# PDFelement OCR: Searchable Text or Editable Text?

- Author: Schema Law (https://www.schemalaw.com/)
- Published: 2022-10-18T15:36:14Z
- Updated: 2026-10-11T19:22:20Z
- Category: OCR in everyday software
- Canonical: https://www.schemalaw.com/blog/pdfelement-ocr

> What PDFelement OCR does with a scanned PDF, per Wondershare: the searchable and editable text modes, the OCR plugin, batch OCR, and which mode to pick.

The OCR in Wondershare PDFelement recognizes the text in a scanned or image-based PDF and gives you a choice of result. Per Wondershare's guide, you select Editable Text "to make the document editable" and opt for Searchable Text in Image to only allow searching. Pick the searchable mode for a record and the editable mode for a draft.

Which of the two you choose is the decision that matters, and it is easy to click through. This post describes PDFelement's OCR from Wondershare's own user guide for Windows and Mac, shows where the guide's pages differ from one another, and ends with a way to choose a mode by what the file is for.

## What does PDFelement's OCR do with a scanned PDF?

PDFelement's OCR reads the page images of a scanned PDF and produces a PDF with text you can use. Wondershare's Windows guide says the feature "enables users to convert scanned PDFs or image-based PDFs into fully editable and searchable documents", and that it "recognizes text within images or scanned pages, making it possible to extract, edit, and search text."

### On Windows

Wondershare's guide page on [how to scan a PDF with OCR in PDFelement for Windows](https://pdf.wondershare.com/guide/ocr-pdf.html) gives two steps for a whole document:

1. With a document open, go to the sidebar on the left, click Tools, then click OCR in the expanded list.
2. Select the language and the page range. Select "Editable Text" to make the document editable, or "Searchable Text in Image" to only allow searching, then click Apply.

The guide then says: "Your editable new PDF document will be created in a new window within the tool." So on Windows, as documented, the result opens as a new document in its own window.

The same page documents a second command, OCR Area. You choose it under Tools, drag the cursor over part of a page, select the language in the left panel, and click Recognize. Wondershare says this makes the selected area editable and searchable. It suits one table or one paragraph on a page you otherwise want left alone.

### On a Mac

The guide page for [OCR in PDFelement for Mac](https://pdf.wondershare.com/guide/ocr-pdf-mac.html) starts from the home screen instead of an open file:

1. Launch the program and click "OCR PDF" on the homepage. Import the scanned document, select the language in the small window that follows, choose the page range, and click Apply.
2. When the file has been converted, a dialog box with a success message appears. Click Open to see the converted file in PDFelement.

### What the guide does not tell you

The pages opened for this post do not say how well the recognition performs, whether doubtful words are marked, or what happens to the picture of the page in each mode. Wondershare describes the feature in terms of what you can do afterwards. For the rest, run a test page of your own and keep the scan you started with.

## PDFelement's Searchable Text in Image mode versus its Editable Text mode

Searchable Text in Image is the mode Wondershare describes as for searching: the result lets you find, copy and paste text. Editable Text is the mode it describes as making the PDF editable. If the page has to go on looking the way it was scanned, the searchable mode is the one whose name and description fit that purpose.

### What Wondershare says about each

The fullest description is on the guide page for [batch OCR in PDFelement for Mac](https://pdf.wondershare.com/guide/batch-ocr-pdf-mac.html):

> "Searchable Text Image" will enable the PDF file to be searchable so that you can search/copy/paste the text to other documents. "Editable Text" will enable the PDF file to be editable.

The names vary a little between pages of the guide. Here is each one as written.

| Guide page | Name used for the searchable mode | Name used for the editable mode |
| --- | --- | --- |
| OCR on Windows | "Searchable Text in Image" | "Editable Text" |
| Batch OCR on Windows | "searchable text and image" | "editable text" |
| Batch OCR on Mac | "Searchable Text Image" | "Editable Text" |

The Mac batch page also mentions a third label, "Text Only", in the same sentence as the other two, and does not describe it. If you see that option on your own screen, test it on a copy before you use it on a file that matters.

### What the difference means in general

Wondershare's guide stops at "searchable" and "editable". The general distinction between those two kinds of OCR output is common to PDF editors, and it is worth stating without attributing it to this product:

- **A searchable-image result** leaves each page as a picture and adds text you cannot see, positioned over the words. Stamps, signatures and handwriting stay visible because the picture is still there. The guide to [how to make a scanned PDF searchable](https://www.schemalaw.com/blog/how-to-make-a-scanned-pdf-searchable) explains that text layer.
- **An editable result** turns the words in the picture into live text set in a font. You can click into a sentence and type. The page is now partly a reconstruction, so anything the software misread appears on the page as if it had been printed that way.

Whether PDFelement's two modes behave exactly like that on your documents is something to confirm. Run the same page through both, then compare each result with the scan at full zoom.

### A side-by-side test

1. Pick one page with a signature, a stamp or a handwritten note, and some small print.
2. Save two copies of the scan.
3. Run OCR on the first copy in the searchable mode, and on the second in the editable mode.
4. In each result, search for a word, then copy a line and paste it into a blank document.
5. Put each result next to the scan. Look at the signature, the stamp and the small print.

Write down what changed. That note is your firm's own answer to which mode keeps the page as it was, and it is better evidence than any description.

