# Scanned PDF OCR: PDF & Image to Text (Bulk, 17 Languages) (`globose_talent_mn9/pdf-image-ocr`) Actor

Scanned PDF OCR for PDFs and images (PNG, JPG, TIFF, WebP, BMP). Tesseract text per page with confidence scores, 17 languages. Auto mode extracts existing text layers for free and OCRs only scanned pages. $2 per 1,000 OCR pages.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/globose_talent_mn9/pdf-image-ocr.md
- **Developed by:** [Andrew Shamah](https://apify.com/globose_talent_mn9) (community)
- **Categories:** AI, Developer tools, Automation
- **Security:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.00 / 1,000 page ocreds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Scanned PDF OCR: PDF & Image to Text (Bulk, 17 Languages)

**Scanned PDF OCR** for faxes, receipts, contracts, screenshots and photo-of-document images. Paste hundreds of PDF or image URLs (PNG, JPG, TIFF, WebP, BMP) and get searchable text per page, a confidence score and word counts as JSON, CSV or Excel. Powered by **Tesseract 5** + Poppler. **17 languages**.

**$2 per 1,000 OCR pages** ($0.002/page). In **Auto mode**, born-digital PDF pages with a real text layer are extracted for **free** — you only pay for pages that actually need OCR. Blank pages, failed downloads and unsupported files are free.

### Why this Scanned PDF OCR Actor

- **Cheap:** $0.002 per OCR page vs $0.0025–$0.015 on comparable Actors.
- **Mixed PDFs:** Auto mode skips paying for pages that already have text.
- **Per-page output** with method (`ocr` / `text-layer`) and mean word confidence.
- **Multilingual:** eng, deu, fra, spa, ita, por, nld, pol, tur, rus, ukr, heb, ara, hin, chi_sim, jpn, kor (combine several).
- No third-party OCR APIs — files stay inside the Actor run.

### Use cases

- Make scanned contract / invoice archives searchable
- Feed scans into LLM / RAG pipelines
- OCR image-only PDFs found by other scrapers
- Pair with [PDF Text Extractor](https://apify.com/globose_talent_mn9/pdf-text-extractor) for born-digital PDFs

### Input

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `fileUrls` | PDF or image URLs (required) |
| `languages` | OCR languages, default `["eng"]` |
| `mode` | `auto` (text layer when present) or `ocr-all` |
| `dpi` | Render DPI for PDF pages (default 200; try 300 for small print) |
| `maxPagesPerFile`, `maxFiles`, `maxFileSizeMb` | Safety caps |

```json
{
  "fileUrls": ["https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ocrmypdf/OCRmyPDF/main/tests/resources/skew.pdf"],
  "languages": ["eng"],
  "mode": "auto",
  "maxPagesPerFile": 3,
  "maxFiles": 1
}
```

### Example output

| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| `url` | `https://example.com/scan.pdf` |
| `fileType` | `pdf` |
| `totalPages` / `ocrPages` / `textLayerPages` | `12` / `10` / `2` |
| `meanConfidence` | `91.4` |
| `wordCount` | `4210` |
| `text` | Full recognized text… |
| `pages[].method` | `ocr` or `text-layer` |
| `pages[].confidence` | `92.1` |

```json
{
  "url": "https://example.com/scan.pdf",
  "fileType": "pdf",
  "totalPages": 12,
  "ocrPages": 10,
  "textLayerPages": 2,
  "languages": ["eng"],
  "meanConfidence": 91.4,
  "wordCount": 4210,
  "text": "Full recognized text ...",
  "pages": [{"page": 1, "method": "ocr", "text": "...", "words": 380, "confidence": 92.1}],
  "error": null
}
```

### Pricing

Pay per event: **$0.002 per page with OCR text** + $0.00005 Actor start. Text-layer pages (Auto), blanks and failures are free. Cap spend with *Maximum cost per run*.

### Tips

- Default memory 1 GB; raise to 2–4 GB + `concurrency` 3–4 for big batches.
- Handwriting is not well supported (Tesseract is for printed text).
- Only process documents you have the right to use.

