Native PDF vs. Scanned PDF: What’s the Difference?
“Native” isn’t an official PDF category, since every PDF is a digital file. It’s shorthand for a PDF that contains real text, as opposed to a scan, which is made of images of each page. A native PDF is created digitally, in a program like Microsoft Word, rather than scanned from paper. A scanned PDF is closer to a picture and lacks some of the key information embedded in a native PDF.
The differences between native and scanned PDFs are:
- You can edit text in a native PDF (unless its creator has locked it against editing).
- You can search a native PDF for words and phrases.
- Screen readers and other assistive software can read native PDF text directly.
- Text and vector graphics in a native PDF stay sharp at any zoom level.
- Native PDFs usually have smaller file sizes than non-native — or scanned — PDFs.
Scanned PDFs can pick up some of these abilities, like text search and screen reader support, through optical character recognition (OCR). PDF.Live’s OCR tool converts the scanned images into searchable text.
Characteristics of a Native PDF
A native PDF starts out as a digital document, not a sheet of paper. When you create a document using your computer or smartphone, all of the text, links, and metadata in your document are packaged as part of the file. When you convert your file — a DOC to PDF, for example — that information is retained in the new format.
As an aside, PDFs are the preferred format for sharing files because they keep their formatting across almost any device, and they open using a wide range of applications.
If you send someone a native PDF, it will be easier for them to search for specific information using Ctrl+F (Windows) or Cmd+F (Mac). You can also select, copy and edit the text in a native PDF. Because native PDFs contain actual text, they give search engines and AI tools something to read, along with metadata.
Characteristics of a Scanned PDF
Scanned PDFs are digital copies of physical documents, made with a document scanner or a phone scanning app. A scanned PDF is like a series of pictures of a physical document packaged together in one file. A scan captures what the page looks like, but not the information behind it, like searchable text, font details and hyperlinks. A lot of information gets lost when you scan a document into a PDF.
Sometimes, scanning a document is the only option to obtain a digital version of something, though. A digital copy is much easier to store, transport and share than a stack of paper, so scanned PDFs are still very useful. Without OCR, though, you can’t search or edit the text the way you can in a native PDF.
Because scanned PDFs tend to have large file sizes, there are a few ways to reduce a PDF’s file size, including file compression.
Can You Make a Scanned PDF Searchable?
Yes, with OCR. A scanned PDF is essentially a picture of each page, so it won’t have the fonts, links and metadata of a file created digitally. But optical character recognition (OCR) can get you close.
OCR software reads the text in a scanned image and turns it into text you can search, copy and edit. PDF.Live’s OCR tool converts scanned PDFs into editable, searchable files, so you can pull out the text, search the document or copy the text into a translation tool.
OCR works best on clear, high-resolution scans of printed text. Handwriting and blurry scans may need some cleanup after conversion.