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OCR searchable PDF

Run Tesseract OCR locally and add an invisible searchable text layer over each page. English model included.

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Overview

About OCR searchable PDF

Reach for this when you have a scanned PDF you can't search or copy from, like a photographed contract or a faxed form. It renders each page, runs Tesseract OCR in your browser, and lays an invisible text layer over the picture so you can select, search, and copy. The original scan stays exactly as it looks; nothing is redrawn or cleaned up. You can raise the render scale for sharper recognition or set a minimum confidence to drop shaky guesses. The bundled model reads English only, so other languages won't come through.

How it works

How to ocr searchable pdf

1

Add your file

Drop it in or click to choose. It stays on your device.

2

Set options

Tweak the settings, or just use the sensible defaults.

3

Download the result

One click. It was built right here, in your browser.

The honest difference

Why Unfleece vs fleeceware

Unfleece

  • Runs in your browser — no file upload
  • Free, no account, no card
  • Open source (AGPL-3.0)
  • No file-size paywall

Typical fleeceware site

  • Uploads your file to a server
  • $1 trial → ~$50 / week
  • Closed and opaque
  • Locks results behind pay
Questions

Frequently asked

Does this change how my scanned pages look?
No. The original scanned image stays exactly as-is; the recognized text is added as an invisible layer on top, so the page looks identical but you can now select, search, and copy from it.
What languages can it read?
English only. The bundled Tesseract model is the English one, so pages in other languages or scripts won't be recognized accurately.
What do the render scale and minimum confidence options do?
Render scale sets how large each page is rasterized before OCR, so a higher scale can sharpen recognition on small or faint text at the cost of more work. Minimum confidence drops recognized words that score below your threshold, which trims unreliable guesses from the text layer.
Are my files uploaded anywhere?
No. The OCR runs entirely in your browser with Tesseract, and your file never leaves your device. You can confirm this in your browser's Network tab while it works.
Keep going

Related tools

Images → PDF PDF → JPG PDF → PNG PDF → Text