Skip to content
PDFVelora

Make PDF searchable

OCR scanned PDFs: add an invisible text layer so you can search, select and copy the text.

Drop your file here

or

PDF · up to 100 MB

How to use Make PDF searchable

A scanned PDF is a stack of pictures: you can't search it or copy a word from it. PDFVelora reads each page with OCR and lays an invisible text layer over the image, so you keep the scanned pages but can find words with Ctrl+F, select text and copy it. Pages are turned upright and straightened first, the language is detected from the first pages, and pages that already have text are kept as they are.

  1. Upload your scanned PDF

    Drop the PDF on the page or choose it from your device.

  2. Check the language

    Keep Auto-detect, or choose English, French, Arabic or Spanish if you know it.

  3. Run OCR

    Start the process. Each scanned page takes a few seconds to read.

  4. Check and download

    Compare each page with its text, then download the searchable PDF and the extracted text.

Questions about Make PDF searchable

Which languages are recognised?

English, French, Arabic and Spanish. The language is detected from the first pages; if the text comes out wrong, run it again with the language chosen yourself.

Will my PDF look different?

The text layer is invisible. Pages are turned upright and straightened before they are read, so a crooked scan comes back straighter. Pages that already had text are left as they were.

What do I get?

The searchable PDF and a TXT file with the text, page by page. The preview shows each page next to its text: correct a word there, then copy it or download it as TXT or DOCX.

Are there limits?

Up to 200 pages per document. A digitally signed PDF can't be processed, because adding a text layer would invalidate its signature.

Is OCR free?

Yes. Without an account you can run 3 tasks a day, and a free account gives you 5. Pro and Business plans have no daily limit.

What happens to my file after OCR?

Files are encrypted in transit and deleted automatically: after 2 hours for visitors and after 24 hours for account holders, unless you save them to My documents.

Guides

Related tools