OCR PDF

Use built-in optical character recognition (OCR) to convert images to text and enable fully text searchable documents for archiving and creation of searchable indexes.

Rest API

See our public API Reference for OCR PDF

Text recognition (OCR)

Optical character recognition (OCR) converts images to text so that you and your users can fully interact with the PDF file. After performing OCR, the PDF may be fully editable and searchable. The input format must be application/pdf.

This sample defaults to the en-us locale. For other languages, see OCR with explicit language.

Please refer the API usage guide to understand how to use our APIs.

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Java

// Get the samples from https://www.adobe.com/go/pdftoolsapi_java_samples
// Run the sample:
// mvn -f pom.xml exec:java -Dexec.mainClass=com.adobe.pdfservices.operation.samples.ocrpdf.OcrPDF

 public class OcrPDF {

  // Initialize the logger.
  private static final Logger LOGGER = LoggerFactory.getLogger(OcrPDF.class);

  public static void main(String[] args) {

   try {

    // Initial setup, create credentials instance.
    Credentials credentials = Credentials.servicePrincipalCredentialsBuilder()
        .withClientId("PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_ID")
        .withClientSecret("PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_SECRET")
        .build();

    //Create an ExecutionContext using credentials and create a new operation instance.
    ExecutionContext executionContext = ExecutionContext.create(credentials);
    OCROperation ocrOperation = OCROperation.createNew();

    // Set operation input from a source file.
    FileRef source = FileRef.createFromLocalFile("src/main/resources/ocrInput.pdf");
    ocrOperation.setInput(source);

    // Execute the operation
    FileRef result = ocrOperation.execute(executionContext);

    // Save the result at the specified location
    result.saveAs("output/ocrOutput.pdf");

   } catch (ServiceApiException | IOException | SdkException | ServiceUsageException ex) {
    LOGGER.error("Exception encountered while executing operation", ex);
   }
  }
 }

.NET

// Get the samples from https://www.adobe.com/go/pdftoolsapi_net_samples
// Run the sample:
// cd OcrPDF/
// dotnet run OcrPDF.csproj

 namespace OcrPDF
 {
   class Program
   {
     private static readonly ILog log = LogManager.GetLogger(typeof(Program));
     static void Main()
     {
       //Configure the logging
       ConfigureLogging();
       try
       {
           // Initial setup, create credentials instance.
           Credentials credentials = Credentials.ServicePrincipalCredentialsBuilder()
                .WithClientId("PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_ID")
                .WithClientSecret("PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_SECRET")
                .Build();

         //Create an ExecutionContext using credentials and create a new operation instance.
         ExecutionContext executionContext = ExecutionContext.Create(credentials);
         OCROperation ocrOperation = OCROperation.CreateNew();

         // Set operation input from a source file.
         FileRef sourceFileRef = FileRef.CreateFromLocalFile(@"ocrInput.pdf");
         ocrOperation.SetInput(sourceFileRef);

         // Execute the operation.
         FileRef result = ocrOperation.Execute(executionContext);

         // Save the result to the specified location.
         result.SaveAs(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory() + "/output/ocrOperationOutput.pdf");
       }
       catch (ServiceUsageException ex)
       {
         log.Error("Exception encountered while executing operation", ex);
       }
       // Catch more errors here. . .
     }

     static void ConfigureLogging()
     {
       ILoggerRepository logRepository = LogManager.GetRepository(Assembly.GetEntryAssembly());
       XmlConfigurator.Configure(logRepository, new FileInfo("log4net.config"));
     }
   }
 }

Node JS

// Get the samples from http://www.adobe.com/go/pdftoolsapi_node_sample
// Run the sample:
// node src/ocr/ocr-pdf.js

 const PDFServicesSdk = require('@adobe/pdfservices-node-sdk');

 try {
   // Initial setup, create credentials instance.
     const credentials =  PDFServicesSdk.Credentials
         .servicePrincipalCredentialsBuilder()
         .withClientId("PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_ID")
         .withClientSecret("PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_SECRET")
         .build();

