PDF file format is so popular because the PDF documents can be opened and viewed on different computers with different software and settings. This is the reason why this file format is used widely to share information with employees, clients, other businesses, and other entities. However, the ability to edit the PDF document usually depends on the source of the PDF document. If the PDF document came from a typed document that was created using a word processor program, the resulting PDF is much flexible and can be edited easily.
However, if the source document was an image or a scanned hard copy document, the resulting PDF does not lend itself to editing. The document does not contain searchable text as well, at least not by default. However, you can use OCR technology to make such documents searchable and, in this article, I am going to look at the process of making PDF documents searchable.
The conversion process
The process of converting a PDF document into a searchable one will usually differ with the type of OCR program you are using to do the conversion. There are several programs on the internet that you can use to achieve this. Some of these programs are freely available for download and use while others will need you to make a payment in order to use them. There are some that need to be downloaded and installed in order to be used while others exist on the internet and can only be used online.
If you choose to go with a downloadable version of the software, you will need to start the conversion process by opening the program first. Next, you will need to click on the command that allows the software to recognize text. This should open a separate panel within the same window.
What options to pick in your OCR software
When a separate panel opens in the window, you will need to select from several options so that the output file can be a searchable PDF document. You will then need to configure the settings of the software based on the number of pages the document has. After that, you can hit the ok button and let the software do its work. If the document is a small one, you can expect the conversion process to last only a few seconds. However, if the document is huge, the conversion process will also take a long time, but when it finishes, you will have a searchable PDF document at your disposable.
What you can do with your searchable PDF document
With your PDF document, you can choose to do anything with it. For instance, you can decide to convert it into a word document that you can then edit further. To do this, you will need a PDF converter to word and for that you have several options available to you. Once you are done with editing the word document, you can then convert it back to a PDF file, which will now be text-based.