French OCR for PDF
French OCR for scanned PDFs: pages look exactly the same, and the French text, accents included, becomes searchable and copyable.
Searchable French documents
Scanned letters from the administration, contracts, payslips and course notes in French are hard to use when they are only images. With French selected, the recognized text keeps é, è, à, ç and œ, so searching for "échéance" or "reçu" actually finds them, and copied text needs no clean-up.
What works well
- Scanned letters, contracts, invoices and payslips in French.
- Books, articles and course handouts, including two-column pages.
- Documents mixing French with English or Arabic (choose up to three languages).
- Not handwritten notes.
For the best results
- 1Scan at 300 DPI, or photograph each page flat and evenly lit.
- 2Select English or Arabic as well when the document has passages in them.
- 3After OCR, PDF to Word turns the scan into an editable document.
Questions about French OCR for PDF
How do I OCR a French PDF?+
Choose the PDF, keep French selected and click Make PDF searchable. Download the result and search or copy the text in any PDF reader.
Are accents kept?+
Yes. French accented letters, ç and œ are recognized as such.
Does the PDF look different afterwards?+
No. The scan stays exactly as it was; the text is added invisibly behind it.
Is my PDF uploaded?+
No. Everything runs in your browser and your PDF never leaves your device.