OCR PDF redaction for scanned documents

Many PDFs are scanned images with no selectable text. To redact these, you need OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to extract the text first. PDF Redactor includes an optional OCR add-on for exactly this.

Why this workflow

OCR extracts text from scanned pages
Then applies permanent redaction
Works offline on your PC

Step-by-step

Download PDF Redactor and install the OCR add-on
Open your scanned PDF or folder of scanned PDFs
Enable OCR mode — the app extracts text automatically
Choose what PII to redact and run

Download free trial Check if PDF is scanned

FAQ

How do I know if my PDF needs OCR?

Try selecting text. If you can't highlight it, it's likely a scanned image. Use the free text-layer checker tool.

Does OCR work on handwritten text?

OCR works best on printed/typed text. Handwritten documents may have lower accuracy.