Arabic OCR for PDF
Arabic OCR for scanned PDFs: the pages look exactly the same, but the Arabic text becomes searchable, selectable and copyable, right to left.
Searchable Arabic scans
Scanned contracts, court papers, university documents and old books in Arabic are usually just pictures of pages: you cannot search them, copy a sentence or paste a paragraph into a translator. This tool reads each page in your browser with an engine trained on Arabic script and adds the text as an invisible layer behind the scan. Searching in your PDF reader then finds Arabic words, and selecting a line copies it in the right order.
What works well
- Scanned Arabic letters, contracts, certificates and administrative documents.
- Books and reports set in Naskh-style fonts.
- Pages that mix Arabic with French or English, such as Moroccan and Algerian paperwork.
- Not handwritten pages or ornamental calligraphy.
For the best results
- 1Scan at 300 DPI when you can; phone scans work too if the page is flat and well lit.
- 2Keep French or English selected next to Arabic when the pages mix them.
- 3Leave "Only add text that isn’t selectable yet" on for PDFs that are partly digital, so existing text is not doubled.
Questions about Arabic OCR for PDF
How do I make a scanned Arabic PDF searchable?+
Choose the PDF, keep Arabic selected (add French or English if the document mixes them) and click Make PDF searchable. Download the new PDF and search it in any PDF reader.
Does the PDF look different afterwards?+
No. The scan stays exactly as it was; the Arabic text is added invisibly behind it.
Can I copy Arabic text from the result?+
Yes. Select a line in your PDF reader and copy it; the words come out in reading order. For the whole document as text, use PDF to Text afterwards.
Is my PDF uploaded?+
No. Recognition runs in your browser, and your document never leaves your device.