Scan and OCR a PDF in Adobe Acrobat Pro DC
Do you ever have an image in your PDF that you need to OCR and make text? Adobe Acrobat has a feature called Scan and OCR which can do just that. This is useful for when you have a scanned image or poor-quality PDF.
Video Guide
Try to avoid using images of text as this is a direct violation of accessibility guidelines. This is why the Scan and OCR feature is useful.
How to Scan and OCR a PDF
- Select the Scan and OCR tool
- Select recognize text in this file
- Select recognize text
How do I test to make sure that it worked?
The best method to ensure that your Scan and OCR worked, is to try and copy and paste the text into another program. This will tell you that the OCR took place and will allow you to check for accuracy.
Are there any better OCR programs?
Adobe Acrobats OCR tool is not the best when it comes to accuracy. If you are using OCR for textbooks or high quantities of documents, I’d refer you to check out Abbyy FineReader. Lucky for you – I have a bunch of videos about this program too.
Let me be your champion for inclusion. I offer tailored solutions (and self-paced courses!) to ensure your documents meet and exceed compliance expectations. For more detailed insights, tutorials, and in-depth discussions on accessibility and related topics, don’t forget to check out my YouTube channel: The Accessibility Guy on YouTube. Subscribe for regular updates!
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