PDF documents are widely used for sharing information since they preserve formatting and quality across various devices. However, when it comes to editing PDFs, things aren’t always convenient. Many of these documents are scanned, which makes them hard to edit in traditional software. There’s no selectable text, so you can’t copy, edit, or search any of the words you see.
However, it’s now easier than ever to convert a document to PDF for free with tools like OnlyDoc. Once your file is ready, you can also edit scanned PDF files in just a few moments using the built-in OCR feature, which converts static content into a fully editable document.
Why Most PDFs Aren’t Editable
Many PDF files are created by scanning printed documents. The printer reads individual pages as single images, which is why the resulting PDF doesn’t contain any actual text, but rather images of it. This leads to several limitations, such as:
● The inability to edit the text you see.
● Not being able to search for words.
● Simple tasks like copying and pasting do not work.
This obviously creates plenty of issues and begs the question of how to convert a PDF to an editable PDF. The answer is the OCR technology used by tools like OnlyDoc.
How OCR Helps
OCR, or Optical Character Recognition, is a technology that converts images of text into editable text. This technology analyzes the shapes of the characters in a PDF and converts them into selectable text. This lets users edit, copy, search, or index the text as they need. Many businesses still rely on paper documents, making OCR tools like OnlyDoc a crucial part of their workflow.
Most OCR tools take a step-by-step approach to convert your files. Here’s how the process looks in general:
1. Preprocessing
The software first improves the quality of your scanned images. This step is crucial for better text recognition later on. Preprocessing commonly consists of removing noise from the scans, adjusting brightness and contrast, straightening skewed pages, and converting everything to black and white for greater clarity.
2. Text Detection
The second step is to identify the parts of the document that contain text. The technology differentiates between sections of text, blank spaces, and graphics. This is a crucial step to preserve the document structure.
3. Character Recognition
The software then starts identifying individual characters. Traditionally, OCR tools would detect shapes and match them with a database of known letters. More advanced tools these days lean on AI and machine learning to recognize letters and numbers more accurately. They focus on the curves of each letter, the spacing between them, and the structure of words. This helps modern OCR software to trace the text even if the scan isn’t perfect.
4. Post-Processing
Once the recognition is complete, the software turns the document into editable text. Modern tools may use language models and a digital dictionary to fix mistakes during this step automatically. That way, you get a fully accurate document with very few errors, if any.
How to Convert Scanned PDF to Editable PDF with OnlyDoc
OnlyDoc is an online tool that makes it very easy to turn static documents into editable files. There is no learning curve here, and pretty much anyone with a working knowledge of how browser-based instruments work can use it.
1. Open the website on your phone or PC.
2. Upload the required file by browsing it on your device or by simply dragging it into the window.
3. Let the online converter process the request for a few seconds.
4. Download the resulting file to your device.
Once you have the new document, you’ll be able to edit the text, copy it, find specific words, and export the file however you need. It’s that easy, and it takes only a few seconds.
Why Choose OnlyDoc for Your OCR Needs
There are several reasons why this tool is the right one for converting a scanned PDF to editable PDF. Here are a few key ones:
● The free tool works nearly instantly. While uploading very large documents may take a few seconds, the actual conversion process doesn’t take long.
● The advanced OCR technology extracts text with very high accuracy and preserves the structure of your original document.
● Even if the scan is a little blurry, the tool is designed to make it fully readable and editable anyway.
● OnlyDoc works on multiple devices and platforms, including Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. You can use it whenever you want, wherever you want.
● Your files are fully encrypted and secure, so there’s no risk of having them leaked or lost.
Conclusion
Optical Character Recognition (OCR) has become essential in today’s business world, which still relies on scanned PDFs. The ability to convert to editable PDF files that would otherwise be a nightmare to work with has changed modern workflows. No longer do people have to sift through long documents manually to find the few sentences or key insights they need. Instead, they can quickly convert and edit scanned PDF files with OnlyDoc and treat them as digital documents, where text can be edited, searched, indexed, and copied without hassle.