PDF to Text Converter

Extract text from scanned PDFs and image-based PDF documents. This free OCR tool processes your PDFs entirely in your browser - no upload to external servers required.

Scanned PDF vs Text PDF

If you can select text in your PDF, it's already text-based - just copy it directly. OCR is for scanned PDFs where pages are images. This tool extracts text from those image-based PDFs.

How to Extract Text from PDF

  1. 1
    Drop your PDF file

    Drag and drop your scanned PDF document.

  2. 2
    Wait for processing

    Each page is OCR'd locally. Multi-page PDFs take a bit longer.

  3. 3
    Copy extracted text

    Get all pages as continuous text or copy page by page.

Common PDF OCR Uses

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Scanned Documents

Convert scanned contracts, letters, and forms to editable text.

📚

Book Scans

Extract text from PDF scans of books and articles.

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Protected PDFs

Extract text from PDFs that block copy/paste.

📋

Old Documents

Digitize archived PDF scans for searchability.

Tips for Better PDF OCR

  • Higher DPI scans: 300 DPI or higher produces the best results
  • Clean scans: Avoid skewed or blurry pages
  • Single-column layouts: Work better than complex multi-column documents
  • Standard fonts: Common fonts are recognized more accurately

Ready to extract text from your PDF?

Go to the OCR Scanner →