Free PDF and document tools, including scanning and OCR

• Translate PDFScanReviverThe new text goes back into your document's own blocks, with the same pages and images. Fonts are unified and longer lines shrink to fit, so the layout is close, not identical.
• Enhance Scanned DocumentScanReviverMake a quick phone scan readable: the page is straightened, cropped and brightened evenly, with no account needed.
• Clean Scanned DocumentScanReviverStraighten, crop and de-shadow up to 30 pages into one PDF, with an optional OCR text layer.
• Remove Shadow from DocumentScanReviverReduce the shadow your hand or phone casts on a photographed page, so one side is no longer gray.
• Straighten Scanned PhotoScanReviverStraightens a crooked scan or document photo so the page sits square again.
• Photo to Scanned PDFScanReviverTurn photos of a document into a proper scanned PDF: photograph each page with your phone and get one clean, straightened PDF back, free.
• Book Page ScannerScanReviverPhotograph a page with your phone, crop it, straighten it and clean the paper, then save one PDF.
• Image to TextScanReviverReads the words off a photo with OCR in English, Dutch, German, Spanish, Portuguese or French and returns editable text.
• OCR PDFScanReviverTurn photos of a document into a searchable PDF with a selectable text layer, in English, Dutch, German, French, Spanish or Portuguese.
• PDF to JPGScanReviverEvery page becomes a separate image at 96, 150 or 300 dpi, with all pages delivered in one ZIP.
• JPG to PDFScanReviverTurns up to 10 JPG, PNG, WebP or HEIC images into one PDF; pictures of documents are straightened and cleaned automatically.
• Whiteboard Photo to PDFScanReviverTurns a photo of a whiteboard into a clean, straight PDF, which is easier to share than the raw photo.
• Add Watermark to PDFScanReviverStamps your own text diagonally across every page as a semi-transparent mark; keep it short so the page stays readable.
• Compress PDFScanReviverThree strengths, with the size shown before and after; if the file is already tight it says so instead of making it bigger.
• Create PDF FormScanReviverDrag boxes onto a page to add real, fillable text, checkbox and dropdown fields, ready for anyone to fill in.
• Redact PDFScanReviverDrag a box over anything sensitive and the text underneath is cut out for good, not just painted over.
• Split PDFScanReviverPull a page range such as 1-3,7 into a new file, or split every page into its own PDF; no account and no watermark.
• Bank Statement ConverterScanReviverConvert a PDF bank statement to Excel or CSV, with real dates, debits, credits and balances.
• PDF to PPT (PowerPoint)ScanReviverEvery page becomes a PowerPoint slide that looks like the page; the slides are pictures, so the text isn't editable.
• PDF to WordScanReviverTurn a PDF into an editable .docx that keeps its formatting. Headings and bullets come back as formatted text, not Word styles, and scanned PDFs need OCR first.
• PNG to PDFScanReviverTurns up to 10 screenshots or photos into one PDF here, or up to 30 in the full scanner; pages are straightened and cleaned automatically.
• Receipt ScannerScanReviverCrops, straightens and cleans each receipt from your phone, then makes one PDF for your expense claim.
• Repair PDFScanReviverFixes a damaged structure, such as a broken index, in a file that won't open or throws an error in your viewer, as long as its content is still there.
• Unlock PDF (Remove Password)ScanReviverRemoves the password from a PDF you can already open with it. The tool cannot crack or bypass one for you.
• Add Page Numbers to PDFScanReviverPick the start number and one of four spots (left, middle or right along the bottom of the page, or the middle of the top).
• Annotate PDFScanReviverHighlight, add a note or write text directly on the page, then download the marked-up file.
