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 specific language.

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

data-slots=heading, code

data-repeat=5

data-languages=Java, .NET, Node JS, Python, 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.OcrPDF

public class OcrPDF {

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

  public static void main(String[] args) {
        try (InputStream inputStream = Files.newInputStream(new File("src/main/resources/ocrInput.pdf").toPath())) {
             // Initial setup, create credentials instance
            Credentials credentials = new ServicePrincipalCredentials(
                    System.getenv("PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_ID"),
                    System.getenv("PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_SECRET"));

            // Creates a PDF Services instance
            PDFServices pdfServices = new PDFServices(credentials);

            // Creates an asset(s) from source file(s) and upload
            Asset asset = pdfServices.upload(inputStream, PDFServicesMediaType.PDF.getMediaType());

            // Creates a new job instance
            OCRJob ocrJob = new OCRJob(asset);

            // Submit the job and gets the job result
            String location = pdfServices.submit(ocrJob);
            PDFServicesResponse<OCRResult> pdfServicesResponse = pdfServices.getJobResult(location, OCRResult.class);

            // Get content from the resulting asset(s)
            Asset resultAsset = pdfServicesResponse.getResult().getAsset();
            StreamAsset streamAsset = pdfServices.getContent(resultAsset);

            // Creates an output stream and copy stream asset's content to it
            Files.createDirectories(Paths.get("output/"));
            OutputStream outputStream = Files.newOutputStream(new File("output/ocrOutput.pdf").toPath());
            LOGGER.info("Saving asset at output/ocrOutput.pdf");
            IOUtils.copy(streamAsset.getInputStream(), outputStream);
            outputStream.close();
       } 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
                ICredentials credentials = new ServicePrincipalCredentials(
                    Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_ID"),
                    Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_SECRET"));

                // Creates a PDF Services instance
                PDFServices pdfServices = new PDFServices(credentials);

                // Creates an asset(s) from source file(s) and upload
                using Stream inputStream = File.OpenRead(@"ocrInput.pdf");
                IAsset asset = pdfServices.Upload(inputStream, PDFServicesMediaType.PDF.GetMIMETypeValue());

                // Creates a new job instance
                OCRJob ocrJob = new OCRJob(asset);

                // Submits the job and gets the job result
                String location = pdfServices.Submit(ocrJob);
                PDFServicesResponse<OCRResult> pdfServicesResponse =
                    pdfServices.GetJobResult<OCRResult>(location, typeof(OCRResult));

                // Get content from the resulting asset(s)
                IAsset resultAsset = pdfServicesResponse.Result.Asset;
                StreamAsset streamAsset = pdfServices.GetContent(resultAsset);

                // Creating output streams and copying stream asset's content to it
                String outputFilePath = "/output/ocrOperationOutput.pdf";
                new FileInfo(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory() + outputFilePath).Directory.Create();
                Stream outputStream = File.OpenWrite(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory() + outputFilePath);
                streamAsset.Stream.CopyTo(outputStream);
                outputStream.Close();
            }
            catch (ServiceUsageException ex)
            {
                log.Error("Exception encountered while executing operation", ex);
            }
            catch (ServiceApiException ex)
            {
                log.Error("Exception encountered while executing operation", ex);
            }
            catch (SDKException ex)
            {
                log.Error("Exception encountered while executing operation", ex);
            }
            catch (IOException ex)
            {
                log.Error("Exception encountered while executing operation", ex);
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                log.Error("Exception encountered while executing operation", ex);
            }
        }

        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 {
    ServicePrincipalCredentials,
    PDFServices,
    MimeType,
    OCRJob,
    OCRResult,
    SDKError,
    ServiceUsageError,
    ServiceApiError
} = require("@adobe/pdfservices-node-sdk");
const fs = require("fs");

(async () => {
    let readStream;
    try {
        // Initial setup, create credentials instance
        const credentials = new ServicePrincipalCredentials({
            clientId: process.env.PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_ID,
            clientSecret: process.env.PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_SECRET
        });

        // Creates a PDF Services instance
        const pdfServices = new PDFServices({credentials});

        // Creates an asset(s) from source file(s) and upload
        readStream = fs.createReadStream("./ocrInput.pdf");
        const inputAsset = await pdfServices.upload({
            readStream,
            mimeType: MimeType.PDF
        });

        // Creates a new job instance
        const job = new OCRJob({inputAsset});

        // Submit the job and get the job result
        const pollingURL = await pdfServices.submit({job});
        const pdfServicesResponse = await pdfServices.getJobResult({
            pollingURL,
            resultType: OCRResult
        });

        // Get content from the resulting asset(s)
        const resultAsset = pdfServicesResponse.result.asset;
        const streamAsset = await pdfServices.getContent({asset: resultAsset});

        // Creates a write stream and copy stream asset's content to it
        const outputFilePath = "./ocrOutput.pdf";
        console.log(`Saving asset at ${outputFilePath}`);

        const writeStream = fs.createWriteStream(outputFilePath);
        streamAsset.readStream.pipe(writeStream);
    } catch (err) {
        if (err instanceof SDKError || err instanceof ServiceUsageError || err instanceof ServiceApiError) {
            console.log("Exception encountered while executing operation", err);
        } else {
            console.log("Exception encountered while executing operation", err);
        }
    } finally {
        readStream?.destroy();
    }
})();

