Document · iEdit Scanner
Make a scanned PDF searchable, straight from the camera
Every PDF you scan with iEdit on your iPhone, iPad or Android phone carries an invisible text layer made by on-device OCR, so you can search, select and copy its text in any PDF reader. The page looks like your scan; the words sit behind it.
Overview
When you scan paper with iEdit's Document scanner and tap Save PDF, the result is more than a picture of the page. Behind the full-resolution image sits an invisible layer of recognised text, lined up with the printed words. Open the PDF in Files, Preview, Acrobat, a mail app or a browser and you can search for a word, select a sentence and copy it, exactly as with a PDF made in a word processor.
The text is recognised on your device as the scan is saved, in any of nine scripts: Latin, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Devanagari, Cyrillic, Arabic, Thai and Greek. Most are built into iOS and Android; a few use an open-source Tesseract model that downloads once, after asking you. The layer covers printed text only, so handwritten notes stay as images. The ID card scanner adds a text layer for each side of a card as well.
Searchable scans matter when a folder of receipts, a term of lecture handouts or a stack of signed contracts has to be found again later. Scan them in Batch mode, save, and search for a name or an invoice number in whichever PDF reader you open them in. Nothing is uploaded; recognition runs offline once any needed model is present.
Why people use it
- 01
Searchable in any reader
The text layer is standard PDF text, so Files, Preview, Acrobat and browsers can search and copy it.
- 02
Nothing added to the look
The layer is invisible; the page you see is your full-resolution scan, filtered as you chose.
- 03
Recognised on your device
OCR runs on the phone as you save, in nine scripts, with no upload and no account needed.
How to use Searchable PDF in iEdit
- 1
Open iEdit and tap Scan a document.
- 2
Hold the phone over the page; iEdit captures it once the frame settles.
- 3
Adjust the corners and choose a filter, adding pages in Batch mode if you need.
- 4
Tap Save PDF; the searchable PDF appears in My files.
Frequently asked questions
Is the text of my scans sent to a server to make them searchable?
No. Recognition happens on your iPhone, iPad or Android phone while the scan is saved, with nothing sent to a server and no account needed. If you choose a script that needs a Tesseract model, the open-source model downloads once from our file server, after asking you, and then works offline.
Do I need Premium to get a searchable PDF?
No. Scanning and the OCR text layer are free, and the PDF saves to My files at no cost. Sharing that PDF, or saving it to Files or your photo library, is part of iEdit Premium, an optional monthly subscription with a 3-day free trial.
Can iEdit make a PDF I already have searchable?
The text layer is added by the scanner, so it applies to pages you scan with the camera or feed from your gallery through the scanner. iEdit does not add a layer to an existing PDF you import; for those, PDF to text recognises the pages and gives you the words to copy or save.
Try Searchable PDF in iEdit
Available for iPhone, iPad and Android.