# How does a government office OCR a scanned PDF?

_Updated July 2026 · Arthize · https://arthize.com/answers/how-does-government-ocr-pdf_

A government office can OCR a scanned PDF in Arthize's private workspace — free, with no watermark. A records officer redacts personal identifiers from a document before a public-records release, converts it to PDF/A for the archive, and merges the case file into a single record.

## Answer

A government office can OCR a scanned PDF in Arthize's private workspace — free, with no watermark. A records officer redacts personal identifiers from a document before a public-records release, converts it to PDF/A for the archive, and merges the case file into a single record.

## More about ocr pdf

OCR adds an invisible, selectable text layer over the scanned image.

Without OCR, a scanned PDF is just a picture and can't be searched.

Running OCR first is what makes a scan convert cleanly to Word or Excel.

## How to OCR a scanned PDF

1. **Open the OCR tool** — Sign in and open the OCR tool.
2. **Add your scan** — Upload the scanned or image-only PDF.
3. **Run OCR** — Arthize recognises the text and adds it as an invisible, selectable layer.
4. **Download** — Get a searchable PDF whose text you can copy and convert.

## FAQ

### How do I make a scanned PDF searchable?

OCR adds a searchable text layer to a scanned PDF, turning a picture of text into words you can select, search, copy and convert. On Arthize it's free with no watermark and processed privately.

### What is OCR and why does my scan need it?

OCR adds a searchable text layer to a scanned PDF, turning a picture of text into words you can select, search, copy and convert. On Arthize it's free with no watermark and processed privately.

### Is OCR free on Arthize?

OCR adds a searchable text layer to a scanned PDF, turning a picture of text into words you can select, search, copy and convert. On Arthize it's free with no watermark and processed privately.