Text PDF or scanned PDF?

Try selecting a sentence and searching for a word. If nothing selects and the search cannot find visible words, the PDF likely contains scanned page images rather than a text layer.

Choose OCR for the document type

For a short document, upload the scan to PDF to text. The file is processed as a document and the response is returned as readable text. For a PDF that already has selectable text, copying or exporting its text layer may preserve more structure.

Expect line breaks to change

OCR reconstructs reading order from a visual page. Tables, columns, stamps, footnotes, and handwritten annotations can change the order of lines. Treat the output as a useful text layer that still needs a visual check.

Protect sensitive paperwork

Only upload documents you are allowed to process. OCRphoto uses private short-lived storage for the source file and removes it after processing, but you should still avoid putting highly sensitive material into any tool unless the retention model fits your needs.