Turn Photos and Images into a Searchable PDF
Photos of documents, whiteboards, book pages and screenshots are pictures – you cannot search them or copy their text. Upload one or more images to OCR PDF: they are combined into a single PDF, one image per page, and the text in them is recognized and added as a searchable layer.
How to Turn Images into a Searchable PDF
- Select the images Choose JPG, PNG, WEBP, TIFF, GIF or BMP files – several at once, in the order the pages should have.
- Choose the languages Add the languages of the text in the images.
- Start OCR Sideways photos are turned upright automatically while the text is recognized.
- Download Save the searchable PDF and copy the recognized text or save it as a .txt file.
Getting Good Results from Images
Several images, one PDF
Every image becomes one page of the same PDF, in the order you selected them.
Screenshots work best
Screenshots are sharp and straight, so their text is recognized very accurately.
Phone photos
Keep the page flat, use even light without shadows and hold the phone parallel to the paper.
iPhone HEIC photos
HEIC images are not accepted directly. Export them as JPG, or set the camera format to "Most Compatible".
Only need a PDF?
If you do not need searchable text, Images to PDF combines pictures into a PDF without OCR.
Fix the order later
To move or remove pages after OCR, use Organize PDF.
Good to Know
- Large photos are placed at about A4 width in the PDF. The image is not reduced, so recognition quality is not affected.
- Handwriting and decorative fonts are recognized much less reliably than printed text.
Image to Searchable PDF – FAQ
Which image formats can I use?
JPG, PNG, WEBP, TIFF (also multi-page), GIF and BMP. HEIC photos need to be exported as JPG first.
Can I combine many images into one PDF?
Yes. Select them together; each image becomes one page, up to 100 MB in total.
Can it read handwriting?
Only clear handwriting, and with many mistakes. OCR is designed for printed text.
Which languages are supported?
Available languages: العربية, বাংলা, Български, Čeština, 简体中文, 繁體中文, Deutsch, Ελληνικά, English, فارسی, Français, עברית, हिन्दी, Magyar, Bahasa Indonesia, Italiano, 日本語, 한국어, Bahasa Melayu, Nederlands, Polski, Português, Română, Русский, Español, Svenska, ไทย, Türkçe, Українська, اردو, Tiếng Việt. Choose up to four for one document.
Are my images stored?
No. They are uploaded over an encrypted connection and deleted as soon as you have the result, after one hour at the latest.
Make Your Images Searchable
Combine photos and screenshots into one searchable PDF with OCR PDF.
Convert Images to Searchable PDF