When it comes to scanned pdf files, there are going to be times when you need to convert those pdf documents into a Word document. Being able to do so saves you time, allows you greater flexibility in the long run, and ensures that your documents don’t get lost along the way. More than anything else, though, it will immediately translate into improved efficiency on your part.
Are you supposed to do scanned pdf to editable word document conversion frequently? Maybe you are confused by the process, or wonder which program is the best one to use. Maybe you have done some investigation and still could not find a clear answer to your questions. Most of us will encounter this problem at least once in their lives. If so, it’s time for us to learn more about converting scanned pdf to editable word document and how it can be done.
Convert scanned pdf to editable word document is a difficult job. It’s the good news you can do with the help of free software which I would like to introduce to you in this article. It’s very easy. All you have to do is scanning pages of your documents, and then click a button that says convert to editable word. In no time, the software will finish converting your pdf files data into editable format for you to use on any word processing program.
Converting a PDF to a Word document is useful if you have an attachment from a client, or even a PDF of your own work. It’s annoying that these PDFs are often “set in stone” and can’t be edited as Word documents. You can edit the PDF but this would mean sending another file back, clogging up your email inbox. Free conversion tools for PDF to Word exist and you’ll find information about them in this article.
Check out how you can convert scanned PDF documents to editable Word files using our OCR
Converting your file from PDF to Word is easy. The process simply returns the contents of your PDF file to its original format.
However, if you are scanning documents and saving them to PDF, most times, they’re stored as images. OCR (Optical Character Recognition) is required to extract the text and save the converted documents into editable Word files.
Our online tool offers both options. And yes, it’s free to use.
How to Convert Scanned PDF to Word Documents Online
- Go to the Smallpdf PDF to Word online tool.
- Upload your PDF file via drag-and-drop.
- Select the option you need—the OCR conversion is only available as a Pro feature.
- Wait for the conversion to finish.
- Download your editable Word file.
The process of converting the scanned PDF file into an editable Word doc may take a few extra seconds, as our OCR needs to recognize the text of the paper documents stored as scans in PDF form. On the bright side, being a fast online PDF to Word converter—loved by over 40 million monthly users, and counting, the whole process to convert the file from scanned PDF to Word shouldn’t take too long.
Is the Scanned Pdf to Word Converter Free?
All of Smallpdf’s tools are free to use with some limitations—our OCR Word converter is a Pro feature. You can scan to pdf online, as well as convert images, spreadsheets, and powerpoints to pdf, even when these documents are scans. To use our optical character recognition (OCR) technology to convert images to editable Word, check out our JPG to Word guide.
Cool, But What Are the Limitations?
Free tasks are limited to two per day and some features are only accessible with a Pro subscription. File size is also limited to a maximum of 5 GB, as high-resolution scans may be quite large.
Getting a Smallpdf Pro account will remove the daily task limit and allow you to use the tools as often as you need to convert images to pdf, or scanned pdf to word, or use our scan to pdf converter.
Are My Scans Safe?
Utmost security of your files is a guarantee. We’ve recognized the concern of general users when it comes to cloud services from day one. Smallpdf does everything in our power to take care of your files; we use TLS encryption, delete files after one hour, and use the reliable Amazon Web Services to host and handle your documents. For full disclosure, check out our Terms and Privacy page.
Adobe Acrobat DC
Adobe Acrobat DC is labeled one of the best PDF to Word converter with OCR feature. The pioneer PDF solution platform offers immense up to par features that help make your entire PDF to Word conversion experience awe-inspiring. The program has been perennially lavished with new features and modification of previous ones with the intent of making it more efficient and useful for the end-user.
Adobe Acrobat supports the OCR feature so that users can edit characters, search for texts, and copy texts on scanned PDF files. When the OCR feature is enabled on Adobe Acrobat DC, the program can perform OCR on PDF files with images, hidden texts, and vector art, among others. The range of languages supported by Adobe Acrobat DC includes English, Dansk, Deutsch, Italiano, and French, just to mention but a few. This program also has a cloud-based subscription service that makes it easy to work on PDF files remotely.
Pros:
- It offers the right level of security and file safety.
- It delivers a full-scale service.
- It provides several PDF file editing options.
Cons:
- It is pricey for regular users.
UniPDF
UniPDF is a free scanned PDF to Word converter software for Windows. It is a dedicated software that is used for converting PDFs to various formats including Word (DOC, RTF), Text, HTML, and multiple images (TIFF, PNG, JPG, etc.). Using it, you can convert normal as well as scanned PDFs to Word files. The good part is that it lets you batch convert scanned PDFs to Word that saves you some effort and a lot of time. Now, let’s checkout steps to perform conversion in this freeware.
How to convert scanned PDF to Word in UniPDF:
- Firstly, add one or multiple scanned PDFs to its Home tab using the Add button.
- Now, select Word format from the available Output Format section.
- Next, go to the Settings tab and configure options including output Word format, image format, etc.
- After that, hit the Convert button to quickly start batch scanned PDF to Word conversion.
