Do you have a PDF document, but the text isn’t searchable? You can change that with optical character recognition (OCR) software. Read on for some options to apply OCR to PDFs on Mac.
If you have a PDF that isn’t searchable it was likely sourced from an image, like a scan. While the Preview app on macOS can handle basic editing of PDFs and other documents, it doesn’t have OCR software built-in. Let’s take a look at two trusted software options below.
How to apply OCR to scanned PDFs on Mac
PDFpen
- Download PDFpen or PDFpenPro if you don’t already have it (free trial available)
- After installing the app on your Mac, open the PDF document you’d like to apply OCR to
- PDFpen will automatically ask if you want to use OCR on a scanned document
- Click OCR Document
Here’s how the process looks:
PDFpen supports OCR for 19 languages, use the checkboxes to choose the ones you’d like as shown below.
If you don’t see the automatic dialog box asking about OCR, click File → OCR Files…
Adobe Acrobat Pro
- Download Adobe Acrobat Pro if you don’t already have it (free trial available)
- Open the PDF with Acrobat that you’d like to apply OCR to
- Click the Edit PDF tool in right hand sidebar and Acrobat will automatically apply OCR to your document (it will also be editable)
Other options
There are a lot of free options that pop up in a Google search for “OCR PDF on Mac” but be careful of what software you choose. Many of the options are from unknown developers, and there are inherently risks associated with downloading and using free software outside of the Mac App Store.
If you just need to OCR a couple of PDFs, using a free trial of PDFpen or Adobe’s Acrobat Pro will work. If you regularly work with PDFs and need a good solution, PDFpen or PDFpenPro are great options with a fixed $75 or $125 price to own the software.
In contrast, Adobe has moved to the subscription model for Adobe Acrobat Pro and runs from $15-$25/month after the trial depending on if you opt for a year’s subscription or not ($180/year total at the cheapest).
For more help getting the most out of your Apple devices, check out our how to guide as well as the following articles:
- How to check iPhone photo orientation before taking a picture
- How to turn off shake to undo on iPhone
- How to change your passcode on iPhone and iPad
- How to turn off passcode on iPhone and iPad
- Can you get the Podcasts app on Mac?
- How to cancel your YouTube TV subscription
- How to connect Apple Pencil with your iPad
- How to unlock a disabled Apple ID
- How to change your Apple ID password
- How to change your Apple ID birthdate
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Comments