PDF Text Extraction vs OCR – What's Different | Rune

PDF text extraction and OCR (Optical Character Recognition) are different technologies for different situations. Understanding the difference helps you choose the right tool.

PDF Text Extraction

What It Does

Reads text data embedded in digital PDF files.

How It Works

• PDFs store text as data (characters, positions)
• Extraction reads this data directly
• Fast and accurate
• Maintains original text perfectly

Works On

• Native/digital PDFs
• PDFs created from Word, Excel, etc.
• Web-to-PDF conversions
• Born-digital documents

OCR (Optical Character Recognition)

What It Does

Recognizes text from images by analyzing visual patterns.

How It Works

• Analyzes pixels in images
• Identifies letter shapes
• Converts visual patterns to text
• AI/ML-based recognition

Works On

• Scanned documents
• Photographs of text
• Image-based PDFs
• Screenshots

Key Differences

Aspect	Text Extraction	OCR
Source	Digital text data	Image pixels
Speed	Very fast	Slower
Accuracy	99%+	90-99%
Perfect match	Yes	Usually close
Scanned docs	No	Yes
Digital PDFs	Yes	Overkill

How to Tell Which You Need

Your PDF is digital if:

• You can select text in a PDF viewer
• Text highlights when you click and drag
• Created from Word/Excel/etc.
• Text looks perfectly sharp when zoomed

→ Use PDF Text Extraction

Your PDF needs OCR if:

• You can't select text
• Dragging selects the whole page as an image
• Document was scanned
• Text is part of an image

→ Use OCR/Image to Text

Using Rune's Tools

• PDF Text Extractor: For digital PDFs with embedded text
• Image to Text (OCR): For scanned documents and images

Common Mistake

Trying to extract text from scanned PDFs with a text extractor. It won't work—there's no text data, only images.

Conclusion

Use PDF text extraction for digital documents and OCR for scanned content. Rune's PDF Text Extractor handles digital PDFs; our Image to Text tool handles scans.