Scanning and OCR

Fixes for scanned paper on your Mac, such as PDFs whose text cannot be copied and OCR for scanned documents.

2 articles · Last updated October 30, 2026

October 5, 2026 The PDF's paper size changed after OCR — check on your Mac whether the page was rebuilt OCR can rebuild a scanned page and change the PDF's paper size. Check Page Size in Preview, and copy the original first.
October 5, 2026 Can't copy text from a scanned PDF — why it happens, and how to fix it A scanned PDF saved without OCR holds only a photo of each page. Check it in Preview, and add the text later.

Other topics

Mac Troubleshooting DictionaryLook up the problem, find the fix About Wada Digital LabHow we write and check our articles All browser toolsImages, PDFs and audio, on one page HEIC to JPG ConverterTurn iPhone photos into JPGs, many at once Compress ImagesMake photos smaller, many at once Resize ImagesChange the size of photos, many at once Blur ScreenshotsHide personal details, point things out Convert to MP3Recordings and video audio, many at once PNG to JPG ConverterJPG to PNG too, many at once WebP to JPG ConverterPNG too, many at once Merge PDF FilesCombine PDFs and images into one Split PDFOne PDF per page, or by page range Compress PDFMake PDFs smaller, many at once Image to TextExtract text from photos and screenshots (OCR)