Python

# Get the samples https://github.com/adobe/pdfservices-python-sdk-samples
# Run the sample:
# python src/ocrpdf/ocr_pdf.py

# Initialize the logger
logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)

class OcrPDF(object):
    def __init__(self):
        try:
            file = open('./ocrInput.pdf', 'rb')
            input_stream = file.read()
            file.close()

            # Initial setup, create credentials instance
            credentials = ServicePrincipalCredentials(
                client_id=os.getenv('PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_ID'),
                client_secret=os.getenv('PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_SECRET')
            )

            # Creates a PDF Services instance
            pdf_services = PDFServices(credentials=credentials)

            # Creates an asset(s) from source file(s) and upload
            input_asset = pdf_services.upload(input_stream=input_stream,
                                              mime_type=PDFServicesMediaType.PDF)

            # Creates a new job instance
            ocr_pdf_job = OCRPDFJob(input_asset=input_asset)

            # Submit the job and gets the job result
            location = pdf_services.submit(ocr_pdf_job)
            pdf_services_response = pdf_services.get_job_result(location, OCRPDFResult)

            # Get content from the resulting asset(s)
            result_asset: CloudAsset = pdf_services_response.get_result().get_asset()
            stream_asset: StreamAsset = pdf_services.get_content(result_asset)

            # Creates an output stream and copy stream asset's content to it
            output_file_path = 'output/OcrPDF.pdf'
            with open(output_file_path, "wb") as file:
                file.write(stream_asset.get_input_stream())

        except (ServiceApiException, ServiceUsageException, SdkException) as e:
            logging.exception(f'Exception encountered while executing operation: {e}')

if __name__ == "__main__":
    OcrPDF()

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"
}'

OCR with specific 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.

data-slots=heading, code

data-repeat=5

data-languages=Java, .NET, Node JS, Python, 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 (InputStream inputStream = Files.newInputStream(new File("src/main/resources/ocrInput.pdf").toPath())) {
            // Initial setup, create credentials instance
            Credentials credentials = new ServicePrincipalCredentials(
                    System.getenv("PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_ID"),
                    System.getenv("PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_SECRET"));

            // Creates a PDF Services instance
            PDFServices pdfServices = new PDFServices(credentials);

            // Creates an asset(s) from source file(s) and upload
            Asset asset = pdfServices.upload(inputStream, PDFServicesMediaType.PDF.getMediaType());

            // Create parameters for the job
            OCRParams ocrParams = OCRParams.ocrParamsBuilder()
                    .withOCRLocale(OCRSupportedLocale.EN_US)
                    .withOCRType(OCRSupportedType.SEARCHABLE_IMAGE_EXACT)
                    .build();

            // Creates a new job instance
            OCRJob ocrJob = new OCRJob(asset).setParams(ocrParams);

            // Submit the job and gets the job result
            String location = pdfServices.submit(ocrJob);
            PDFServicesResponse<OCRResult> pdfServicesResponse = pdfServices.getJobResult(location, OCRResult.class);

            // Get content from the resulting asset(s)
            Asset resultAsset = pdfServicesResponse.getResult().getAsset();
            StreamAsset streamAsset = pdfServices.getContent(resultAsset);

            // Creates an output stream and copy stream asset's content to it
            Files.createDirectories(Paths.get("output/"));
            OutputStream outputStream = Files.newOutputStream(new File("output/ocrWithOptionsOutput.pdf").toPath());
            LOGGER.info("Saving asset at output/ocrWithOptionsOutput.pdf");
            IOUtils.copy(streamAsset.getInputStream(), outputStream);
            outputStream.close();
        } 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
                ICredentials credentials = new ServicePrincipalCredentials(
                    Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_ID"),
                    Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_SECRET"));

                // Creates a PDF Services instance
                PDFServices pdfServices = new PDFServices(credentials);

                // Creates an asset(s) from source file(s) and upload
                using Stream inputStream = File.OpenRead(@"ocrWithOptionsInput.pdf");
                IAsset asset = pdfServices.Upload(inputStream, PDFServicesMediaType.PDF.GetMIMETypeValue());

                // Create parameters for the job
                OCRParams ocrParams = OCRParams.OCRParamsBuilder()
                    .WithOcrLocale(OCRSupportedLocale.EN_US)
                    .WithOcrType(OCRSupportedType.SEARCHABLE_IMAGE_EXACT)
                    .Build();

                // Creates a new job instance
                OCRJob ocrJob = new OCRJob(asset).SetParams(ocrParams);

                // Submits the job and gets the job result
                String location = pdfServices.Submit(ocrJob);
                PDFServicesResponse<OCRResult> pdfServicesResponse =
                    pdfServices.GetJobResult<OCRResult>(location, typeof(OCRResult));

                // Get content from the resulting asset(s)
                IAsset resultAsset = pdfServicesResponse.Result.Asset;
                StreamAsset streamAsset = pdfServices.GetContent(resultAsset);

