OCR PDF
Recognize text in scanned PDFs and export clean, editable text. Processing runs locally in your browser.
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Upload a PDF and click "Run OCR" to convert scanned documents to editable text.
Built for larger private PDFs
Most cloud PDF tools need uploads, accounts, or free-tier caps for large files. ExactPDF processes files locally in your browser, supports PDFs up to 150 MB on this tool surface, and never adds a watermark or daily quota.
How It Works
Step 1: Upload Scanned PDF
Drop scans, photos of paperwork, or printer-output PDFs up to ~150 MB. The page never reaches a server — the OCR engine runs inside your browser tab.
Step 2: Pick Language & Run
Choose from 16 languages including English, Hindi, Spanish, French, German, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean. Tesseract runs locally to recognize text per page.
Step 3: Download Searchable PDF
Save a searchable PDF (text layer added) and an optional plain-text sidecar — paste into Word, search by keyword, or feed into LLM/RAG pipelines.
Why Use This Tool
- Direct answer to “OCR PDF free without uploading” — recognizes text in browser using Tesseract, perfect for confidential scans
- Multi-language support including Hindi/regional Indian languages and CJK scripts that most “free” cloud OCR sites silently downgrade
- Outputs both a searchable PDF and a plain-text sidecar — works for archival, full-text search, or as input to summarizers
- Zero retention by design: scanned IDs, contracts, prescriptions, and HR records never leave the device
Common Use Cases
Make scanned legal contracts and old PDFs searchable, extract text from photographed invoices for accounting, OCR multi-page Hindi/Marathi/Tamil government circulars before translation, and prepare scanned research papers for citation tools and reference managers. Compliance teams OCR document dumps before redaction; researchers OCR archival photos and microfiche PDFs without exposing sensitive content to a cloud service.
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