We keep getting low-quality survey scans that slow every early-stage layout. Diagnose why scans reach me degraded (sit…
Open your scanned PDF in Adobe Acrobat.
Go to All tools and select Scan & OCR.
From the left panel, select Enhance Scans.
Adjust the image borders if needed by dragging the blue handles to tightly frame the document content.
Use the available enhancement options to deskew, adjust contrast, and remove background as needed for clarity.
Best practiceImproving contrast and removing background noise before OCR can significantly increase text recognition accuracy, especially for faded or uneven scans.
Click Apply to save the image enhancements.
Return to the Scan & OCR pane and select Recognize Text.
Choose In This File to run OCR on the current document.
Click Recognize Text to start the OCR process.
NoteIf the document was previously OCR'd, Acrobat may prompt to re-recognize text; confirm to proceed if needed.
Save the enhanced, OCR-processed PDF.
Enhancing the image before running OCR helps Acrobat recognize text more accurately in poor-quality scans.
This runs in the Acrobat app - there is no separate API for this task.
This message means that the page already has actual, selectable text, not just an image of text. OCR is designed to convert images of text into real text. If the text is already real, OCR is not needed and will not run. You can try to select the text to confirm it is already renderable.
If your scanned document is blurry, Acrobat's Scan & OCR might struggle to recognize the text accurately. OCR works best with clear, sharp images. While it might still create a searchable layer, the accuracy could be low, leading to mistakes in the recognized text. It's always best to rescan the document at a higher quality if possible.
Picking the correct language is important because OCR uses language-specific dictionaries and rules to identify characters and words. If you choose the wrong language, Acrobat might misinterpret letters or words, leading to many errors in the recognized text. This makes the searchable text less accurate and harder to use.
| Feature | Manual (Acrobat Desktop) | Automated (PDF Services API) |
|---|---|---|
| Ease of Use | Good for single documents, visual steps. | Requires coding knowledge, good for many documents. |
| Speed | Slower for many files, user interaction needed. | Very fast for bulk processing, no user interaction. |
| Integration | Stand-alone application. | Can be built into other software systems or workflows. |
| Cost | Included with Acrobat subscription. | Pay-per-use model, scalable. |