### Related Actors

#### Documents suite

- [PDF Text Extractor](https://apify.com/globose_talent_mn9/pdf-text-extractor)
- [Article Extractor](https://apify.com/globose_talent_mn9/article-extractor)
- [URL & HTML to PDF Converter](https://apify.com/globose_talent_mn9/url-to-pdf)

#### SEO & web suite

- [SEO Audit Crawler](https://apify.com/globose_talent_mn9/seo-audit-crawler)
- [Broken Link Checker](https://apify.com/globose_talent_mn9/broken-link-checker)
- [Sitemap URL Extractor](https://apify.com/globose_talent_mn9/sitemap-urls)
- [Bulk Redirect Checker](https://apify.com/globose_talent_mn9/redirect-checker)
- [Website Metadata / Open Graph Extractor](https://apify.com/globose_talent_mn9/website-metadata-extractor)
- [Website Screenshot](https://apify.com/globose_talent_mn9/website-screenshot)
- [Website Image Extractor](https://apify.com/globose_talent_mn9/website-image-extractor)
- [SSL Certificate Checker](https://apify.com/globose_talent_mn9/ssl-certificate-checker)
- [Subdomain Finder](https://apify.com/globose_talent_mn9/subdomain-finder)
- [DNS & Email Security Checker (SPF/DKIM/DMARC)](https://apify.com/globose_talent_mn9/dns-email-security-checker)
- [WHOIS Domain Lookup](https://apify.com/globose_talent_mn9/whois-domain-lookup)
- [Domain Availability Checker](https://apify.com/globose_talent_mn9/domain-availability-rdap)
- [Tech Stack Detector](https://apify.com/globose_talent_mn9/tech-stack-detector)

#### Jobs suite

- [Greenhouse Jobs API](https://apify.com/globose_talent_mn9/greenhouse-jobs-api)
- [Lever Jobs API](https://apify.com/globose_talent_mn9/lever-jobs-api)
- [Ashby Jobs API](https://apify.com/globose_talent_mn9/ashby-jobs-api)
- [Workday Jobs API](https://apify.com/globose_talent_mn9/workday-jobs-api)
- [Company Jobs API (10 ATS)](https://apify.com/globose_talent_mn9/ats-jobs-api)
- [Remote Jobs Aggregator](https://apify.com/globose_talent_mn9/remote-jobs-aggregator)

#### Also by us

- [Wayback Machine Snapshots](https://apify.com/globose_talent_mn9/wayback-machine-snapshots)
- [RSS Feed Reader](https://apify.com/globose_talent_mn9/rss-feed-reader)
- [Website Contact Details Scraper](https://apify.com/globose_talent_mn9/website-contact-details-scraper)

# Actor input Schema

## `fileUrls` (type: `array`):

Direct links to scanned PDFs or images (PNG, JPG, TIFF, WebP, BMP), one per line. Redirects are followed.

## `languages` (type: `array`):

Languages in the documents. Pick 1-3 for best speed and accuracy.

## `mode` (type: `string`):

Auto mode only OCRs (and charges) PDF pages without a usable text layer.

## `dpi` (type: `integer`):

Resolution used to render PDF pages for OCR. 200 is a good balance; 300 for small print.

## `pageSegmentation` (type: `string`):

How Tesseract segments the page.

## `includePages` (type: `boolean`):

Add a 'pages' array with text, word count, method and confidence per page.

## `maxPagesPerFile` (type: `integer`):

Only process the first N pages of each PDF. 0 = all pages.

## `maxFileSizeMb` (type: `integer`):

Skip files larger than this (free).

## `maxFiles` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many URLs. 0 = no limit.

## `concurrency` (type: `integer`):

Files processed at once (1-4). Use more with more memory.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "fileUrls": [
    "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ocrmypdf/OCRmyPDF/main/tests/resources/skew.pdf"
  ],
  "languages": [
    "eng"
  ],
  "mode": "auto",
  "dpi": 200,
  "pageSegmentation": "3",
  "includePages": true,
  "maxPagesPerFile": 3,
  "maxFileSizeMb": 50,
  "maxFiles": 1,
  "concurrency": 2
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `overview` (type: `string`):

All processed files (overview table).

## `summary` (type: `string`):

Counts of files, OCR pages, free text-layer pages and failures.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "fileUrls": [
        "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ocrmypdf/OCRmyPDF/main/tests/resources/skew.pdf"
    ],
    "languages": [
        "eng"
    ],
    "maxPagesPerFile": 3,
    "maxFiles": 1
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("globose_talent_mn9/pdf-image-ocr").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "fileUrls": ["https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ocrmypdf/OCRmyPDF/main/tests/resources/skew.pdf"],
    "languages": ["eng"],
    "maxPagesPerFile": 3,
    "maxFiles": 1,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("globose_talent_mn9/pdf-image-ocr").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "fileUrls": [
    "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ocrmypdf/OCRmyPDF/main/tests/resources/skew.pdf"
  ],
  "languages": [
    "eng"
  ],
  "maxPagesPerFile": 3,
  "maxFiles": 1
}' |
apify call globose_talent_mn9/pdf-image-ocr --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,globose_talent_mn9/pdf-image-ocr"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/NBpLdtrbem3z7wBrx/builds/ZJjSe522Uz2anFN4x/openapi.json