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Scan documents to PDF

Last updated on Feb 18, 2024 | Also applies to Adobe Acrobat 2017, Adobe Acrobat 2020

Scan a paper document to PDF and use Acrobat to turn it into a smart, searchable PDF with selectable text.

Before you begin

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Acrobat supports TWAIN and WIA drivers on Windows and ICA on macOS. Windows users can select Autodetect Color Mode for automatic content detection or choose from presets like Black & White, Grayscale, or Color Document. Custom scanning options allow for personalized settings.

Note:

Preset scanning requires drivers that support Hide Scanner’s Native Interface mode which isn't available on macOS.

Scan a paper document to PDF in Acrobat

From the global bar, select Create, then choose Scanner.
Choose the scanner to view the options available.

If Acrobat doesn't recognize your scanner, see Scanner not recognized.

Choose the settings as mentioned below, then select Scan.

Settings	Applicable to	Details
Scan using	Windows	Use the Default settings to scan. Select to use the scanner or printer's native interface.
Predefined scan setting	Windows	Select if you want the scanner or printer to Autodetect Color Mode, scan Black and White Document, Color Document, Grayscale Document, or a Color Photograph.
Custom Scan settings
Pages	Windows, macOS	Specify the front side or both sides scanning. If you select Both Sides and the scanner settings are for only one side, the scanner setting overrides the Acrobat settings. Select Prompt to scan more pages if you want to scan multiple pages.
Color mode	Windows	Select a basic color mode (Autodetect, Color, Black and White, or Grayscale) that your scanner supports. This option is enabled if your Scanner Options are set to use the Acrobat scanning dialog box instead of the scanner application.
Resolution	Windows	Select a resolution that your scanner supports. This option is enabled if your Scanner Options are set to use the Acrobat scanning dialog box instead of the scanner application.
Paper size	Windows	Select a paper size or specify a custom Width and Height.
Quality	Windows, macOS	Optimize Image - Select to run the optimization process on the PDF. Drag the slider to set the balance point between file size and quality. Select Settings to customize optimization with specific file compression and filtering settings.
Output	Windows, macOS	Choose if you want to Create New PDF, Append to File, or Save Multiple Files. Recognize Text (OCR) - Select to convert text images in PDFs into searchable, selectable text using OCR. Choose Settings to select document language and output type. Add Metadata - Selecting this option opens the Document Properties dialog after scanning, allowing you to add metadata to the PDF. For multiple files, enter shared metadata once. Make PDF/A-1b compliant - Select to make the PDF conform to ISO standards for PDF/A-1b.

If prompted to scan more pages, select Scan More Pages, Scan Reverse Sides, or Scan Is Complete, and select OK.

Refer to your scanner's manual for instructions on scanning more pages with either a document-feeding or Flatbed scanner depending on your model.

Scan document to PDF from printer or scanner

Applicable to Windows

You can create a PDF file from a paper document using your printer or scanner and Acrobat. If the WIA driver is installed for your scanner, you can use the Scan button to create a PDF.

Press the Scan button on your printer or scanner, then select Adobe Acrobat from the list of registered applications.
Select a scanner, then choose a document preset or Custom Scan in the Acrobat scan interface.

Troubleshoot scanner issues

To resolve scanner errors or issues, view the following troubleshooting documents:

Recognize text in scanned documents

You can use Acrobat to recognize text in previously scanned documents that have already been converted to PDF. Optical character recognition (OCR) software enables you to search, correct, and copy the text in a scanned PDF. The original scanner resolution must have been set at 72 dpi or higher to apply OCR to a PDF.

Note:

Scanning at 300 dpi produces the best text for conversion. At 150 dpi, OCR accuracy is slightly lower.

Recognize text in a single document

Open the scanned PDF.
Select All tools > Scan & OCR > In This File.

The Recognize Text options are displayed in the pop-up dialog box.
In the pop-up dialog box, select a page range and language for text recognition.
Optionally, select Settings to open the Recognize Text dialog box and specify the options as needed.
Select Recognize Text. Acrobat creates a text layer in your PDF that can be searched — or copied and pasted into a new document.

Recognize text in multiple documents

Select All tools > Scan & OCR > Or recognize text in multiple files.
In the Recognize Text dialog box, select Add Files, and then select Add Files, Add Folders, or Add Open Files. Then, select the files or folder. An Output Options dialog box appears.
In the Output Options dialog box, specify a target folder for output files, and filename preferences. Select OK.
In the Recognize Text - General Settings dialog box, specify the options and select OK.

Acrobat creates a text layer in your PDF that can be searched — or copied and pasted into a new document.

Recognize Text - General Settings dialog box

Document Language

Specifies the language for the OCR engine to use to identify the characters.

Output (PDF Output Style)

Determines the type of PDF to produce. All options require an input resolution of 72 dpi or higher (recommended). All formats apply OCR and font and page recognition to the text images and convert them to normal text.

Searchable Image

Ensures that text is searchable and selectable. This option keeps the original image, deskews it as needed, and places an invisible text layer over it. The selection for Downsample Images in this same dialog box determines whether the image is downsampled and to what extent.

Searchable Image (Exact)

Ensures that text is searchable and selectable. This option keeps the original image and places an invisible text layer over it. Recommended for cases requiring maximum fidelity to the original image.

Editable Text & Images

Synthesizes a new custom font that closely approximates the original, and preserves the page background using a low-resolution copy.

Downsample To

Decreases the number of pixels in color, grayscale, and monochrome images after OCR is complete. Choose the degree of downsampling to apply. Higher-numbered options do less downsampling, producing higher-resolution PDFs.

Correct OCR text in PDFs

When you run OCR on a scanned output, Acrobat analyzes bitmaps of text and substitutes words and characters for those bitmap areas. If the ideal substitution is uncertain, Acrobat marks the word as suspect. Suspects appear in the PDF as the original bitmap of the word, but the text is included on an invisible layer behind the bitmap of the word. This method makes the word searchable even though it's displayed as a bitmap.

Note: If you try to select text in a scanned PDF that does not have OCR applied or try to perform a Read Out Loud operation on an image file, Acrobat asks if you want to run OCR. If you select OK, the Text Recognition dialog box opens, and you can select options described in detail under the previous topic.

Select All tools > Scan & OCR > Correct recognized text.

Acrobat identifies suspected text errors and displays the image and text in the pop-up dialog box. All suspect words on the page are enclosed in boxes.
Select the highlighted object or box in the document, then correct it in the Recognized As box in the pop-up dialog box. Select Accept.

The next suspect is highlighted. Correct mistakes as needed. Select Accept for each correction.
Select Close when the task is complete.

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