How do I make my scanned lab results searchable in Acrobat?

First, open your scanned lab results in Acrobat. Go to 'All tools' and select 'Scan & OCR'. Choose 'In this file' and then 'Recognize Text'. Acrobat will add a hidden layer of text, making your document searchable.

Scan Paper Lab Results in Adobe Acrobat — How-to & AI prompts

AI prompts

2 ways to ask · copy any one

AExecute — “help me do it”Scan paper lab results into a searchable PDF and run text recognition so clinicians can access…+

Scan paper lab results into a searchable PDF and run text recognition so clinicians can access and trend the values electronically in the chart.

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

BImprove — “do it better”Make scanned lab results easier to use: scan at high quality, run OCR, correct any misread…+

Make scanned lab results easier to use: scan at high quality, run OCR, correct any misread numeric values ([creatinine], [hb]) visible after recognition, name the file with patient [mrn] and collection [date], and combine multi-page results into one searchable PDF so trend review is straightforward.

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 LayerA hidden layer of text added to an image-based PDF, allowing you to search for words within the document.ExampleThe hidden searchable layer in the scanned contract allowed us to find specific clauses.

Who does this

3 roles

ArchivistResearch LibrarianRecords Manager

FAQ

about this task

First, open your scanned lab results in Acrobat.
Go to 'All tools' and select 'Scan & OCR'.
Choose 'In this file' and then 'Recognize Text'.
Acrobat will add a hidden layer of text, making your document searchable.

Acrobat's OCR feature is designed to work only on pages that are images. If a page already has real, selectable text, Acrobat will not try to recognize text on it again. This message means your page already has text, so OCR is not needed. You can still search the document if it already has text.

For the best OCR accuracy, you should scan your documents at 300 dpi (dots per inch). This resolution provides enough detail for the software to recognize characters correctly. Scanning at lower resolutions, like 72 dpi, can make the text recognition less accurate.

Yes, you can automate this. The Adobe PDF Services API offers an 'OCR PDF' operation. This API lets you programmatically convert image text in your PDFs into a searchable layer. It's useful for large-scale archiving or indexing tasks.

Before you start the text recognition process, it's very important to choose the correct language for your scanned lab results. In the 'Scan & OCR' tool, you will find an option to set the language. Selecting the right language helps Acrobat's OCR engine accurately identify and convert the text into a searchable layer.

Scan Paper Lab Results

When to use it

AI prompts

How to do it

Glossary

The real tasks

Who does this

FAQ

Sources

Adobe help

When it fails