Limitation:
It is free for non-commercial use only.
Final Thoughts:
UniPDF is a good PDF converter that supports various output file formats and lets you batch convert scanned PDF to Word.
Icecream PDF Converter
Icecream PDF Converter is a great PDF converter that lets you convert scanned PDF to Word. It is basically used for the conversion of PDF to several other file formats and vice versa. You can also convert other files to PDF format using it. As output format, you can convert scanned PDF to editable Word (DOC, DOCX, RTF), ODT, JPG, PNG, EPS, HTML, and some more formats. Let us now have a look at the conversion steps.
How to convert scanned PDF to Word in Icecream PDF Converter:
- First, launch this software and go to its From PDF tab.
- Now, import one or more scanned PDFs using its add/plus button.
- After that, set the “To” field to a Word format and click the Settings option to set up some output configurations.
- At last, press the Convert button which will start the conversion of scanned PDF to Word.
Limitations:
Icecream PDF Converter’s free version lets you batch at most 3 scanned PDF documents to Word at a time. Some other features are also locked in this free version which you get only in its pro version.
Conclusion:
This software is another good option to convert multiple scanned PDFs to Word and other formats at once.
PDFMate PDF Converter
PDFMate PDF Converter, as its name implies, is a free PDF converter that lets you convert scanned PDF to Word. Using these freeware, you can convert scanned PDF files to editable Word documents using OCR technology. It supports DOC format as well as various other file formats to convert scanned PDFs to, such as EPUB, TXT, IMG, HTML, SWF, JPG, etc. The process of conversion is very simple; let us checkout.
How to convert scanned PDF to Word in PDFMate PDF Converter:
- First, add the input scanned PDF file to it that you want to convert.
- Now, from available output formats, select DOC format.
- Finally, enter output folder location and click the Convert button to start the conversion.
Additional Feature:
- Merge: It lets you convert and merge multiple PDF files into a single Word document.
Limitations:
The free version has various locked features like batch conversion, 3 page limit for scanned PDFs, etc. To remove these and more restrictions, you need to purchase its pro version.
Conclusion:
It is a beautifully designed software that lets you easily convert scanned PDF to Word and multiple other formats.
Scanned PDF vs Native PDF
PDFs are majorly categorized into either native or scanned forms and here you will learn what sets them apart.
- Native PDF – A native PDF is an original document that is digitally created from a computer using apps like Word, Excel, Illustrator, and more. They contain code that allows for viewing and reading in the original form. Also, native PDFs contain vector-based files that are largely editable, besides the searchable content.
- Scanned PDF – A scanned PDF consists of scanned images of a given document and therefore lacks the necessary electronic code for integrity. A scanned PDF can initially be an electronic document that is later scanned or passed through a scanner, thereby losing digital formatting. The files are more raster-based and pretty cumbersome to edit.
Why Convert Scanned PDF to Word?
At one point or another, the need to convert scanned PDF to Word will come knocking. Of course, this will be driven by several factors. In this section, we are going to outline reasons that push for the need to perform scan PDF to Word conversion.
- Allow easy editing – since PDFs are more of a document preservation tool, they usually don’t allow direct editing, especially the scanned PDFS. Changing the scanned PDF to an editable Word document (DOC or DOCX) allows for convenient editing.
- Lack of a PDF reader – Scanned PDFs, or PDFs in general, require specialized software to open and view. Programs like Microsoft Word are common on computers and therefore, by converting a scan PDF to Word, viewing is no longer limited.
- Incompatibility with screen readers – Screen readers, especially for visually impaired users, are not usually very compatible with scanned PDF content but by converting into a format like Microsoft Word, this hurdle is jumped pretty easily.
- Extract and re-use text data – Since scanned PDFs do not allow for direct copy-pasting or extracting content like tables, most of the time you will be forced to resort to retyping. But by converting the scanned or image-based PDF into DOC or DOCX, you get rid of all that hassle.
Convert Scanned PDF to Word Using Best PDF to Word OCR Software
TalkHelper PDF Converter OCR is our pick for the best PDF to Word converter software. It boasts unmatched comprehensiveness when converting to and from the PDF format. The highlight feature here is the advanced OCR (Optical Character Recognition) that extracts text data including tables from a scan PDF overly fast and has high accuracy levels.
To literate on the OCR, over 46 recognition languages are supported to guarantee that extra accurate PDF to Word OCR process. Even better, for a multi-page scan PDF, you can choose to convert single pages, a page range, or the entire document depending on your needs; not forgetting that batch conversion is available as well.
Conclusion
Converting PDF to Word is easier than you might expect. The original Word document can be edited, updated and improved. For example, if you have a scanned file of your original file, then converting PDF to Word is a better option than editing it in PDF format.
Converting PDFs to editable word documents is surprising easy with free online PDF converters. There are several reasons why you might want to do this. Maybe you need to print a document and want it to look its best on paper. Maybe your company has tons of PDFs that you need to edit and maintain. Whatever the reason, converting scanned PDF to editable word document is something everyone should know how to do.