OCRsearchable PDFscanning
OCR basics for creating a searchable scanned PDF
How to think about OCR quality when turning a scanned form, receipt, certificate, or invoice into searchable PDF.
OCR helps scanned documents become searchable and easier to copy from later. It is most useful when the original page has clear printed text and a clean scan.
Documents that usually work well
- Printed forms
- Receipts and invoices
- Certificates
- Documents with strong contrast and little skew
Documents that can be harder
Handwriting, shadows, glare, folded paper, low resolution, and tilted photos can reduce OCR accuracy. A better scan usually produces a better searchable PDF.
Verify before sending
Search for a few key words and copy a short section of text before submitting the final PDF. The visual PDF and the OCR layer should both be good enough for your purpose.