Browser-local PDF OCR
Extract text without uploading your document
The tool loads the PDF with PDF.js, checks every page for meaningful selectable text, and uses that text directly when it exists. For a scanned or image-only page, it renders one bounded canvas and runs the bundled English Tesseract OCR worker. Pages are finalized in document order with clear page separators.
For scanned and mixed PDFs
Upload one PDF and choose Extract text. Digital pages avoid unnecessary OCR, while scanned pages are recognized one at a time. You can copy the combined result or download a UTF-8 TXT file.
Privacy and local assets
Your PDF, page pixels and extracted text stay on your device. PDF.js and Tesseract code plus English language data load from FiloTool's own static origin; no external OCR API or document-processing backend is used.
Limits and performance
Files are limited to 25 MB and 50 pages, with a 25-million-pixel render cap per page. Balanced quality uses a 2× PDF render scale. Large or detailed scans can take several minutes on slower devices.
Plain-text limitations
Output preserves page order and practical line breaks, not fonts, exact columns, tables or page geometry. OCR is an estimate. This Phase 1 release exports TXT and does not reconstruct a searchable PDF.
Choose extraction by source
Use PDF to Text when you need multilingual OCR controls or direct extraction from a digital PDF, and Image to Text for a photograph or screenshot. The OCR versus PDF text extraction guide explains how to check whether a PDF already contains selectable text.
Frequently asked questions
How does OCR PDF work?
FiloTool checks each page for a usable embedded text layer. It reads that text directly when available and renders only image-only pages for English OCR.
Does my PDF leave my device?
No. PDF parsing, page rendering, text extraction and OCR run in your browser. The PDF and rendered page images are not uploaded to FiloTool or an OCR service.
Can it process a PDF containing both digital and scanned pages?
Yes. Pages are classified and processed individually, then combined in page order without OCRing pages that already contain meaningful text.
Which OCR languages are supported?
This first browser-local version supports English. Automatic language detection and additional language packs are not included.
Does it create a searchable PDF?
No. This version extracts editable plain text and exports UTF-8 TXT. It does not rebuild the source as a searchable PDF.
How accurate is PDF OCR?
Accuracy depends on scan sharpness, contrast, orientation, font and layout. Handwriting, tables, columns and damaged scans can be misread, so proofread important output.
What are the browser limits?
OCR PDFs are limited to 25 MB, 50 pages and 25 million rendered pixels per page. Work is processed one page at a time to limit memory use.