How to edit a scanned PDF
A scan looks like a document but behaves like a photograph: the words are pixels, not text, so there is nothing to click. Reading them back is a solved problem, and you should not need to know the word for it.
Open the scan in the editor. It notices the page holds no text, reads it for you, and a few seconds later the words are clickable — click one, type your correction, download. There is no button to find and no setting to choose.
Open the free editorStep by step
- Open the scanned PDF
Drop the file into the editor. A short message says the page is being read; there is nothing for you to do.
- Wait a few seconds
Each page is analysed where it is, in your browser. A dense page takes longer than a mostly blank one, and pages are read as you reach them.
- Click a word and correct it
Once a page is read, its text behaves like any other text: click, type, done. The original scan stays underneath, so the page still looks like a scan.
- Download
You get a PDF with your correction in place, and nothing was sent anywhere.
Why a scanned PDF cannot be edited directly
When a scanner or a phone camera produces a PDF, it wraps an image in a PDF envelope. The file has pages, but each page holds a single picture.
There is no letter 'a' anywhere in it — only dark pixels arranged in the shape of one. That is why an ordinary PDF editor lets you draw over a scan but never lets you change what is written on it.
How accurate is the reading?
A clean, straight, well-lit scan is read almost perfectly. A photograph taken at an angle, a faint fax, handwriting or an unusual typeface will produce mistakes.
Read what you correct before you send it. The point is to fix a word you can see, not to hand a whole page to a machine and hope.
A better scan gives a better result
If you are scanning the page yourself, flatten it, fill the frame, and light it evenly so no shadow falls across the middle.
Two hundred dots per inch is plenty for text. Beyond that you mostly add weight to the file without adding anything the reader can use.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to run OCR first?
No. The editor checks whether a page contains real text and reads it for you when it does not. You open the file and click the words — the rest is its problem, not yours.
Is my scan uploaded to be read?
No. The text recognition runs inside your browser, on your device. Scans are often the most personal documents people own — an identity card, a payslip, a medical letter — so this one matters.
Can I edit a photo of a document?
Yes. Open a JPG or a PNG in the editor and it becomes a one-page document you can read, correct and download as a PDF.