Recognise a scanned PDF
When you open a scanned PDF, Better PDF offers to recognise it. Apple Vision reads the pages on your Mac, nothing is uploaded, and the text becomes selectable and searchable with ⌘F. File › Save a Digital Copy writes a new PDF with an invisible text layer; the original is never changed.
Recognise
A page with no text and a full-page image is a scan. When Better PDF opens one, a card offers Recognise or Not now.
Recognition uses Apple Vision on your Mac. Nothing is uploaded. Only the scanned pages of a mixed document are processed, and the text is ready in seconds. After that you can:
- select and copy text from the page,
- find words with ⌘F, with every match listed by page.
Save a Digital Copy
Recognised text lives with the open document for the session. The original file is never modified.
To keep the text, choose File › Save a Digital Copy…. Better PDF writes a new file named <name> (digital).pdf that keeps the original page images and adds an invisible text layer under them. Its metadata, outline and annotations come along. The copy opens in a new tab, and other apps and Spotlight see real text in it.
Good to know
- Recognise Text and Save a Digital Copy are Pro tools (on during the seven-day trial). Scan mode’s own Recognise text option, when you save a scan, is free.
- You can also start it any time with File › Recognise Text.
- If a page takes too long, Better PDF retries it with a faster recogniser rather than waiting.