OCR guides

Online converters upload your scan and cap pages or add watermarks. Desktop converters keep the scan local. What each limits, and how to batch a folder.

A searchable PDF carries an invisible text layer over the scanned page. Three ways to check a file, what the layer is for, and how to add one.

Turn a backlog of scanned PDFs into searchable PDFs in one run on Windows or Linux, without uploading a page.

Save one scan as Word or Excel, or have every scan write them automatically, and see what the workbook and the document contain.

OCR misreads digits, names and IBANs without warning. Find those errors in a scanned PDF and correct its text layer before you rely on search.

Turn a scanned PDF into a searchable PDF on your own computer, free and with no upload. Steps for Windows and Linux, from install to the first Ctrl+F.

Legal OCR on your own PC. Make case files, contracts and court documents searchable without uploading client data, and check case numbers first.

Make scanned bank statements searchable on Windows or Linux. Inklight reads them on your computer and flags misread amounts and IBANs with a bad checksum.

Turn a scanned PDF into an editable Word document on your own Windows or Linux PC, after you have checked the words the OCR was unsure of.

Run OCR in Inklight on Windows or Linux and let a hot folder hand each searchable PDF to the Paperless-ngx consume folder.

Turn scanned receipts and invoices into searchable PDFs on Windows or Linux, with every doubtful amount flagged for you to check.

Turn the tables in a scanned bank statement or price list into an Excel workbook on Windows or Linux, offline, with every cell kept as read.

Turn a photo or scanned image into a searchable PDF on Windows or Linux, without uploading it. JPG, PNG, TIFF, HEIC, AVIF and JPEG XL.

Make scans searchable and save them as PDF/A-2b on Windows or Linux. Which files become PDF/A, which keep their part, which are marked Not PDF/A.

Scan paper from a flatbed or feeder into a searchable PDF on Windows or Linux. Both sides, blank pages dropped, pages straightened, no upload.

Inklight recognizes scans on your own computer after a one-time model download. Here is exactly when it connects and what it sends.

Make scanned PDFs and images searchable on Ubuntu or any x64 Linux with one AppImage, SANE scanners and Vulkan on the graphics card.

Make scanned PDFs and photos searchable on Windows 11 with an app from the Microsoft Store, WIA and TWAIN scanners and Direct3D on the graphics card.

Turn French scans into searchable PDFs on your own PC. Inklight keeps é, è, ç and œ, knows French words and outlines the ones it doubts.

Turn German scans into searchable PDFs on your own PC. Inklight keeps ä, ö, ü and ß, knows German words and checks IBANs and Aktenzeichen.

Turn Spanish scans into searchable PDFs on your own PC. Inklight keeps á, é, ñ and ü, knows Spanish words and outlines the ones it doubts.

FineReader PDF is a subscription for Windows and macOS. Inklight is a one-time licence for Windows and Linux. Where each one wins, from ABBYY's own pages.

NAPS2 is a free scanner app that adds Tesseract OCR when you save. Inklight is an OCR app with a scanner dialog and a Check pass. How they differ.

Tesseract is a free OCR engine run from the command line. Inklight is a desktop app you drop scans on, with a Check pass and a Business command line.

Eight desktop OCR tools that turn scans into searchable PDFs on Windows and Linux, with price, platform, engine and the catch for each, from vendor docs.