Extract Text from Image PDF Online Free
Extract text from image-only PDFs, scanned documents, and photo-based files using OCR. Designed specifically for PDFs where pages are pictures rather than selectable text. All processing stays in your browser.
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Text extracted from image PDF
How to extract text from an image-based PDF
- Select your scanned or image PDF. The file is read locally in your browser and never uploaded to PDF2atom.
- Choose the OCR language. Select the language that matches the text in your scanned document.
- Start OCR extraction. Each page image is processed by Tesseract OCR. If the PDF happens to have selectable text, a fast extraction path is also available.
- Copy or download the extracted text. Review the results, copy to clipboard, or save as TXT.
What "image-based PDF" means
An image-based PDF is a PDF where each page is a picture — like a photo of a document, a scan from a scanner, or a fax converted to PDF. Even though you can see words on the screen, the computer only sees pixels. Regular text extraction tools cannot read these files because there are no selectable text objects inside the PDF.
This tool uses OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to read the pixels on each page and convert them into editable, searchable text. It's designed specifically for the case where your PDF pages are images rather than digital text.
Common sources of image-based PDFs
- Scanner output — Most desktop and office scanners create image-only PDFs by default.
- Phone camera scans — Apps that photograph documents often save as image PDFs.
- Fax-to-PDF services — Received faxes converted to PDF are typically image-only.
- Screenshots saved as PDF — Screenshots embedded in PDF pages have no text layer.
- Older archived documents — Pre-2000 document management systems often stored scans as image PDFs.
Supported languages
Tesseract OCR supports 12+ languages including English, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Russian, Arabic, Japanese, Korean, Italian, Indonesian, Dutch, Thai, and Vietnamese. Select the primary language of your document for best accuracy.
OCR is best treated as a strong first draft, not a legal source of truth. Review names, dates, totals, account numbers, addresses, and reference IDs before copying the text into a form, spreadsheet, email, or archive. A straight, high-contrast scan usually gives much better results than a shadowed phone photo.
Privacy & Security
Your PDF stays in your browser. OCR runs entirely on your device using Tesseract.js compiled to WebAssembly. PDF2atom does not upload, store, inspect, or analyze your document or its extracted text. No server-side processing, no API calls.
Frequently asked questions
Is my image PDF uploaded during text extraction?
No. OCR runs entirely in your browser using Tesseract.js. PDF2atom does not receive your document or the extracted text.
How do I know if my PDF is image-based?
Try selecting text in your PDF reader. If you cannot highlight or select individual words, the PDF is image-based. You can also check — if Ctrl+F does not find visible words, the PDF needs OCR.
What if my image PDF also has some selectable text?
This tool automatically checks for selectable text. If found, it offers both fast text extraction and full OCR — you choose which path to use.
How accurate is the OCR for image PDFs?
Accuracy depends on scan quality. 200-300 DPI scans with good contrast produce the best results. Skewed, blurry, or low-contrast pages reduce accuracy.
Can it read handwriting in image PDFs?
Tesseract is optimized for printed text. Handwriting recognition is limited and often unreliable.
Does this work on password-protected image PDFs?
Password-locked PDFs must be unlocked first using the password you know. PDF2atom does not bypass or crack passwords.
How long does extraction take?
Tesseract.js loads once (~4-6 seconds), then each page takes about 5-20 seconds. A 5-page scan typically completes in under 2 minutes.