How do I make sure the text recognition on my density figures is accurate?

Scan your documents at a high resolution, like 300 dpi, for the best quality. Select the correct language for the text in your figures before running OCR. Review the document after OCR to fix any errors that Acrobat might have made.

What is the difference between a regular PDF and a searchable PDF created by OCR?

Feature Regular PDF (image-only) Searchable PDF (OCR). Text Selection Cannot select text directly from images. Can select and copy text from images. Search Function Cannot search for words within the document. Can search for any word in the document. File Origin Often from scanned documents or photos. Created by adding a hidden text layer to an image-only PDF.

Make Density Figures Searchable in Adobe Acrobat — How-to & AI prompts

AI prompts

2 ways to ask · copy any one

AExecute — “help me do it”Convert submitted [charts=GIS chart PDFs] to searchable Excel tables, run OCR where needed,…+

Convert submitted [charts=GIS chart PDFs] to searchable Excel tables, run OCR where needed, verify density and parcel columns converted correctly, and deliver the searchable files to the meeting packet so you can pull figures live.

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

BImprove — “do it better”Before the meeting, make density figures reliable — convert [charts=GIS chart PDFs] to…+

Before the meeting, make density figures reliable — convert [charts=GIS chart PDFs] to searchable Excel, verify and correct column headers and units, flag any rows with conversion errors, and produce a short index showing where each density figure came from so you can pull the right number under pressure.

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.

Searchable PDFA searchable PDF is a document where you can look for words, even if it started as a scanned image.ExampleEven though it was a scan, the searchable PDF let me find every instance of 'warranty' in the document.

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.

Who does this

3 roles

ArchivistResearch LibrarianRecords Manager

FAQ

about this task

Scan your documents at a high resolution, like 300 dpi, for the best quality.
Select the correct language for the text in your figures before running OCR.
Review the document after OCR to fix any errors that Acrobat might have made.

Renderable text means the text is already real text that you can select and copy in your PDF. Acrobat's OCR feature is designed to work only on images where the text is just a picture. If a page already has renderable text, Acrobat thinks there's no image text to convert, so it stops the OCR process. This prevents it from creating a duplicate text layer or trying to process something that is not an image.

If your scanned density figures are blurry, Acrobat's OCR might struggle to recognize the text accurately. Blurry images make it hard for the software to identify letters and numbers. While it might still create a searchable layer, the quality of the search results could be poor. For better results, try to rescan the figures at a higher quality or use image editing tools to improve clarity before running OCR.

Selecting the correct language is very important because OCR software uses language-specific rules and dictionaries to recognize characters. For example, the letter 'ñ' in Spanish is different from 'n' in English. If you choose the wrong language, Acrobat might misinterpret words, leading to many errors in the searchable text layer. This means your searches might not find what you expect.

Feature	Regular PDF (image-only)	Searchable PDF (OCR)
Text Selection	Cannot select text directly from images.	Can select and copy text from images.
Search Function	Cannot search for words within the document.	Can search for any word in the document.
File Origin	Often from scanned documents or photos.	Created by adding a hidden text layer to an image-only PDF.

Make Density Figures Searchable

When to use it

AI prompts

How to do it

Glossary

The real tasks

Who does this

FAQ

Sources

Adobe help

When it fails