• Chat with PDFScanReviverAsk questions about an uploaded document in plain English; follow-up questions remember what you asked.
• Compare PDFScanReviverUpload two versions of a PDF: the words that differ are named, and visual edits such as a replaced logo or a moved signature are shown too, which a text-only check would miss.
• Convert PDF to PDFAScanReviverConvert a PDF to PDF/A-2b with Ghostscript for archiving. I don't run a validator on the result, so check it with your archive's validator if a portal requires strict compliance.
• Crop PDFScanReviverTrims the visible margins of a page, the whole document, or the pages you name. The cropped-off content stays hidden in the file, so don't use it to remove sensitive material.
• Delete Pages from PDFScanReviverRemoves the pages you don't need from a PDF and lets you download the rest as a new file.
• Excel to PDFScanReviverKeeps borders, colors and page breaks as they would print, using the page setup in your file; fonts that aren't on my server are substituted.
• Fill PDF FormScanReviverLists every text box, checkbox and dropdown of a form so you can type your answers, lock them in if you want, then download.
• Flatten PDFScanReviverBakes form field values and annotations into the page and removes the interactive layer, so nothing can be edited by accident.
• Free PDF APIScanReviverA key-less HTTP API for merging, compressing, splitting, rotating, OCR and converting PDFs, with no account to create.
• HEIC to PDFScanReviverTurn a HEIC file into a PDF, JPG or PNG in one upload, then crop and straighten it before you download. No forced sign-up.
• HTML to PDFScanReviverTurn an HTML file you already have into a PDF, with headings, tables and lists laid out as pages. It doesn't fetch web addresses or render modern CSS layouts.
• Invoice GeneratorScanReviverFills in your business, client and line items, then hands back a complete PDF invoice with VAT calculated for you.
• Merge PDF FilesScanReviverCombine up to 20 PDFs into one, set the order with the up and down buttons, then download the merged file.
• PDF BookmarksScanReviverView and edit a file's own table of contents, or build a fresh one, then download the updated file.
• PDF to ExcelScanReviverTurns PDF tables that have ruled lines into a spreadsheet, one sheet each; digits become real numbers, and tables drawn without lines aren't detected.
• PDF to MarkdownScanReviverWrites a PDF out as Markdown; headings are detected from each page's own font sizes.
• PDF to PNGScanReviverTurn a PDF into PNG images at 96, 150 or 300 dpi, one image per page, delivered in a ZIP.
• PPT to PDF (PowerPoint)ScanReviverOne page per slide with colors and images kept; PPTX and ODP work too. Fonts that aren't on my server are substituted; animations and notes are dropped.
• Password Protect PDFScanReviverPuts a password on a PDF with AES-256 encryption, so it opens only for people who know it.
• Remove PDF MetadataScanReviverWipes the author, title and other info fields, plus the XMP copy and page-level metadata, before you share the file.
• Rotate PDFScanReviverTurn the whole document or just the pages you choose by a quarter or half turn, then download the result.
• Scan to PDFScanReviverTurns phone photos into one PDF, cropped and straightened. The full scanner takes up to 30 pages, and you can tick OCR to make it searchable.
• Sign PDFScanReviverDraw, upload or type your signature onto a PDF page, then download the signed file.
• Summarize PDFScanReviverUpload a document and get a short AI summary of what's in it; pick short, medium or long.
• Translate Text from PhotoScanReviverOCR reads the words off your image, then translates them into English, Dutch, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese or Italian.
• Word to PDFScanReviverKeeps layout, tables and images, and everyday fonts; a font that isn't installed on my server is swapped for a close match.

