How can I convert scanned images as PDF to a searchable PDF file? [closed]

I have a PDF of a scanned book.

I'm looking for a free software that will perform OCR and then provide an option to save it as a PDF or document again.

Is there one?

Solution 1:

You could download the 30 day trial of Adobe Acrobat Pro and use the 'OCR Text Recognition' function ('Document > OCR Text Recognition > Recognise Text Using OCR...'). In the settings dialog, choose 'Searchable Image' as the output style. This will keep the page image but embed the OCR'ed text so the document will be searchable and allow text to be selected, copied and pasted.

After running the OCR you'll need to confirm or correct words that the OCR is unsure about using the 'Find OCR Suspects' functions.

Solution 2:

If you have a Google Account then Google Docs now includes the functionality to upload a PDF file and perform OCR on it.

I've tried it myself and it makes a fair stab at an admittedly well formatted PDF.

The formatting is pretty much destroyed but the text seems to survive.