text inside it.
Auto-levels scans
Uneven lighting or dark scans are automatically enhanced before recognition, improving accuracy without any manual adjustments.
Secure and private
Your files are processed on secure servers and deleted automatically. We never store or share your documents.
PDF OCR — FAQ
What is OCR and what does it do to my PDF?
OCR (Optical Character Recognition) reads the text in your scanned page images and adds an invisible text layer to the PDF. The document looks identical, but the text is now searchable and selectable.
Does the quality setting affect accuracy?
Yes. Higher quality means higher DPI (600 vs 150), which gives the OCR engine more detail to work with. Use high quality for small text or densely printed documents, and low quality for faster results on clean scans.
Why does language matter?
The OCR engine uses language-specific patterns to recognise characters and words. Selecting the correct language significantly improves accuracy, especially for languages with accented characters or non-Latin scripts.
Can I process multiple PDFs at once?
Yes. Upload multiple files at once and the results are delivered in a single ZIP archive.
Is there a file size limit?
Free accounts can upload files up to 20 MB each. Pro and Business plans support larger files — see the pricing page for full details.