Make a Scanned Book Searchable
A scanned book is often a PDF of several hundred page images: you can read it, but not search for a name, find a quote or copy a passage. OCR recognizes the text on every page and adds it as an invisible layer, so the book becomes searchable in any PDF reader while each page keeps its original look.
How to OCR a Scanned Book
- Drop the book PDF Use the area above – or scans of the pages as images, including multi-page TIFF.
- Choose the languages Add the languages of the book, up to four, for example a text with quotations in another language.
- Start and wait Long books take several minutes. You can follow the progress page by page.
- Search and quote Open the result and search with Ctrl+F; copy passages with their exact wording.
Books and Long Documents
Every page kept
The page images are not changed; only the recognized text is added.
Two-page spreads
Scans that show two book pages side by side are read as one page; text in both halves is recognized.
Upright pages
Pages scanned sideways or upside down are turned the right way up automatically.
Only some chapters
Select a page range to recognize just the chapters you need – faster on very long books.
Too large?
The limit is 100 MB. Compress the scanned book or split it by file size first.
Better scans, better text
Yellowed or faint pages? Enhance the scan before OCR.
Quote carefully
OCR mistakes end up in copied quotes. Compare every quotation with the page image before you use it.
Newspaper columns
Multi-column pages are split into text blocks automatically. With complex layouts the copied text can jump between columns, but search still finds the words.
Blackletter and handwriting
Gothic blackletter type and handwritten entries are usually not recognized well; transcribe them by hand.
Good to Know
- OCR reads printed text well; footnotes in tiny type, decorative fonts, blackletter and handwritten notes are recognized less reliably.
- Recognition takes a few seconds per page on our server. Very long books can take a while – the job stops after 30 minutes, so split very large books into parts.
OCR for Scanned Books – Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a book take?
It depends on the number of pages and the scan quality; a few hundred pages usually take several minutes.
Will the book look different?
No. The pages stay the same images; the text layer is invisible.
Can I export the text?
Yes. Download the recognized text as a .txt file, or convert the scanned PDF to Word.
Does it keep chapters and bookmarks?
When the whole PDF is processed, its existing bookmarks stay; OCR does not create new ones.
Is it free?
Yes – free, without sign-up or watermark.
Turn Your Scanned Book into a Searchable One
Drop the book PDF into OCR PDF and search every page.
Make My Book Searchable