# Scanned PDF to text and tables

**Use case:** 

Read a scanned PDF - a photocopied report, an old filing, a document that reached you as pictures of pages - and get the text of every page plus the tables that were on them, as real rows and columns. Empty cells stay null so nothing shifts, and a cell the OCR could not read is flagged separately instead of being passed off as blank. Ten languages, no API key, no cloud OCR account.

## Input

```json
{
  "pdfUrls": [
    "https://www.archives.gov/files/research/jfk/releases/docid-32204484.pdf"
  ],
  "languages": [
    "eng"
  ],
  "outputMode": "both",
  "dpi": 300,
  "minConfidence": 40,
  "minRows": 2,
  "minColumns": 2,
  "minFilledPercent": 35,
  "joinAcrossPages": true,
  "maxPagesPerPdf": 3,
  "maxFileSizeMb": 50,
  "forceOcr": false,
  "includeMarkdown": true,
  "includeCsv": true
}
```

## Output

```json
{
  "recordType": {
    "label": "Record"
  },
  "fileName": {
    "label": "File"
  },
  "pageNumber": {
    "label": "Page"
  },
  "pageSpan": {
    "label": "Pages"
  },
  "title": {
    "label": "Title"
  },
  "rowCount": {
    "label": "Rows"
  },
  "columnCount": {
    "label": "Columns"
  },
  "emptyCellCount": {
    "label": "Empty cells"
  },
  "unreadableCellCount": {
    "label": "Unreadable cells"
  },
  "meanConfidence": {
    "label": "Confidence"
  },
  "extractionMode": {
    "label": "Mode"
  },
  "header": {
    "label": "Header"
  },
  "rows": {
    "label": "Rows"
  },
  "markdown": {
    "label": "Markdown"
  },
  "csv": {
    "label": "CSV"
  },
  "text": {
    "label": "Page text"
  },
  "hint": {
    "label": "Note"
  }
}
```

## About this Actor

This example demonstrates how to use [PDF Text Extractor & OCR - Scanned PDF to Text, Tables & CSV](https://apify.com/practical_ophthalmologist_iuq/scanned-pdf-ocr.md) with a specific input configuration. Visit the [Actor detail page](https://apify.com/practical_ophthalmologist_iuq/scanned-pdf-ocr.md) to learn more, explore other use cases, and run it yourself.


## How to integrate an Actor?

This Task's input is already configured above. Use it as-is rather than inventing a new one.

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 full API examples (JavaScript, Python, CLI, MCP, OpenAPI), see this Task's Actor page: https://apify.com/practical_ophthalmologist_iuq/scanned-pdf-ocr.md

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`).