Recognize Text in a Scanned PDF

If you receive a PDF that is a scanned picture, in which you cannot select text, and you do not have the original scan, it is still possible to convert that PDF into a PDF with searchable text

1. Open the PDF image

2. Go to the Tools panel > Recognize Text pane > click on In This File

3. Under Pages select what page you want to apply this to

4. In the Settings section, click on Edit

Next to Primary OCR Language select the primary language of the document you are turning into a PDF

Next to PDF Output Style you have the following three choices:
- Searchable Image: The original scan will be layered on top of the text. Not the clearest appearance but it is more accurate

Searchable Image (Exact): This option keeps the PDF as close to the original scan as possible, for example it won’t deskew the image, however the text will still be searchable

Clear Scan: Just the text version, the original scan does not appear. This option is a little clearer but not as accurate as the text version may differ from the original, for example if the typeface was something that Adobe does not recognize then it will make a guess as to what the text is. This may cause errors in the text, as well as a change in appearance