Image to PDF: settings and best results

What does Image to PDF do?

Image to PDF makes a searchable PDF from a scan or a photo of a document, on your own computer. In the app, this tool is called Image OCR, and this guide uses that name from here on. It reads the text in the image and adds it as an invisible layer on top of the picture, so you can search the PDF, select words and copy them, while the page looks like your image.

Each image you add becomes its own one-page PDF. If you also want the words on their own, it can save a plain text file next to each PDF. To combine many images into one PDF, use Images to PDF instead.

01Step 1: Open Image OCR and add your images

Click Tools in the sidebar, open the Image tab and click Image OCR in the Text section. Its card says Make a scan or photo searchable. You can also type "image ocr" in the search box at the top.

Drop your scans or photos on the queue, or click it to pick files. JPG, PNG, WebP, AVIF, HEIC, HEIF, TIFF, GIF and BMP files work. Every image gets the same settings. To add more later, use Add more.

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1. 1Add more
2. 2Search languages
3. 3English, built in
4. 4Export recognized text
5. 5Run ocr

04Step 4: Run, then check the text

The line above the button sums up the run, for example OCR · English · + text file. Check where the files will go: Default output folder saves them in your workspace's output folder, in an ocr folder with a subfolder for today's date, such as 10-15. Click Change to pick another folder for this run. Then click Run ocr.

When the run ends, each image shows Done. Click View to open the searchable PDF. Select text is on, so you can drag across the picture to select words. Copy all copies all of the page's text, and Text shows the text on its own, with a Copy text button. Visual takes you back to the picture.

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1. 1Visual
2. 2Select text
3. 3Copy all
4. 4Selected text

Each PDF is named after its image with -ocr added, such as juniper-feedback-letter-ocr.pdf. With Export recognized text on, a .txt file with the same name sits next to it, and the row shows 2 files. Open folder takes you to the files. For more on the results window, see See and compare your results.

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1. 12 files
2. 2The text file
3. 3Saved to
4. 4Open folder

Every setting, and when to change it

Image OCR has no presets. The defaults suit a page in English.

Languages

The languages the text is written in. English is built in; every other language is a one-time download.

• Range37 languages, several at once
• DefaultEnglish

Export recognized text

Also saves a .txt file with the recognized text, next to each PDF.

• RangeOn or off
• DefaultOff

How do I get the most accurate text?

1. Photograph the page straight on, in even light, with the page filling the frame. Image OCR does not straighten a tilted page or remove shadows.
2. Crop away the table or desk around the page first, for example with Crop image. Sideways photos are fine: Hangar turns them upright using the orientation your camera saved.
3. Use the full-size photo or scan. Small images have small letters, and small letters are guessed.
4. Tick the right languages, and only those.
5. Check the result with View: select a few lines, or open Text, and read them against the picture.

Why is the text wrong or missing?

• The photo is blurry, dark or taken at an angle. Take it again straight on, in good light.
• The image is small. A screenshot of a small part of a page or a downsized photo has tiny letters. Use the original file.
• The wrong language is ticked. A French page read as English loses its accents and some words. Tick the language and run again.
• The text is vertical. Chinese, Japanese and Korean are read when the text runs across the page, not in vertical columns.
• The results window says "No text on this page". Nothing readable was found. The PDF is still saved, but it has no searchable text.

Why is the PDF page so big, or so small?

The page takes the size of your image, counted as if it had been scanned at 300 DPI. A 12-megapixel phone photo (3024 × 4032 pixels) becomes a page of about 10 × 13.4 inches, a little larger than Letter or A4. A small image makes a small page. The picture itself is not resized.

If you need standard pages, use Images to PDF and choose A4 or Letter. It also makes the text searchable.

Troubleshooting

• Run ocr is grayed out and the panel asks you to download a language. A ticked language is not downloaded yet. Click Download next to it, or untick it.
• A file failed because the image is too large. Images over 80 megapixels are not accepted. Make it smaller first with Resize images, then run it again.
• A file failed because Hangar couldn't read the image. The file may be damaged or not really an image. Open it in another app and save it again as JPG or PNG.
• A file failed while the text was being read. Try that image again on its own. If it keeps failing, save it again as a PNG and retry.
• A file failed with a message to reinstall Hangar. Part of the app that reads text is missing. Reinstall Hangar from the website.

For other errors, see A file failed: what to check.

Limits

• One PDF per image. To combine images into one PDF, use Images to PDF or Merge PDF.
• Image files only. SVG and camera RAW files are not accepted. For scanned PDFs, use OCR PDF. To get only the text, without a PDF, use Extract text.
• Images over 80 megapixels are not accepted.
• An animated GIF or WebP is read as a single still frame.
• The text layer is invisible. Image OCR does not sharpen, straighten or clean up the picture.
• Works best on printed text. Handwriting is usually not recognized.
• Vertical Chinese, Japanese or Korean text is not supported.
• Languages other than English need a one-time download before the first run. After that, everything runs on your computer and nothing is uploaded.