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30 December 2020  Jennifer Thatcher  Technology Manager of Test Dept.
Last update by Olivia Brown at 29 January 2021

Summary
Generally, it is very easy to convert PDF to Word. You can use the format converter to realize the idea. However, when you want to convert the scanned PDF to Word, you should draw support from the special tool. In most of situation, the file is scanned and saved as PDF, and OCR (Optical Character Recognition) can improve character recognition. In this article, we will talk about how to convert the scanned PDF to Word.



Part 1: What is OCR?

how to convert the scanned pdf to word
OCR (Optical Character Recognition) is the technology that extracts text from image to get the information.
With this technology, we can convert the scanned PDF file to Word and improve the text recognition. When you view the online document that cannot be downloaded, you can take photo for the webpage and then use this technology to convert the image to text.

Part 2: How to Convert Scanned PDF to Word?

1. Use Renee PDF Aide

When you want to convert the scanned PDF to Word, we suggest Renee PDF Aide. With the advanced OCR technology, you can convert the format. Here are more details.
① What is Renee PDF Aide?
Renee PDF Aide is the software that supports to edit PDF and convert PDF. With utilization of the advanced OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology, it can convert PDF to Word/Excel/PowerPoint/Image/HTML/TXT and the other common formats. You can designate the specific pages to be converted at the speed of 80 pages/min. Besides, it can repair the damaged PDF files, compress PDF files to shorten the loading time, merge several files into one and rotate the file position. En/decryption and watermark are allowed to add for PDF files, too.
What’s more, Renee PDF Aide supports English/French/German/Spanish/Portuguese/Chinese/Korean/Japanese. Under the mode of OCR, it can greatly improve the accuracy of character recognition. Even though you are a new user, you can use this software easily.
Renee PDF Aide - Powerful PDF Converting/Editing Tool (100 FREE Quota)

Convert to Editable Word/Excel/PPT/Text/Image/Html/Epub

Multifunctional Encrypt/decrypt/split/merge/add watermark

OCR Support Extract Text from Scanned PDFs, Images & Embedded Fonts

Quick Convert dozens of PDF files in batch

Compatible Support Windows 11/10/8/8.1/Vista/7/XP/2K

Convert to Editable Word/Excel/PPT/Text/Image/Html/Epub

OCR Support Extract Text from Scanned PDFs, Images & Embedded

Support Windows 11/10/8/8.1/Vista/7/XP/2K

Free TrialFree TrialNow 800 people have obtained the free version!
② How to convert PDF to Word?
There are two functions in Renee PDF Aide. You can not only edit the PDF files, but also convert PDF to the other formats. Next, we will show you how to convert the scanned PDF to Word with Renee PDF Aide.
Steps:
a. Download and install Renee PDF Aide. Open the software and select [Convert PDF].
select to convert pdf with renee pdf converter
b. Select Word as the output format. Then, click on [Add Files] to select the PDF file. Next, check the option [Enable OCR] to improve the character recognition.
how to edit a scanned pdf set before converting with renee pdf converter
TipsAbout the OCR function:

The OCR function can improve text recognition in two ways:

A. Recognize words on image and PDF. You can use this function to improve text recognition when you are going to convert the image-based PDF and the scanned PDF.

B. Recognize the font style to avoid garbled codes when there are different embedded font styles on the PDF file.

c. Finally, click on [Convert] to convert the scanned PDF to Word.
how to convert pdf with renee pdf converter

2. Use Online Converter

You can also use the online converter to convert the scanned PDF to Word because you don’t need to install any software. We recommend Onlineocr.net. This online service support 46 languages and convert many image formats, such as JPG/BMP/TIFF/GIF, to Word/Excel/TXT. Next, we will tell you how to convert the scanned PDF to Word online.
Get access to the website (link: https://www.onlineocr. net/). Then, click on [Select file] to upload the PDF file. Next, select the language of the file and select [Microsoft Word (docx)] as the output format. Finally, click on [CONVERT] to convert and download the converted file.
how to convert scanned pdf to word with onlineocr

3. Use Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word can be used to convert PDF to Word. It is noted that Word should be the versions latter the 2013 version. Otherwise, the PDF file cannot be opened in this application. Here are the steps.
a. Open the application and click on [Open] at the top menu. Then, select the PDF file. It is noted that the uploading time depends on the file size.
open pdf files in microsoft word
b. Select [Save as] at the top menu and save the PDF file as Word.
save pdf files as word in microsoft word
Tips:
If the PDF file completely contains the text information, the conversion effect is acceptable. But the layout of the converted Word document is not as original as the PDF file. If the file is about the chart or the image, the application cannot convert it to the editable text.

Part 3: Conclusions

From the above contents, we’ve known about how to convert PDF to Word with Microsoft Word. But you cannot use the OCR technology to improve the character recognition through this method. Therefore, it easily gets the character errors after conversion. We still recommend the former two methods.
Although Renee PDF Aide and Onlineocr.net are OCR-based, the online converter is not suggested. For example, the uploaded file cannot be over 15MB and the online conversion is affected by the network environment. Besides, it is not safe to upload the file to the online server. Worse still, you can convert no more than 15 files each day.
By contrast, you can easily convert the scanned PDF to Word with Renee PDF Aide. It doesn’t rely on the network. You can even convert the batch PDF file. The complete process is very safe.
These are our opinions. You can select one of the methods at will.