Scan to Searchable PDF

There are two ways to scan your documents directly as searchable PDF files: use scanner software that supports this option, or OCR software with a 'watched folder' mode. Some scanners come with software with a direct OCR scan option, which means that as soon as you scan your documents, they are saved as searchable PDF files. The only problem with this is that the OCR software bundled with scanners is generally not as accurate as OCR-specific, stand-alone software. With OCR software that includes a watched folder mode, you can set up your software so that as soon as new files are scanned to your computer, the OCR software automatically processes them and converts them to searchable PDF files. Most software that includes this feature is server-based, and thus can monitor various specified folders on a network, so that documents scanned by any users on the network are automatically converted to searchable PDFs. Using this type of software will generally yield more accurate results, and also enable you to turn previously scanned documents into OCR PDF files.

In order to create properly searchable PDF files, it is imperative that you have accurate OCR software. In order to verify the accuracy of the OCR software you are using to create your searchable PDFs, you should copy some text from the PDF and paste it into a text document. If the pasted text is identical to the visible text in the PDF, the OCR has done its job accurately. If, however, it is different, it means that the OCR process did not yield accurate results, and that you won't be able to accurately search the PDF. You should perform this test several times with several documents in order to be sure of your results. It is, of course, preferable to perform this test using free trial versions of software before purchasing, as this way you cannot be lead astray by false accuracy claims.