What OCR actually is
OCR stands for Optical Character Recognition. A scanner captures an image of the page — just pixels, not text. OCR software looks at those pixels, recognises the shapes of letters, and produces a layer of real, selectable, searchable text behind the image. The result is a PDF that looks the same but can be searched, copied and indexed.
When you do need OCR
- Old invoices you want to find by invoice number
- Research papers you'll quote from in a dissertation
- Legal contracts that need to be keyword-searchable
- Company records being archived for compliance
- Any document a screen reader will read aloud
When a plain scan is enough
A plain image scan (no OCR) is fine for things you'll only look at — a personal photograph, a signed receipt, a one-off form. It's cheaper and faster. Don't pay for OCR on things you won't search.
Accuracy and typical caveats
Modern OCR is 95–99% accurate on clean printed text. It struggles with handwriting (usually unusable), faint photocopies, heavily stylised fonts, and old documents with yellowing paper. If accuracy really matters, ask for the scan at 300 DPI minimum and budget a minute to proofread the output.
In short
We offer OCR scanning to searchable PDF for ordinary paper documents, books and bulk archives, with secure file delivery. Email quote@copyshopputney.co.uk with the quantity and we'll quote by return.
Published 15 April 2026 by the Copy Shop Putney team. Shop 395-A, Tildesley Rd, Putney Heath, London SW15 3BD.