The PDF text recognition requires Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology. It can scan a PDF to recognize and detect the text in the PDF and convert the PDF to recognizable text. To do that, you should have a PDF editor that includes an OCR function.
How to Recognize Text in PDF Using SwifDoo PDF
SwifDoo PDF is worth a shout for its powerful OCR tool that enables you to recognize text in PDFs. It allows you to recognize Arabic, English, German, Russian, Japanese, or other text in your PDFs. The software for Windows allows you to decide on the output effects, such as making the PDF file editable or just searchable.
With SwifDoo PDF, you can choose to OCR convert PDF to text PDF, convert PDF to Word with OCR recognized text, or turn PDFs into Excel spreadsheets. The leading tech will retain the formatting and layout at most.
Without more ado, check out how to recognize text in PDF with the handy SwifDoo PDF.
Step 1: Open the PDF you want to recognize text in the PDF OCR and editing software;
Step 2: Choose the Edit menu to locate the OCR tool;
Step 3: Set the document language, output result, and other options, and click Apply;
Step 4: The text recognition from the PDF begins immediately, and when finished, a new text-based PDF is created and opened;
Step 5: You can search for and find text in the PDF or edit the content as needed.
Adobe Acrobat Pro PDF Editor to Recognize Text
Another way to recognize text in PDF for minimal adjustments is to use Adobe Acrobat Pro DC. The best PDF file editor and OCR software for Windows and Mac is comprehensive, which also converts, signs, and fills PDFs. It can automatically apply OCR and recognize text in scanned PDF documents without requiring any additional operations. The only thing to note is its costly subscriptions.
Step 1: Launch Acrobat Pro to open the PDF you need to recognize text in images;
Step 2: Click Edit PDF, and Adobe will recognize the text in the PDF by default. (Turn off the auto OCR by choosing Edit > Text and unchecking Recognize text on the right side);
Step 3: You can click Scan & OCR in the tools pane and choose In this file under RECOGNIZE TEXT;
Step 4: Then, click Recognize text to manually run text recognition on the PDF document.
Recognize Text from PDF in Foxit
If you'd rather have a desktop application to recognize text in PDF on Windows or Mac, Foxit PDF Editor is also good to go. Like its competitors, it supports seamless text editing, PDF creation, and format conversion and protection. Its interface is compact and incorporates lots of menus and options.
Step 1: Import your image-based or scanned PDF into the PDF text recognition software;
Step 2: Navigate to Convert > Recognize Text > Current File, and configure your desired parameters;
Step 3: Click the OK button to make the PDF recognize text in seconds.
Recognize PDF Text with Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word is a free trick to recognize and edit text in PDF if you are already its user. It doesn’t have a dedicated OCR but can open and convert PDFs to editable Word documents. However, please note that the recognized document may not look exactly like the original.
Step 1: Choose the File > Open options in MS Word to select and open your PDF;
Step 2: Click OK in the small window that appears to start the PDF word recognition;
Step 3: Fix the misformatted text and other elements, and go to File > Export;
Step 4: Choose Create PDF/XPS Document to save the PDF with editable text.
Recognize Text in PDF for Free Using Google Docs
Google Docs is equipped with an OCR feature for online free image or PDF to text recognition. Text recognition and extraction are enabled once you've opened the PDF file with the tool. This Google Cloud service cannot directly accept PDFs, so you need to upload them to Google Drive first.
Here is the detailed tutorial you can follow:
Step 1: Upload the scanned PDF you are going to recognize text online to your Google Drive;
Step 2: Open the uploaded PDF online and choose Google Docs from the Open with the drop-down menu;
Step 3: Wait for the Docs platform to open the file, and itself will recognize the text on the PDF online;
Step 4: Click File > Download to download and save the file in text-based PDF, Word, or other text documents.
Why is PDF Not Recognizing Text?
Distinguish whether your PDF is text-based or image-based. If it’s a scanned or image PDF where you can't select or search for anything, try the PDF-recognizing text tools mentioned above. However, if the PDF recognition text with OCR is not working, consider the reasons below.
Scans of scans: you may not successfully recognize the text in a scanned PDF created from scanned images or documents. The original document of the scan would better be a text document.
Lower quality: when you get a PDF to recognize text with OCR for free or with a payment, but fail, check if the PDF quality is poor. Low-resolution or clarity images or scans will reduce the text recognition power.
Special fonts: PDFs won't recognize text written in some unusual characters or handwriting. It is hard for OCR to recognize.
Protected PDF: a PDF with a permission password to restrict any changes will not recognize text under OCR. You should remove the password from the PDF before conducting any task.
Incorrect recognition settings: review the language and other settings before performing text recognition on your PDF. They have a big impact.
Conclusion
It can be a real headache when you're in a hurry to recognize text from scanned PDFs. This post helps sort this out in a way that is free or keeps your document safe and intact. Google Docs is a completely free method, and SwifDoo PDF or Adobe Acrobat preserves your PDF structure and appearance. Give SwifDoo PDF a shot.