Order matters with scans. Straighten and clean the page first, run OCR second, and only then convert to Word or Excel. OCR works best on a flat, straight, evenly lit page; ScanReviver straightens a tilted photo before it reads it, but a flat scan gives it more to work with, and a conversion can only be as good as the text OCR managed to find.

A few honest limits. A curved page photographed from a shallow angle is where OCR gives up, handwriting is unreliable, and a complicated table sometimes comes out of a conversion with merged cells you have to fix by hand. Original uploads are deleted right after processing, and results stay available for up to 45 minutes so you can download them.

Merge PDF Files puts documents together in the order you list them, because the order in the list is the order in the result. When the documents come from different sources, check the page sizes first, since mixing A4 and letter pages gives a document that jumps in size. Split PDF is the reverse: pull out the three pages somebody actually needs instead of sending a 200-page file.

Delete Pages from PDF removes what you do not want to share, Crop PDF trims scanner edges, and Rotate PDF fixes pages that were scanned sideways. Add Page Numbers to PDF works best after the merge rather than before, so the numbers match the final order. Add Watermark to PDF puts a mark such as DRAFT across a contract; it runs diagonally across each page in black at low opacity, so keep the text short and the page stays readable. A free PDF tool should not stamp its own mark on your pages.

Fill PDF Form lists every field of a form so you can type your answers on screen instead of printing the page. To make a form of your own, Create PDF Form lets you drag text boxes, checkboxes and dropdowns onto a page, and Flatten PDF bakes the answers into the page afterwards so they cannot be edited by accident. Sign PDF adds a drawn or typed signature before you send the file, and Annotate PDF is the better choice for a review, because comments and highlights leave the text itself untouched.

Redact PDF is different from drawing a black box: real redaction removes the text underneath, so after you redact, try to select and copy the covered words to make sure they are gone. Password Protect PDF is only as strong as the password, so choose a long one, and Unlock PDF is for files you have the right to open. A file also carries more than its pages: Remove PDF Metadata clears the author and other fields that anyone who receives the file can read. If a file will not open, Repair PDF can rebuild it, but a download that was cut off has lost data no tool can bring back.

PDF to Word is the most common conversion, and it works best on files that came from a word processor, because the text is real text; a scanned page has nothing to convert until OCR has run. PDF to Excel needs tables drawn with lines: a table without borders is not detected and you get a message instead, so check the numbers before you trust them. PDF to PPT puts each page on a slide as a picture, so it looks like the page but the text cannot be edited, while PDF to JPG and PDF to PNG produce one picture per page, which is handy for pasting a page into a chat. If an archive asks for the PDF/A standard, Convert PDF to PDFA makes a PDF/A-2b file with Ghostscript; it is not validated here, so run your archive's checker.

In the other direction, Word to PDF, Excel to PDF and PPT to PDF produce a PDF that opens the same on every device, with fonts that are not installed on the server swapped for close matches, and HTML to PDF turns an HTML file you saved into a PDF without fetching live web pages. JPG to PDF, PNG to PDF and Whiteboard Photo to PDF put pictures on pages, and HEIC to PDF does the same for iPhone pictures; if you only need an ordinary picture, convert HEIC to JPG instead. A HEIC file is the format an iPhone saves by default, and many Windows programs cannot open one; the guide What Is a HEIC File and How Do I Open It? covers that. If you are leaving iLovePDF, the guide Free iLovePDF Alternative is about ScanReviver.

Free use has caps worth knowing. Most PDF tools, such as merge, split, compress and the conversions to Word or Excel, accept files of up to 250 MB and 25 pages; a few (PDF to PPT, Image to Text and the bank statement converter) have tighter caps that their pages state. The Word, Excel, PowerPoint and HTML to PDF converters check the file size only, with no page check. Scanning is limited to 10 documents a day.

Scan to PDF from a phone works when the page is flat and evenly lit, and a single session can export up to 30 pages as one file. The Book Page Scanner crops and straightens a photographed page, and the Receipt Scanner does the same for an expense claim; the advice is the same for both: even light, no shadow, text filling the frame. OCR PDF works on photos of pages rather than finished PDFs: for a scanned PDF, turn its pages into images with PDF to JPG, run them through the scanner with the OCR box ticked, and use the searchable PDF it gives back.

Image to Text is the same recognition without the document: a photographed page goes in and editable text comes out, so straighten the photo first, since OCR on a tilted photo misreads more. For a long document, Summarize PDF helps you decide whether to read the full file, but a summary can miss the sentence that matters, so read the original when it counts.

Other groups: Photo tools · Video tools · Audio tools · Transcribe & subtitles · File converters · Text tools.