OCR on your phone: searchable PDFs, text from images, PDF to text
A scanned PDF is only pictures of pages: you cannot search it, select a word or copy a line. PDF Maker reads the text on your Android phone with OCR (text recognition), so you can make the scan searchable, copy text from a photo, or save the words of any PDF as a .txt file. Nothing is uploaded.
These steps are for PDF Maker, our Android app. The app does the work on your phone; this web page does not touch your files.
Make a scanned PDF searchable
- Open PDF Maker and tap Searchable PDF in the Text group.
- Choose a scanned PDF, or photos of pages.
- Tap Make searchable. The app reads every page on the phone.
- Save or share the new PDF. It looks exactly the same, but now you can search it, select words and copy them in any PDF app.
The text is hidden under each page, so the pages do not change. Pages that already had text are kept as they are; the result says how many pages were read and whether any page had no text to find. Reading one page is included without Pro; several pages at once are part of Pro, or one run after a short ad.
Copy text from a photo or a scan
- Tap Text from image and choose a Picture, or a page From a PDF.
- Choose the Language of the text: English and Latin scripts or Hindi, Marathi, Nepali (Devanagari).
- Tap Read the text. Fix any mistakes in the box, then Copy all or Save as .txt.
PDF to text (.txt)
PDF to text saves all the words of a PDF as a plain UTF-8 .txt file that opens anywhere: in notes apps, in email, on any computer. Turn on Keep page breaks to mark where each page starts. Scanned pages are read with OCR on the way. PDF to text has no daily limit.
Which languages OCR reads
OCR in PDF Maker reads Latin-script languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Indonesian, Turkish and many more) and Devanagari (Hindi, Marathi, Nepali). It runs on the phone with Google Play services; the text model may download once the first time, after which it works offline. Check names and numbers in the result, because a blurred or skewed scan can be misread. For a cleaner start, scan with the app's Scan to PDF, which finds the page edges and crops them for you.
What to do with the text next
- Edit a whole scanned document: convert it to Word, which uses the same OCR.
- Read it in another language: translate the PDF.
- Find what changed between two scanned versions: Compare PDF can read scanned pages too.
Questions
How do I make a scanned PDF searchable on my phone?
Open PDF Maker, tap Searchable PDF, choose the scan and tap Make searchable. The pages look the same, but their text can be searched and copied.
Does OCR work in Hindi?
Yes. Choose Hindi, Marathi, Nepali (Devanagari) as the language of the text.
How do I convert a PDF to a text file?
Use PDF to text: choose the PDF and tap Make text file. You get a plain .txt file; scanned pages are read with OCR.
Is OCR done online?
No. Text recognition runs on your phone, and your files are not uploaded.
Can I copy text from a photo?
Yes. Text from image reads a photo or a scan; you can fix mistakes, then copy the text or save it as .txt.