[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":98},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-\u002Fblog\u002Fwhat-is-ocr":3},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"body":7,"category":81,"date":82,"description":83,"draft":84,"extension":85,"meta":86,"navigation":87,"path":88,"primaryKeyword":89,"relatedPosts":90,"relatedTools":93,"seo":95,"stem":96,"updatedAt":82,"__hash__":97},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fwhat-is-ocr.md","What Is OCR? A Practical Guide to Searchable PDFs","Convert for You Team",{"type":8,"value":9,"toc":73},"minimark",[10,14,19,22,26,51,54,58,61,65],[11,12,13],"p",{},"OCR stands for optical character recognition. It analyzes the visual shapes on a scanned page and creates a text layer that software can search, copy, and sometimes convert into editable content. A scan can look like a document to a person while containing no selectable text for a computer.",[15,16,18],"h2",{"id":17},"when-ocr-helps","When OCR helps",[11,20,21],{},"Use OCR for scanned invoices, paper forms, archived reports, photographed pages, or PDFs where selecting text does nothing. OCR can make a document searchable without changing the visible page image.",[15,23,25],{"id":24},"create-a-searchable-pdf","Create a searchable PDF",[27,28,29,39,42,45,48],"ol",{},[30,31,32,33,38],"li",{},"Open ",[34,35,37],"a",{"href":36},"\u002Focr_pdf","OCR PDF",".",[30,40,41],{},"Upload the scanned PDF.",[30,43,44],{},"Select the document language when the option is available.",[30,46,47],{},"Start the OCR job.",[30,49,50],{},"Search for several words in the output and compare them with the page image.",[11,52,53],{},"Language selection matters. A document with names, accents, symbols, or multiple languages may need extra review. OCR is an interpretation, not a perfect transcription.",[15,55,57],{"id":56},"what-to-check","What to check",[11,59,60],{},"Search for a heading, a number, and a word near the edge of a page. Check tables, columns, handwriting, low-contrast scans, and unusual fonts. If a critical number is wrong, verify it against the original image before using the output.",[15,62,64],{"id":63},"ocr-and-pdf-conversion","OCR and PDF conversion",[11,66,67,68,72],{},"OCR can improve a later ",[34,69,71],{"href":70},"\u002Fpdf_to_word","PDF to Word"," conversion because the converter has text to work with. Keep the searchable PDF and the original scan when the source has archival or evidentiary value.",{"title":74,"searchDepth":75,"depth":75,"links":76},"",2,[77,78,79,80],{"id":17,"depth":75,"text":18},{"id":24,"depth":75,"text":25},{"id":56,"depth":75,"text":57},{"id":63,"depth":75,"text":64},"PDF education","2026-07-31","Learn what optical character recognition does, when to use it, and how to check a scanned PDF after OCR.",false,"md",{},true,"\u002Fblog\u002Fwhat-is-ocr","what is OCR",[91,92],"how-to-convert-pdf-to-word","files-safe-with-pdfflow",[94],"ocr_pdf",{"title":5,"description":83},"blog\u002Fwhat-is-ocr","IziNDTAd8nKFKSbWbSV-WlFxmoEzQYIp1UM3MdjjFeg",1785728577840]