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Features18 March 2026

OCR: How to Extract Text from Scanned PDFs and Images

Learn how OCR technology works and how to use it to make scanned documents searchable and editable.


What is OCR?


OCR (Optical Character Recognition) is technology that converts images of text into actual, editable text. When you scan a document, the result is an image — OCR reads that image and identifies the letters, numbers, and words.


When Do You Need OCR?


  • You have a scanned PDF that you can't search or copy text from
  • You photographed a document with your phone and need the text
  • You received a faxed document as an image file
  • You need to digitize paper records

    • How OCR Works on Convertopia


    1. Upload your scanned PDF or image (JPG, PNG, TIFF)

    2. In the conversion settings, enable "OCR"

    3. Select the document language for better accuracy

    4. Choose your output: searchable PDF or plain text

    5. Download the result with selectable, copyable text


    Supported Languages


    Convertopia's OCR engine supports 20+ languages including English, French, German, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, and more. Select the correct language for the best results.


    Tips for Better OCR Results


  • Use high-resolution scans (300 DPI or higher)
  • Ensure good contrast between text and background
  • Straighten skewed pages before OCR
  • For multi-language documents, select all relevant languages

    • Free vs. Pro OCR


  • Free tier: 3 OCR pages per day
  • Pro: 50 pages per day
  • Unlimited: No page limit