How do I make a scanned PDF searchable using Acrobat Scan & OCR?

Open your scanned PDF in Acrobat. Go to All tools > Scan & OCR > In this file. Select the pages you want and the language of the text. Click 'Recognize Text'. Acrobat will add a searchable text layer, making your document easy to search and copy from.

What is the difference between a regular PDF and an OCR'd PDF?

Feature Regular PDF (image-only) OCR'd PDF (searchable). Text Selectable/Copyable No Yes Text Searchable No Yes File Origin Scanned image, photo Scanned image processed by OCR Editing Text Difficult, requires retyping Possible with Acrobat tools

◆ Acrobat · convert

OCR Board Minutes

Run OCR on the scanned board minutes, extract the key decision tables into an Excel sheet, and save both the searchabl…

2ready prompts

1real task

3roles

See the prompt↓More convert workflows

When to use it

real situations

You have old scanned board minutes and want to find specific information quickly.
You need to copy text from a scanned document but cannot highlight it.
You want to make a scanned book searchable for future reference.

AI prompts

2 ways to ask · copy any one

AExecute — “help me do it”Run OCR on the scanned board minutes, extract the key decision tables into an Excel sheet, and…+

Run OCR on the scanned board minutes, extract the key decision tables into an Excel sheet, and save both the searchable PDF and the spreadsheet to the governance folder so I can update the model with historic decisions.

when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed.

BImprove — “do it better”Before I update the model, make the extracted data reliable: run OCR on the scanned minutes,…+

Before I update the model, make the extracted data reliable: run OCR on the scanned minutes, pull decision tables into Excel with dates normalized, flag rows where OCR confidence is low, add a one-line source citation for each table, and save both files to the governance folder for traceability.

when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed.

How to do it

the tool · the steps · what to avoid

1
Open the scanned PDF file in Adobe Acrobat.
2
Go to the Tools menu.
3
Select Scan & OCR from the tools list.
4
Click Recognize Text and choose In This File.
5
In the settings panel, ensure PDF Output Style is set to Searchable Image.
6
Click Recognize to start the OCR process.
7
Save the PDF after OCR is complete.
Best practiceFor best OCR accuracy, scan your documents at 300 dpi and ensure the images are clear before running OCR.

In the appWith the API

After OCR completes, you can search, copy, and highlight text in your previously scanned PDF.

This runs in the Acrobat app - there is no separate API for this task.

Glossary

words on this page

OCROCR stands for Optical Character Recognition. It is technology that turns images of text into real text you can search and copy.ExampleAfter scanning a paper invoice, OCR allows you to copy the vendor's name from the image.

DPIDPI means dots per inch, and it tells you how clear an image is when it is scanned.ExampleA scanned photo saved at 300 DPI will usually contain more detail than the same photo at 72 DPI.

Searchable Text LayerThis is an invisible layer of text added to an image-based PDF, allowing you to search for words.ExampleThe searchable text layer made it possible to find keywords within the scanned meeting minutes.

Who does this

3 roles

ArchivistResearch LibrarianRecords Manager

FAQ

about this task

Open your scanned PDF in Acrobat.
Go to All tools > Scan & OCR > In this file.
Select the pages you want and the language of the text.
Click 'Recognize Text'. Acrobat will add a searchable text layer, making your document easy to search and copy from.

OCR helps turn text in images into real text. This means you can search for words, copy text, and edit documents that were only pictures before. It makes old scanned documents useful for modern digital tasks.

This message means the page already has actual text, not just an image of text. Acrobat's OCR is made for image-only pages. If you see this, it means the text is already recognized and searchable, so you don't need to run OCR again.

If your scanned board minutes are blurry, OCR accuracy will be lower. Acrobat needs clear images to recognize text correctly. To improve results, try to rescan the documents at a higher quality, ideally 300 dpi. The clearer the scan, the better the OCR will perform in turning blurry text into searchable text.

Feature	Regular PDF (image-only)	OCR'd PDF (searchable)
Text Selectable/Copyable	No	Yes
Text Searchable	No	Yes
File Origin	Scanned image, photo	Scanned image processed by OCR
Editing Text	Difficult, requires retyping	Possible with Acrobat tools

OCR Board Minutes

When to use it

AI prompts

How to do it

Glossary

The real tasks

Who does this

FAQ

Sources

Adobe help

When it fails