A scanned document — as text you can edit.

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A contract, an acceptance report or a certificate often exists only on paper, but you need to edit the text, quote it or find a particular clause in it. Retyping everything by hand takes a long time. Here you can convert a scanned document to text right in your browser: the pages come together on the sheet as a single document, which you then copy into Word.

Text from a printer reads best: on a clear scan there are usually only a few mistakes. If a page went into the scanner sideways, the tool usually notices and rotates it by itself, and it straightens a slight tilt too. Fonts and bold type aren't carried over: you get plain text, line by line, and headings, indents and tables will have to be formatted in Word.

How to prepare a scan for fewer mistakes

  1. Set the scanner to 300 dpi in grayscale: at a lower resolution, small letters and clause numbers are misread more often.
  2. Use “Crop” to cut off the margins, dark strips from the scanner lid and binder holes: fewer stray characters will appear along the edges.
  3. For documents in Russian, turn on the “Russian” switch: without it, the text is read noticeably worse. And for Ukrainian documents with no Latin letters, turn English off — look-alike letters will get mixed up less often.
  4. No scanner? Photograph the document with your phone straight from above, in daylight and without flash. Move closer instead of using digital zoom.

Which documents read well and which don't

Reads well

  • Contracts, acceptance reports and certificates in black type on white paper
  • Scans where the page lies flat, with no shadow from a fold
  • Typewritten text with clear letters that don't run together

Reads poorly

  • Stamps and signatures, especially over the text
  • Tables: the grid isn't kept, and each table row becomes a line of text
  • Handwritten approvals, notes and corrections in the margins

How to convert a scan to text

  1. Scan the pages or use scans you already have; run a PDF file through “PDF to JPG” first.
  2. Add the pages one by one, from first to last: the text will be assembled in the same order.
  3. Look through the cards marked “Unclear”, check amounts, dates and company or bank details against the original, and fix mistakes on the sheet.
  4. Turn on “Join lines”, press “Copy text” and paste into Word or an email.

When the office needs text from a scan

  • Changes to the other party's contract The other party sent a scanned contract, and you need to propose your own changes. Paste the recognized text into Word and mark your edits right in the document.
  • Acceptance reports and delivery notes for accounting Numbers, dates and amounts from paper reports and delivery notes don't have to be typed from scratch: copy the text into Excel and split it into columns.
  • An old directive from the archive You need a typewritten directive or company charter in electronic form. After recognition, all that's left is to proofread the text and fix mistakes, above all in faded spots and numbers.

Questions

How do I convert a scan to Word?

The tool doesn't create a separate Word file: you copy the text into a new document. “Join lines” mode merges the lines of each paragraph, so you won't have to stitch them together by hand. For company details and lists where every line matters, keep “As in the photo”.

My scan has several pages: will the order get mixed up?

The text is assembled in the order you add the files, not by page numbers. A page you scanned and added later will go to the end. You can cut its text and paste it in the right place on the sheet.

What happens to stamps and signatures?

The tool doesn't read them. Where a stamp lies over the text, random characters may appear, and the words under it may be misread. Delete the stray characters on the sheet and reread those lines. If the stamp sits off to the side, cut it off with “Crop”.

My scan is saved as a PDF: how do I get the text?

The tool can't open a PDF directly. First save its pages as images with the “PDF to JPG” tool on this same site, then add them here. If your scanner settings offer JPG or PNG, choose that next time.

Will it read an old faded copy or typewritten text?

Typewritten text is printed text too: if the characters are clear, there are usually few mistakes. The fainter the copy, the more often letters get lost or mixed up. Try rescanning the page a little darker. Anything barely visible to the eye is easier to type in by hand.

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