Turn scans and photos into a searchable PDF.

How to do it, step by step

1. Open the tool with the button above. The Scan → Searchable PDF mode is already selected.
2. Pick the language the document is written in: English, Spanish, French or German.
3. Drop your images in, or tap Choose images. Each image becomes one page, in the order you add them. Use + Add another image for more pages.
4. Rotate any sideways page with the arrow buttons, or remove one you don't need.
5. Press Recognize & build PDF and wait for the progress bar. The first run downloads the language data to your browser, so it takes a little longer.
6. Check the word count and average confidence, then press Download searchable PDF.

Tips for better results

• Shoot straight on, in good light, and fill the frame with the page. Shadows and steep angles cost accuracy.
• Rotate pages upright before you run. Recognition works best on level text.
• Large batches work, but each page is processed on your device, so older phones will be slower.
• The PDF keeps your photo as the visible page. If a photo is blurry, the PDF will be too, so retake it rather than relying on the text layer.

Open Scan → Searchable PDF →