Scanned PDF to text
Get text from a scanned PDF
Upload a PDF made of scans and get text from every page.
Drop pages or folders here
Upload up to 10 pages in one document with your free allowance. Folders and large collections open the batch organizer.
4.6 out of 5 on Google Play.
135 ratings · 32 written reviews · Play snapshot checked 30 August 2026
Nearly 99,000 completed production OCR pages · Production sessions recorded across 144 countries · Usage snapshot October 1, 2026. How these figures are counted
The words are there. They are just not text yet.
A scanned PDF holds pictures of pages, so search and copy find nothing. Inksight reads every page and gives you text you can edit and save.
Scanned PDFs
Files from a copier, a scanner app or an archive, where every page is a picture.
Printed and handwritten together
Forms with printed labels and handwritten answers, or printed pages with notes in the margin.
Long files
PDFs with many pages, read one page at a time, then saved as one document.
OCR that ends in a document.
The original stays visible while you review the result. Nothing is hidden behind a download until you know the page was understood.
| Capability | Inksight | Basic OCR |
|---|---|---|
| PDFs made of pictures | Every page is read | Search and copy find nothing |
| Handwriting in the PDF | Read together with the printed text | Usually skipped |
| Fixing before you save | Edit each page next to its scan | Save first, fix later |
| File types | Word, searchable PDF, Excel and text | Plain text |
Read documents in more than 50 languages.
Extract printed text and handwritten entries across Latin and non-Latin scripts, including English, Spanish, French, Arabic, Hindi, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Inksight detects the language from the page.
Recognition varies with image clarity, page angle, handwriting, and document structure. Review important names and numbers before using an export.
Before you scan a page.
Why can’t I select the text in my PDF?
Because the pages are pictures. A scan or a photo saved as a PDF has no text in it, so search and copy find nothing until the pages are read.
How do I get handwritten text out of a PDF?
Upload the PDF here. Each page is read in turn and the text appears next to the picture of the page. Fix anything that is wrong, then save it.
Can I get a PDF I can search?
Yes. The PDF you download is built from the text, not from the scan, so you can search it and copy from it. Word, Excel and text files come from the same page.
How many pages can I upload?
PDFs with many pages are fine. Your first ten pages on the web are free. Later pages are still read and shown as a locked preview until you pick a plan.
Does it read forms and tables inside a PDF?
Yes. Tables come back as rows and columns and can be saved to Excel. On a form, each answer stays with its label.
Is it free?
Your first ten pages on the web are free, exports included. After that Inksight still reads the page and shows you a locked preview, so you can see the result before you pick a plan.
Other ways to use Inksight.
Every tool uses the same OCR and the same document library, so a page you scan here opens anywhere else you sign in.
Also worth a look: how Inksight compares with other OCR models, pricing and the Android app.