   // Create an ExecutionContext using credentials and create a new operation instance.
   const executionContext = PDFServicesSdk.ExecutionContext.create(credentials),
       ocrOperation = PDFServicesSdk.OCR.Operation.createNew();

   // Set operation input from a source file.
   const input = PDFServicesSdk.FileRef.createFromLocalFile('resources/ocrInput.pdf');
   ocrOperation.setInput(input);

   // Execute the operation and Save the result to the specified location.
   ocrOperation.execute(executionContext)
       .then(result => result.saveAsFile('output/ocrOutput.pdf'))
       .catch(err => {
           if(err instanceof PDFServicesSdk.Error.ServiceApiError
               || err instanceof PDFServicesSdk.Error.ServiceUsageError) {
               console.log('Exception encountered while executing operation', err);
           } else {
               console.log('Exception encountered while executing operation', err);
           }
       });
 } catch (err) {
   console.log('Exception encountered while executing operation', err);
 }

Rest API

// Please refer our Rest API docs for more information
// https://developer.adobe.com/document-services/docs/apis/#tag/Ocr

curl --location --request POST 'https://pdf-services.adobe.io/operation/ocr' \
--header 'x-api-key: {{Placeholder for client_id}}' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer {{Placeholder for token}}' \
--data-raw '{
    "assetID": "urn:aaid:AS:UE1:23c30ee0-2e4d-46d6-87f2-087832fca718"
}'

// Legacy API can be found here
// https://documentcloud.adobe.com/document-services/index.html#post-ocr

OCR with explicit language

You can perform OCR on files in other languages, including German, French, Danish, and other languages. Refer to OCRSupportedLocale and OCRSupportedType in the API docs for a list of supported OCR locales and OCR types.

As shown in the OcrPDFWithOptions sample, when you make a PDF file searchable, you specify both the locale (language) and the type. There are two types which produce a different result:

Please refer the API usage guide to understand how to use our APIs.

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data-repeat=4

data-languages=Java, .NET, Node JS, Rest API

Java

// Get the samples from https://www.adobe.com/go/pdftoolsapi_java_samples
// Run the sample:
// mvn -f pom.xml exec:java Dexec.mainClass=com.adobe.pdfservices.operation.samples.ocrpdf.OcrPDFWithOptions

  public class OcrPDFWithOptions {

    // Initialize the logger.
    private static final Logger LOGGER = LoggerFactory.getLogger(OcrPDFWithOptions.class);

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        try {

            // Initial setup, create credentials instance.
            Credentials credentials = Credentials.servicePrincipalCredentialsBuilder()
                .withClientId("PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_ID")
                .withClientSecret("PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_SECRET")
                .build();

            //Create an ExecutionContext using credentials and create a new operation instance.
            ExecutionContext executionContext = ExecutionContext.create(credentials);
            OCROperation ocrOperation = OCROperation.createNew();

            // Set operation input from a source file.
            FileRef source = FileRef.createFromLocalFile("src/main/resources/ocrInput.pdf");
            ocrOperation.setInput(source);

            // Build OCR options from supported locales and OCR-types and set them into the operation
            OCROptions ocrOptions = OCROptions.ocrOptionsBuilder()
                    .withOCRLocale(OCRSupportedLocale.EN_US)
                    .withOCRType(OCRSupportedType.SEARCHABLE_IMAGE_EXACT)
                    .build();
            ocrOperation.setOptions(ocrOptions);

            // Execute the operation
            FileRef result = ocrOperation.execute(executionContext);

            // Save the result at the specified location
            result.saveAs("output/ocrWithOptionsOutput.pdf");

        } catch (ServiceApiException | IOException | SdkException | ServiceUsageException ex) {
            LOGGER.error("Exception encountered while executing operation", ex);
        }
    }
  }

.NET

// Get the samples from https://www.adobe.com/go/pdftoolsapi_net_samples
// Run the sample:
// cd OcrPDFWithOptions
// dotnet run OcrPDFWithOptions.csproj

 namespace OcrPDFWithOptions
 {
  class Program
  {
    private static readonly ILog log = LogManager.GetLogger(typeof(Program));
    static void Main()
    {
      //Configure the logging
      ConfigureLogging();
      try
      {
          // Initial setup, create credentials instance.
          Credentials credentials = Credentials.ServicePrincipalCredentialsBuilder()
                .WithClientId("PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_ID")
                .WithClientSecret("PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_SECRET")
                .Build();

