OCR

Scanned PDF to JSON with OCR

AlphaPDF Pro: $99/year · $12/month

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Recognize Scanned PDF content and export JSON with AlphaPDF Premium. Select languages and review the recognized result.

What to expect

Export recognized page text and blocks with bounding boxes and confidence values for downstream processing. Use the original scan when available; adding resolution later cannot recover missing characters.

Confidence is a recognition signal, not proof of accuracy. Validate the schema and key values before an automated import. Proofread names and numbers; handwriting is best-effort.

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Output quality is under review. This tool is not currently recommended as a reason to purchase Pro. Check all output against the source.

What it does

This tool reads the text in a scanned PDF and gives it back as JSON data. Every block of recognised text is listed with its position on the page and a confidence score, so software can pick out fields or flag weak readings for a person to check. Scanned PDFs usually come from an office scanner or a scanning app, with one page per image. The cleaner the scan, the better the result, so use the original file rather than a copy that was printed and scanned again.

When to use it

Pick this when an app or script needs to read scanned forms and pull out fields such as names, dates and reference numbers. Developers use it to feed scanned paperwork into a database or a review queue, using the position of each block to find the right field on a known form layout.

How to use Scanned PDF to JSON with OCR

Sign in with an account that has Premium access.
Upload .pdf files. Each file can be up to 50 MB, with up to 25 files per batch.
The output is set to JSON. Select the recognition languages and scan cleanup options. Review the available settings and choose a 1, 7 or 30-day retention period.
Start the job, then download and check the result before its retention period ends.

Related conversion options

Before you start

Confidence is a recognition signal, not proof of accuracy. Validate the schema and key values before an automated import. Proofread names and numbers; handwriting is best-effort.

Treat low confidence blocks as a to-do list for a person. Sending only those for review keeps checking quick without trusting every reading blindly. Recognition is never perfect. Names, amounts and dates deserve a careful check, and handwriting is read on a best-effort basis. Select every language on the page so the right characters are expected.

Processing limits

Up to 50 MB per input; 25 files and 500 MB per batch. PDF limit: 2000 pages. Up to 2 active jobs per account. Output limit: 1000 MB. Renderer limits can reject especially large pages or images.

Example output

An inspected example is not available for this tool yet. Review the supported formats and limitations before processing.

Common questions

Can I tell which page a block came from?

Blocks are listed page by page, so you can trace each piece of text back to its page in the scan. Check the file for the exact field names.

My PDF already has text. Do I need OCR?

If you can select words in the PDF, it has a text layer. Try the regular PDF conversion tools first.

What does the confidence score mean?

It shows how sure the recognition was about a block. A low score is a good reason for a human check. A high score is not proof it is right.

Which languages can it read?

Choose the languages from the list before you start. Recognition works best when every language on the page is selected.