OCR text recognition service

PDF OCR - Extract Text from Scanned PDFs Instantly

Upload any scanned or image-based PDF and get accurate, editable text in seconds. Tables, columns, and multi-column layouts are preserved. Export as searchable PDF, DOCX, or plain text.

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Secure processing Fast results No setup required
99% OCR accuracy
Multi-layout Workflow quality controls
GDPR Secure private processing

PDF OCR - Extract Text from Scanned PDFs Instantly features

99% Accuracy on Clean Scans

State-of-the-art AI OCR engine trained on diverse document types - from historic archives to modern business documents.

Table & Layout Preserved

Multi-column layouts, tables, headers, and footers are detected and reproduced accurately in the output document.

Searchable PDF Output

Receive a searchable PDF with an invisible OCR text layer - original appearance unchanged, fully searchable and copy-pasteable.

DOCX Export

Get a fully editable Word document from your scanned PDF - with formatting, columns, and tables preserved.

100+ Languages

Supports Latin, Cyrillic, Arabic (RTL), CJK (Chinese, Japanese, Korean), Hebrew, Greek, Devanagari, and more.

Secure & Private

All PDFs are encrypted in transit and at rest and permanently deleted after processing - no data retention.

How PDF OCR Works - 4 Simple Steps

  1. 1

    Upload your scanned PDF

    Upload any scanned or image-based PDF. Multi-page documents of any length are supported. Files up to 500 MB accepted.

  2. 2

    Select output format

    Choose your target output: searchable PDF (text layer added), editable DOCX, or plain TXT. Select the document language for best accuracy.

  3. 3

    OCR processes

    The AI engine deskews pages, detects layout, recognizes text in 100+ languages, and extracts tables and structured content.

  4. 4

    Download Result

    Download your searchable PDF or editable DOCX - ready for search, editing, translation, or archiving.

All OCR Text Extraction

Why Choose Our Pdf Ocr Service?

Scanned PDFs are images - not searchable, not selectable, not editable. ForgeFile's PDF OCR engine extracts every character, preserving tables, multi-column layouts, headers, and footers - and delivering the result as a searchable PDF, editable DOCX, or plain text file.

What Types of PDFs Can Be OCR'd?

  • Scanned documents - Archival contracts, invoices, correspondence, and records digitized from paper.
  • Image-based PDFs - PDFs created by saving images as PDF rather than exporting from a document editor.
  • Mixed PDFs - Files containing both selectable text pages and scanned image pages - both types processed in the same job.
  • Multi-page PDFs - Full documents of any length - all pages processed sequentially in a single upload.
  • Rotated or skewed scans - Automatic deskew and page orientation correction before recognition.

Why Choose ForgeFile for PDF OCR?

  • 99% accuracy on clean scans - State-of-the-art AI OCR trained on 100+ languages and document types.
  • Table and column preservation - Structured data extracted with rows, columns, and cell relationships intact.
  • Searchable PDF output - Get a PDF with an invisible text layer for Ctrl+F search and copy-paste - with original appearance unchanged.
  • DOCX export - Get a fully editable Word document with formatting preserved.
  • 100+ languages - Latin, Cyrillic, Arabic, CJK, Devanagari, and other scripts recognized natively.
  • Secure & private - All files encrypted and permanently deleted after processing.

Frequently Asked Questions - PDF OCR

What types of PDFs work with PDF OCR?

Scanned PDFs, image-based PDFs, and mixed PDFs (combining selectable and scanned pages) are all supported. Native text-selectable PDFs are passed through without OCR and returned as-is.

What output formats are available?

Searchable PDF (original appearance with invisible text layer), editable DOCX (Word-compatible with formatting preserved), and plain TXT.

How accurate is PDF OCR?

On clean scans at 300 DPI or higher, accuracy reaches 99%+ for standard printed text. Handwritten content, low-resolution scans, and faded text may reduce accuracy. The engine handles multiple fonts, sizes, and styles.

Can it extract data from tables in scanned PDFs?

Yes. Table detection identifies rows, columns, and cell boundaries. Tables are reproduced in the output DOCX as editable Word tables, or exported to CSV on request.

What languages are supported?

100+ languages: all Latin-script European languages, Cyrillic (Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian), Arabic and Farsi (RTL), Hebrew, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Japanese, Korean, Greek, Thai, Hindi (Devanagari), and more.

Is my PDF kept private?

Yes. All uploaded PDFs are encrypted in transit and at rest, processed in an isolated environment, and permanently deleted immediately after you download the result.

PDF OCR - Extract Text from Scanned PDFs Instantly output

Try ForgeFile's PDF OCR free - no registration required. Upload a scanned PDF and get editable text in seconds.

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