UlvixorPDF OCR (Extract Text from Scans)
Extract the text from a scanned PDF (an image of each page, with no real embedded text) using optical character recognition (OCR) with Tesseract.js. Unlike the PDF to Text tool, which only extracts text that already exists, this one visually recognizes text from each page's image.
How it works
- Select a scanned PDF from your device.
- Choose the document's main language (Spanish, English, Portuguese, or French).
- Press 'Extract text (OCR)' to start the process.
- Each page is rendered as an image and analyzed by the text-recognition engine, showing progress page by page.
- Copy the recognized text or download it as a .txt file.
Use cases
- Extract text from documents scanned with a scanner or phone, with no real text layer.
- Digitize old contracts, invoices, or forms saved only as images.
- Recover the content of photocopied books or articles scanned into PDF.
- Make the content of historical files that only exist as scanned images searchable.
Use cases
- Extract text from documents scanned with a scanner or phone, with no real text layer.
- Digitize old contracts, invoices, or forms saved only as images.
- Recover the content of photocopied books or articles scanned into PDF.
- Make the content of historical files that only exist as scanned images searchable.
Common mistakes
- Using this tool on a PDF that already has real, selectable text.If you can select the PDF's text with your mouse in a normal reader, use the PDF to Text tool instead: it's much faster because it extracts the text directly, without needing visual recognition.
- Choosing a language different from the actual document's language.The recognition model is trained for a specific language. If the document is in Portuguese but you select Spanish, the accuracy of the recognized text drops noticeably. Check the language before processing.
- Expecting perfect results on low-quality scans with smudges or skewed text.OCR accuracy depends directly on the quality of the scanned image. Blurry, low-contrast, or tilted scans produce more recognition errors that this tool can't automatically correct.
Frequently asked questions
No. Both rendering the pages and recognizing the text happen entirely in your browser with Tesseract.js. The PDF never leaves your device.
The first time you use this tool (or switch languages), your browser downloads that language's recognition model. Subsequent uses with the same language are faster because your browser already has it available.
PDF to Text extracts text that already exists digitally within the PDF, instantly. This tool visually recognizes text from each page's image, designed specifically for scanned PDFs that have no real embedded text.
No. The result is plain text in the order the recognition engine detects it on each page. The original document's visual layout, columns, and tables aren't preserved.
Alternatives
Google Drive can automatically apply OCR when you open a scanned PDF with Google Docs, and Adobe Acrobat offers a built-in OCR feature. This tool is useful when you'd rather not upload the document to any service or create an account, since everything is processed directly in your browser.