Searchable PDFs Explained: OCR vs Native Text

Not all searchable PDFs are created equal. Some contain real text, others rely on OCR layers.

Native text PDFs

• generated from Word or digital sources,
• perfect text accuracy,
• small file size.

OCR-based searchable PDFs

• scanned pages + hidden text layer,
• searchable but may contain errors,
• depends on OCR quality.

Which one do you have?

If you can select individual letters cleanly, it’s native. If selection feels blocky, it’s OCR.