How do you go directly to the parts that you want to review in a PDF? “Search” within the file, of course. But have you ever worked on a PDF not allowing you to search the content? Why you can’t search within some PDFs, how can you make a searchable PDF on mac with or without the help of Adobe? Here you will be revealed all about these.
About Searchable PDF
What is a searchable PDF?
A searchable PDF is the PDF file composed of 2 layers, image layer and text layer. There in the text layer saves the text content and users are allowed to search for or locate the keyword within the document.
How to search a PDF on Mac?
According to different PDF viewers, the way to search in a PDF file may be different.
In Preview, go to Edit>Find or press “Command+F” to search the content within the file;
In Adobe, press “Command+F”, input the keyword you want to search within the file.
Why a PDF cannot be searched?
In most cases, the reason why a PDF cannot be searched is concluded as, the file is not originally generated from documents editors like Adobe, Microsoft Office, it is image-based, which means the text content is saved as bitmap font. These fonts cannot be recognized, therefore the PDF tool cannot do the matching to locate the keywords.
Hence, to make a PDF searchable, you need to make the image text to be recognized within the file. This is just OCR works for.
Make a Searchable PDF from Scanned File on Mac with Adobe Acrobat
When talking about PDF, it reminds us of Adobe, its creator. And positively, Adobe products offer a solution to make a searchable PDF from scanned file with its built-in OCR feature. While, for those don’t use an Adobe product, no need to worry, there are also non-Adobe solutions for you in the following part.
- Open the scanned file in Adobe Acrobat (eg.Adobe Acrobat Pro DC).
If the file is scanned PDF, open it in Adobe directly;
If the file is an image, run Adobe first, then select “Create PDF” in the wizard, choose the image file and it will be imported into Adobe.
- Go to Tools>Enhance Scans>Recognize Text>In This File. Click Recognize Text and Adobe will start to process OCR on the document.
- Go to File>Save, you will find the PDF is searchable on mac.
If you need to perform OCR with other Adobe versions to make a searchable PDF from scanned files, go to the details and try.
Make a Searchable PDF from Scanned File on Mac with OCR PDF Converter
Of course, not all of us have installed an Adobe. Never mind, the non-Adobe solution also surprise you with even better and more accurate results.
Like, Cisdem PDF Converter OCR for Mac, a professional PDF Converter with OCR feature enabling users to convert native and scanned PDFs into searchable PDF, Word, Excel, PPT, Keynote, HTML, Keynote and so on. It supports batch making searchable PDFs from scanned files, keeping original file quality as well. There won't be no worry about formatting issue and image resolution occuring in the conversion. More than 50 languages can be understood accurately by this powerful OCR PDF Converter.
Let's Make A Searchable PDF from Scanned Files on Mac Now!
- Download the free trial of Cisdem PDF Converter OCR on its official website, install and launch it on your mac.
- Drag and Drop the scanned PDF into the interface, or just click “+” to add files.
- Turn OCR button ON, choose All Pages or fill Page Range. Select the language and output as PDF to make a searchable PDF from scanned PDFs on mac.
- Click “Convert” to start making searchable PDF on mac from scanned PDFs. Find the searchable PDF in output folder.
Adobe VS OCR PDF Converter
No doubt, working as the most powerful comprehensive tool to manage PDFs, Adobe stands far above OCR PDF Converter. But when talking about performing OCR on a scanned file, Cisdem OCR PDF Converter for Mac does better than Adobe:
| |
Input format |
Accuracy |
Output Format |
Price |
| Adobe Acrobat |
PDF(image can be imported) |
Accurate, you can manually adjust the suspected errors |
PDF, Word, Text, HTML, Image, Excel |
US$14.99/Month |
| Cisdem PDF Converter OCR |
PDF(Native and Scanned,Secured) |
Highly accurate, you can keep the original file quality |
Editable PDF, RTFD, DOCX, DOC, XLSX, PPTX, HTML, TEXT, ALTO, FB2, EPUB, ODT, PAGES and KEYNOTE |
US$49.99/Life Time |
What is your choice?
Just try before any commercial investment, and choose the one works for you.
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