Adobe Acrobat - OCR / Paper Capture

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1

This isn’t some new feature in Acrobat, but I think it’s one of which not many people are aware (I learned this today).

Say you have a PDF that’s a scan, not originally typed. So it’s all image-based (raster). But, you want to use the text. Essentially, you need to do some OCR (optical character recognition) work.

You could print it out, and scan it into an OCR application. Or, you could just use Acrobat’s Paper Capture feature.

As long as the resolution of the PDF is 200 dpi or more, you can just select Document… Paper Capture… Start Capture. In the options, make sure the “PDF Output Style” is “Formatted Text & Graphics.” Once done, you could save it as a Word document for easier editing, or whatever floats your boat. :slight_smile:

2

Not new, and this is my business…

we have solutions that scan, store, file, ocr, and invoice all documents by customer # etc for businesses… thats how i eat

3

You should put some kind of sauce on those documents, they may taste better that way. :slight_smile:

Like I said, I know it’s not new, but of all my years using scanners and Acrobat, I never had to use OCR. When someone told me to print a PDF and scan it through some OCR software, I thought “there’s got to be a digital solution to this. Why would I need to print it onto paper first?” That’s when I found Paper Capture.

I think this would help lots of students who need to take text from a book and get it into their papers. :slight_smile: