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PDF to Text

Upload PDF

The first page is rendered locally, then OCR runs in your browser. Max 25 MB. OCR runs in your browser — nothing is uploaded.

Tip: Text-based PDFs work best; scanned pages are treated like photos.

How to use

  1. Export or save the PDF you need (max 25 MB) — encrypted PDFs must be unlocked first.
  2. Upload the file on this page; the tool accepts standard application/pdf documents.
  3. Click Extract text from PDF — the first page is rendered to an image inside your browser.
  4. Wait for the page preview to appear, then for OCR progress to reach 100%.
  5. Read the text panel; copy lines you need into Word, Google Docs, or a spreadsheet.
  6. Need another page? Re-export that page as PDF or screenshot and use Image to Text until multi-page support ships.

FAQ

What does PDF to Text do?

PDF to Text reads content from a PDF by rendering page 1 to a bitmap in your browser, then running the same Tesseract engine used across our OCR hub. You get editable plain text without installing desktop software.

Is the PDF uploaded to a server?

No. PDF.js renders the page locally; Tesseract.js recognizes text in your tab. Neither step sends your document to our servers for processing.

How many pages are supported?

Currently the first page only. For page 2+, split the PDF externally or capture the page as an image and use Image to Text.

Does it work on scanned PDFs?

Yes. Scanned PDFs are effectively images per page; after render, OCR treats them like a photo. Quality depends on scan DPI and contrast.

What about text-based (digital) PDFs?

Digital PDFs with embedded text may OCR well after render, but a dedicated PDF reader’s copy command can be faster when text is already selectable. Use this tool when copy is disabled or layout is image-only.

Why did OCR fail or return empty text?

Common causes: corrupted PDF, password protection, blank first page, or very low-resolution scans. Try re-saving the PDF or photographing the page with Image to Text.

Is there a file size limit?

Yes — 25 MB per PDF upload on this page to keep browser memory reasonable.

Introduction

PDF to Text helps when you have a PDF but not selectable text: scanned contracts, faxed forms, exported slide decks flattened to images, or downloads where copy/paste is blocked.

The workflow is deliberate and transparent: render page 1 → preview → OCR → copy. Everything happens client-side so confidential PDFs never leave your machine for recognition.

How PDF to Text works in the browser

  1. Upload — you choose a PDF file from disk.
  2. Render — PDF.js draws the first page onto an in-memory canvas (like a screenshot of that page).
  3. Recognize — Tesseract.js reads letters from the rendered image.
  4. Output — plain text appears in the panel for review and copying.

No install, no account, and no batch queue — optimized for quick extraction from a single page.

Key features

  • Local PDF rendering via PDF.js (worker loaded from the official CDN on first use).
  • Visual preview of the rendered page before you trust the text output.
  • English OCR (eng) suitable for most business and academic Latin-script documents.
  • 25 MB cap to reduce out-of-memory failures on huge files in mobile browsers.

When to use PDF to Text

Situation Fit
Scanned invoice or form (page 1) Strong — typical use case
Screenshot PDF with one page of text Strong
200-page ebook Partial — only page 1 here; split externally
PDF with selectable text Optional — try native copy first
Password-protected PDF Not supported until decrypted

Tips for better PDF text extraction

  • Re-scan at 300 DPI if characters look fuzzy in the preview.
  • Prefer black text on white paper scans over color backgrounds.
  • Crop in a PDF editor if page 1 contains a large blank margin or cover sheet.
  • Rotate landscape scans so lines are horizontal before upload.

Limitations

  • Single-page processing today.
  • Complex tables may lose column alignment in plain-text output.
  • Mathematical notation and uncommon symbols may misread.
  • Very large PDFs may be slow or fail on low-RAM devices — split the file when possible.

Privacy

Your PDF is not transmitted to us for OCR. Rendering and recognition use browser APIs and downloaded open-source libraries. Clear the page or close the tab when finished on shared computers.

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