If you've read our guides to Scan to OCR or making a scanned PDF searchable, you already know how to make a scanned page searchable: invisible text is laid over the image, so you can Ctrl+F and copy text, while the picture itself never changes. This is a different job. Turn it into editable text reads the page and replaces the picture with real text you can click into, retype, and correct — the way you'd edit a page that was digital-born to begin with, not scanned at all.
How to make a scanned page editable
This runs as part of the same in-browser editor, so there's no separate app or upload step.
- Open your PDF. Head to EZ PDF Editor, sign in, and open the scanned or photographed document you want to convert. OCR counts pages against your account: free accounts include 5 OCR pages a month, and Pro is unlimited.
- Open OCR Pages. Click the OCR Pages tile in the sidebar Tools, or choose Convert Pages to Text in the document ⋯ menu.
- Choose Turn it into editable text. Under What do you want?, pick Turn it into editable text. The window says plainly what happens: the words are rebuilt as text you can type into, and images, lines and columns are not kept — read it before you go ahead, since OCR is never perfect.
- Pick the pages and the language. Choose This page, All pages, or Choose pages with a range like
1-3, 5. Set Language on the page to English, Français (French) or English + French — see OCR for French and bilingual forms. - Optionally keep the original scan. Tick Keep the original pages too and each original page is kept right after its text version — handy if you want the source image on record alongside the editable version instead of losing it.
- Convert. The button counts what will happen — Convert Page 1 or Convert 3 Pages. The font is matched to the page automatically, and the message afterwards names it.
- Edit like any other page. The converted text behaves like text you typed yourself. Click into it, fix a misread word, add a sentence, or delete a line — all without touching the rest of the document.
Review the result before you rely on it. OCR reads shapes, not meaning, and it will occasionally misread a character on an imperfect scan — that's exactly why the keep-the-original option exists. Everything printed on the page is read, including text you could already select, so choose the pages you actually want rebuilt.
Searchable vs. editable: two different jobs
These are easy to mix up because both start with "run OCR on a scan," but they solve different problems. Pick whichever matches what you actually need to do next:
| What you need | Make it searchable (or Scan to OCR) | Turn it into editable text |
|---|---|---|
| Find a word with Ctrl+F | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Select and copy text | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Keep the scan looking exactly the same | ✅ Unchanged image, invisible text layer on top | ⚠️ Image is replaced by retyped text (unless you keep the original page too) |
| Fix a typo or correct a word on the page | ❌ Not possible — it's still a picture underneath | ✅ Click in and retype it |
| Add a new sentence into the middle of the page | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
Put simply: if your scan just needs to be findable and quotable, Make it searchable is the lighter-touch option and keeps your original image untouched. If you actually need to change what the page says — correct a typo carried over from an old fax, update a line in a form template, or rebuild a document you only have as a photo — Turn it into editable text is the one that gets you there.
Real things people use this for
- Reviving an old form template. You only have a scanned or faxed copy of a form, but you need to update a line of boilerplate text on it before reusing it.
- Fixing a typo carried over from an old document. A scanned page has a wrong date or an outdated name printed on it — convert it to text and correct just that line.
- Rebuilding a document from a photo. Someone sent you a phone photo of a page and you need to actually edit its wording, not just read it.
- Keeping a paper trail while modernizing a page. Tick Keep the original pages too to retain the source image as a record right alongside the editable version you're now updating.
If your table of contents page includes dotted leader lines (the "………… 7" style), be aware that dense dot patterns can confuse any OCR engine, including this one — misread words are filtered out rather than inserted as garbage text, but it's worth double-checking that page specifically. Once your headings are readable text, our Table of Contents guide covers turning them into a clickable, bookmarked contents page.
Turn a scan into editable text now
In your browser, with the font matched for you — and keep the original scan if you want it. 5 free OCR pages a month when you sign in. Usually Acrobat Pro
Open EZ PDF Editor →EZ PDF Editor vs. Adobe Acrobat Pro
Converting a scan into retypeable text — Acrobat calls it "Recognize Text" under Enhance Scans — normally sits behind Acrobat Pro's paid tier. EZ PDF Editor includes it with a free account (5 OCR pages a month, unlimited on Pro), with a one-click option to keep the original scanned page as a record right next to the converted one. The font is matched to the page automatically, and English, French and bilingual pages are all supported.
Works on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android
Conversion runs inside the browser tab, so there's nothing to install and no OS-specific version to track down. Use it on a Windows or Mac desktop with scans from a flatbed scanner, or on iPhone and Android straight from a photo of a page — same tool, same result, wherever the page came from.
Privacy: your scan is read on your device
Reading the page and converting it to text happens in your browser tab — the text reader's files come from our own server, and your scan isn't sent off to a third party just to be converted. Signing in is what lets the editor count your OCR pages. Review the converted page yourself before sending or relying on it, the same way you'd proofread anything retyped from a scan.
FAQ
What's the difference between editable text and Make it searchable?
Make it searchable (like our Scan to OCR tool) keeps your scanned image exactly as it looks and lays invisible, selectable text over the words — the picture never changes. Turn it into editable text goes a step further: it replaces the picture with real, retypeable text you can click into and edit, like any other text on the page.
Do I lose the original scanned page?
Only if you want to. Tick Keep the original pages too and each original scanned page is kept right after its new text version, so you still have the untouched image for reference or as a record.
Will the converted text match the original font?
The font is chosen for you. A page that already carries real text uses its own fonts as the guide, a scan is matched to the closest serif, sans-serif or monospace look, and the message after converting names the font. It won't be pixel-identical to a scanned font, but it reads naturally and stays fully editable.
Can it convert French pages?
Yes. Set Language on the page to Français (French), or English + French for bilingual forms. The language is usually picked for you from the page — see OCR for French and bilingual forms.
Will it misread anything?
OCR accuracy depends on scan quality, and dense layouts like dotted table-of-contents lines can confuse any OCR engine. Low-confidence words are filtered out rather than inserted as garbled text, but you should always review a converted page before sending or relying on it.
Do I need Adobe Acrobat Pro for this?
No. Turning a scan into retypeable text is normally an Acrobat Pro feature. EZ PDF Editor includes it in the same browser tab you're already editing in — signed-in free accounts get 5 OCR pages a month, and Pro is unlimited.