                // Creating output streams and copying stream asset's content to it
                String outputFilePath = "/output/ocrOperationWithOptionsOutput.pdf";
                new FileInfo(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory() + outputFilePath).Directory.Create();
                Stream outputStream = File.OpenWrite(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory() + outputFilePath);
                streamAsset.Stream.CopyTo(outputStream);
                outputStream.Close();
            }
            catch (ServiceUsageException ex)
            {
                log.Error("Exception encountered while executing operation", ex);
            }
            catch (ServiceApiException ex)
            {
                log.Error("Exception encountered while executing operation", ex);
            }
            catch (SDKException ex)
            {
                log.Error("Exception encountered while executing operation", ex);
            }
            catch (IOException ex)
            {
                log.Error("Exception encountered while executing operation", ex);
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                log.Error("Exception encountered while executing operation", ex);
            }
        }

        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 {
    ServicePrincipalCredentials,
    PDFServices,
    MimeType,
    OCRJob,
    OCRParams,
    OCRSupportedLocale,
    OCRSupportedType,
    OCRResult,
    SDKError,
    ServiceUsageError,
    ServiceApiError
} = require("@adobe/pdfservices-node-sdk");
const fs = require("fs");

(async () => {
    let readStream;
    try {
        // Initial setup, create credentials instance
        const credentials = new ServicePrincipalCredentials({
            clientId: process.env.PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_ID,
            clientSecret: process.env.PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_SECRET
        });

        // Creates a PDF Services instance
        const pdfServices = new PDFServices({credentials});

        // Creates an asset(s) from source file(s) and upload
        readStream = fs.createReadStream("./ocrInput.pdf");
        const inputAsset = await pdfServices.upload({
            readStream,
            mimeType: MimeType.PDF
        });

        // Create parameters for the job
        const params = new OCRParams({
            ocrLocale: OCRSupportedLocale.EN_US,
            ocrType: OCRSupportedType.SEARCHABLE_IMAGE_EXACT
        });

        // Creates a new job instance
        const job = new OCRJob({inputAsset, params});

        // Submit the job and get the job result
        const pollingURL = await pdfServices.submit({job});
        const pdfServicesResponse = await pdfServices.getJobResult({
            pollingURL,
            resultType: OCRResult
        });

        // Get content from the resulting asset(s)
        const resultAsset = pdfServicesResponse.result.asset;
        const streamAsset = await pdfServices.getContent({asset: resultAsset});

        // Creates a write stream and copy stream asset's content to it
        const outputFilePath = "./ocrWithOptionsOutput.pdf";
        console.log(`Saving asset at ${outputFilePath}`);

        const writeStream = fs.createWriteStream(outputFilePath);
        streamAsset.readStream.pipe(writeStream);
    } catch (err) {
        if (err instanceof SDKError || err instanceof ServiceUsageError || err instanceof ServiceApiError) {
            console.log("Exception encountered while executing operation", err);
        } else {
            console.log("Exception encountered while executing operation", err);
        }
    } finally {
        readStream?.destroy();
    }
})();

Python

# Get the samples https://github.com/adobe/pdfservices-python-sdk-samples
# Run the sample:
# python src/ocrpdf/ocr_pdf_with_options.py

# Initialize the logger
logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)

class OcrPDFWithOptions:
    def __init__(self):
        try:
            file = open('./ocrInput.pdf', 'rb')
            input_stream = file.read()
            file.close()

            # Initial setup, create credentials instance
            credentials = ServicePrincipalCredentials(
                client_id=os.getenv('PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_ID'),
                client_secret=os.getenv('PDF_SERVICES_CLIENT_SECRET')
            )

            # Creates a PDF Services instance
            pdf_services = PDFServices(credentials=credentials)

            # Creates an asset(s) from source file(s) and upload
            input_asset = pdf_services.upload(input_stream=input_stream,
                                              mime_type=PDFServicesMediaType.PDF)

            ocr_pdf_params = OCRParams(
                ocr_locale=OCRSupportedLocale.EN_US,xw
                ocr_type=OCRSupportedType.SEARCHABLE_IMAGE
            )

            # Creates a new job instance
            ocr_pdf_job = OCRPDFJob(input_asset=input_asset, ocr_pdf_params=ocr_pdf_params)

            # Submit the job and gets the job result
            location = pdf_services.submit(ocr_pdf_job)
            pdf_services_response = pdf_services.get_job_result(location, OCRPDFResult)

            # Get content from the resulting asset(s)
            result_asset: CloudAsset = pdf_services_response.get_result().get_asset()
            stream_asset: StreamAsset = pdf_services.get_content(result_asset)

            # Creates an output stream and copy stream asset's content to it
            output_file_path = 'output/OcrPDFWithOptions.pdf'
            with open(output_file_path, "wb") as file:
                file.write(stream_asset.get_input_stream())

        except (ServiceApiException, ServiceUsageException, SdkException) as e:
            logging.exception(f'Exception encountered while executing operation: {e}')

if __name__ == "__main__":
    OcrPDFWithOptions()

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"
}'