Extract text from scanned PDFs

Turn image-based PDFs into searchable, copyable text using OCR. No uploads, no accounts, no waiting. Optical character recognition runs entirely in your browser.

OCR PDFs Now — Free

No file uploads

Browser-based OCR

No account needed

Drop your PDF here to get started or click to browse files

How to OCR a PDF

Open your scanned PDF

Launch PhantomEtch and open the scanned document by dragging it in or pressing Ctrl+O.

Run OCR

Open the Intelligence menu and click "OCR." PhantomEtch analyzes each page and extracts all readable text from the scanned images.

Copy or save extracted text

Copy the extracted text to your clipboard, or save the PDF as a searchable document with a text layer embedded behind the scanned images.

Frequently asked questions

How accurate is the OCR?+

PhantomEtch uses advanced OCR algorithms that achieve high accuracy on clearly scanned documents. Results depend on scan quality — clean, high-resolution scans at 300 DPI or higher produce the best results. Handwriting recognition is limited.

What languages are supported?+

PhantomEtch OCR supports English and most Latin-alphabet languages out of the box. Additional language packs can be loaded for broader coverage including CJK (Chinese, Japanese, Korean), Arabic, Cyrillic, and more.

How long does OCR processing take?+

Processing time depends on the number of pages and your device's performance. A typical single-page scan processes in a few seconds. Multi-page documents may take longer — PhantomEtch shows a progress indicator so you always know the status.

Is my scanned document kept private?+

Absolutely. PhantomEtch runs OCR entirely in your browser using local processing. Your scanned documents are never uploaded to any server. We cannot see your files — everything stays on your device.