scanread.ai

    OCR PDF

    OCR PDF files online — free. Extract editable text from scanned PDFs, multi-page documents, and image-based PDFs instantly.

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    Quick Answer

    ScanRead's OCR PDF tool extracts editable text from scanned and image-based documents. Upload any file (up to 20MB), and the engine processes each page at ~200ms each, returning searchable content you can copy, download, or export to Word. Free for 20 pages per day. Supports 100+ languages with multi-page navigation.

    ~200ms per PDF page
    Processing speed
    200 per file
    Max PDF pages (Pro)
    500 per file
    Max PDF pages (Unlimited)
    95-99%
    Accuracy on clean scans

    How to use ocr pdf

    1

    Upload your file

    Drop a document onto ScanRead. Files up to 20MB are accepted — typically 50-100 pages depending on scan quality.

    2

    Watch the progress

    Each page is processed sequentially with live progress. For scans, expect about 200ms per page using PP-OCRv5.

    3

    Review and export

    When processing completes, you can copy the output, download as .txt, or (with Pro) export as .docx or searchable PDF with the text layer embedded.

    Common use cases

    Scenarios where this tool saves time and delivers accurate, copyable text.

    Scanned business documents

    Digitize contracts, invoices, and reports that were scanned but never made searchable.

    Academic research

    Process articles, papers, and textbook chapters downloaded as images — extract content for notes and citations.

    Legal discovery

    Run on files from legal proceedings so paralegals can search for names, dates, and terms across thousands of pages.

    Historical archives

    Digitize scans of old books, newspapers, and records from library or museum digitization projects.

    Why ScanRead

    AI-powered accuracy

    We use PP-OCRv5, a state-of-the-art open-source model that matches Google Vision and Adobe Acrobat on printed text (95-99% accuracy) and outperforms both on Chinese, Japanese, and Korean documents.

    No signup needed

    Try up to 10 pages per day without creating an account. Create a free account for 20 pages per day. No credit card required.

    100+ languages

    Works with 100+ languages including English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Hindi, and Russian. Automatic language detection.

    Frequently asked questions

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    Try the ocr pdf tool now — free

    No signup required for the first 10 pages per day. Create a free account for 20 pages per day.

    Get started — it's free