        //Create an ExecutionContext using credentials and create a new operation instance.
        ExecutionContext executionContext = ExecutionContext.Create(credentials);
        OCROperation ocrOperation = OCROperation.CreateNew();

        // Set operation input from a source file.
        FileRef sourceFileRef = FileRef.CreateFromLocalFile(@"ocrWithOptionsInput.pdf");
        ocrOperation.SetInput(sourceFileRef);
        // Build OCR options from supported locales and OCR-types and set them into the operation
        OCROptions ocrOptions = OCROptions.OCROptionsBuilder()
            .WithOcrLocale(OCRSupportedLocale.EN_US)
            .WithOcrType(OCRSupportedType.SEARCHABLE_IMAGE_EXACT)
            .Build();
        ocrOperation.SetOptions(ocrOptions);

        // Execute the operation.
        FileRef result = ocrOperation.Execute(executionContext);

        // Save the result to the specified location.
        result.SaveAs(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory() + "/output/ocrOperationWithOptionsOutput.pdf");
      }
      catch (ServiceUsageException ex)
      {
        log.Error("Exception encountered while executing operation", ex);
      }
      // Catch more errors here . . .
    }

    static void ConfigureLogging()
    {
      ILoggerRepository logRepository = LogManager.GetRepository(Assembly.GetEntryAssembly());
      XmlConfigurator.Configure(logRepository, new FileInfo("log4net.config"));
    }
  }
 }

Node JS

// Get the samples from http://www.adobe.com/go/pdftoolsapi_node_sample
// Run the sample:
// node src/ocr/ocr-pdf-with-options.js

  const PDFServicesSdk = require('@adobe/pdfservices-node-sdk');

  try {
    // Initial setup, create credentials instance.
      const credentials =  PDFServicesSdk.Credentials
          .servicePrincipalCredentialsBuilder()
          .withClientId("PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_ID")
          .withClientSecret("PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_SECRET")
          .build();

    //Create an ExecutionContext using credentials and create a new operation instance.
    const executionContext = PDFServicesSdk.ExecutionContext.create(credentials),
        ocrOperation = PDFServicesSdk.OCR.Operation.createNew();

    // Set operation input from a source file.
    const input = PDFServicesSdk.FileRef.createFromLocalFile('resources/ocrInput.pdf');
    ocrOperation.setInput(input);

    // Provide any custom configuration options for the operation.
    const options = new PDFServicesSdk.OCR.options.OCROptions.Builder()
        .withOcrType(PDFServicesSdk.OCR.options.OCRSupportedType.SEARCHABLE_IMAGE_EXACT)
        .withOcrLang(PDFServicesSdk.OCR.options.OCRSupportedLocale.EN_US)
        .build();
    ocrOperation.setOptions(options);

    // Execute the operation and Save the result to the specified location.
    ocrOperation.execute(executionContext)
        .then(result => result.saveAsFile('output/ocrWithOptionsOutput.pdf'))
        .catch(err => {
            if(err instanceof PDFServicesSdk.Error.ServiceApiError
                || err instanceof PDFServicesSdk.Error.ServiceUsageError) {
                console.log('Exception encountered while executing operation', err);
            } else {
                console.log('Exception encountered while executing operation', err);
            }
        });
  } catch (err) {
    console.log('Exception encountered while executing operation', err);
  }

Rest API

// Please refer our Rest API docs for more information
// https://developer.adobe.com/document-services/docs/apis/#tag/Ocr

curl --location --request POST 'https://pdf-services.adobe.io/operation/ocr' \
--header 'x-api-key: {{Placeholder for client_id}}' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer {{Placeholder for token}}' \
--data-raw '{
    "assetID": "ce8fe9da-99f2-4d01-999e-42b9ce22ec5f",
    "ocrLang": "en-US"
}'

// Legacy API can be found here
// https://documentcloud.adobe.com/document-services/index.html#post-ocr