## Does PDFelement's OCR need a separate download or a paid edition?

Wondershare's guide describes OCR as a plugin and ties it to the Professional edition. The Windows page says the Standard version "does not include the OCR function". The Mac page is headed "Only available in PDFelement Professional for Mac version" and says "OCR needs to be installed separately."

### Windows

The guide page on [downloading and installing OCR in PDFelement for Windows](https://pdf.wondershare.com/guide/download-install-ocr.html) says that if you have not downloaded the plugin, you get a message reminding you to download it when you click Tool > OCR or "Perform OCR" in the notice bar. After the download, "the program will install the OCR plugin automatically."

On editions, the page says that someone who has bought PDFelement Professional installs and registers the program and then downloads the plugin. For the other edition it says: "If you purchased the program of PDFelement Standard version, which does not include the OCR function, you can click the 'Upgrade' button in the program to upgrade".

### Mac

The guide page on [downloading and installing OCR on Mac](https://pdf.wondershare.com/guide/download-install-ocr-mac.html) gives three ways to start the download once the Professional version is registered: click "OCR PDF" on the homepage and select Download, or open a PDF and click Tool > OCR Text Recognition, or go to the program's preferences and choose Plugin.

### Where the pages differ

The Windows installation page contains a tip aimed at Mac users: "If you are using PDFelement for Mac, download PDFelement in the App Store, because the version in the App Store contains the OCR plugin." The Mac page says OCR needs to be installed separately. Both statements are Wondershare's. Which applies to you may depend on where your copy came from, and this post cannot tell you which is current.

### What to check on your own machine

- **Which edition is installed?** Look in the program's account or licence screen. For current editions and prices, go to Wondershare's own site. This post does not repeat them.
- **Is the plugin present?** Click the OCR command. A download prompt means it is not.
- **Can this computer download it?** On a locked-down office machine, a plugin download from inside a program may be blocked. Ask IT before the day you need it. The Windows page offers a separate download link for the plugin for that situation.
- **Is the guide page for your version?** The guide has separate sets of pages for different PDFelement versions. Match the page to the version number in your About screen.

## Batch OCR in PDFelement on Windows and Mac

Both versions document a batch command that runs OCR on many files in one pass. On Windows it is under Tool > Batch Process > OCR. On a Mac it is the Batch OCR option on the homepage. In both, you add files, set the OCR options and click Apply.

### Windows steps

From the guide page on [batch OCR in PDFelement for Windows](https://pdf.wondershare.com/guide/batch-ocr-pdf.html):

1. After you open a file, go to Tool > Batch Process > OCR.
2. Drag files into the dashed box, or click Add Files. The guide lists three ways to add: add files, add open files, or add folder.
3. Set the OCR options, "like converting to editable text or to searchable text and image", and click the language to recognize.
4. Click Apply. Wondershare says "the finished file will be automatically saved and the folder will pop up for you to check."

### Mac steps

From the Mac batch page:

1. On the homepage, click Batch OCR.
2. Add the scanned or image-based PDF files to the pop-up window.
3. Choose Document Language and modify other properties in the OCR options panel.
4. Select the output mode.
5. Click Apply, then select the destination folder for the output files.

### Running a batch on a legal file

The guide does not say what the output files are called, whether a failed file is reported, or how the batch treats a PDF that already has text. Plan around those gaps.

Suppose a paralegal, Jonah Reyes, has 60 scanned PDFs from a client, Castellan Freight Co., one per shipping dispute. Before he runs all 60:

1. **Copy the folder.** Run the batch on the copy and send the output to a third, empty folder.
2. **Run three files first.** Pick a short one, a long one and the worst-looking one. Check the names of the output files and where they landed.
3. **Choose one mode for the whole batch.** The guide describes setting the OCR options after all the files are added, so do not mix files that need different treatment.
4. **Count.** Sixty in, sixty out. A missing output file is a failed input.
5. **Sample the results.** Open every tenth file, search for a word on a middle page, and copy a line.

Ordering and splitting very large sets is its own subject, covered in the post on [batch OCR for discovery documents](https://www.schemalaw.com/blog/batch-ocr-discovery-documents).

After the batch, open three of the files and search each for an exhibit number, a name on the affidavit, and a date in the pleading caption. On a contract from the discovery set, find a dollar figure you can see and compare it with the page. Write down which output you chose so the next person knows whether the picture stayed.

## Page range and language settings in the PDFelement OCR dialog

Before recognition starts, the dialog asks for two things besides the mode: the language of the document and the pages to process. Wondershare's Windows guide says to "select the language and the page range from the options provided". The Mac guide gives the same pair in the same order.

### Language

Every OCR page in the guide mentions the language choice: the single-document pages, both batch pages and the OCR Area command. The Windows batch page puts it firmly: "You also need to click the language you need to recognize."

None of the pages opened for this post lists the languages on offer or says whether more than one can be selected for a single run. Open the language list on your own installation to find out. It matters for a bilingual agreement or a file with foreign-language exhibits, and the reasons a wrong language spoils a result are set out in the post on [conversion options for a scanned PDF](https://www.schemalaw.com/blog/convert-scanned-pdf-to-searchable-pdf).

### Page range

The guide says you choose a page range and does not document how a range is typed. Check the dialog for its own hint text. A page range earns its place in three situations:

- **A mixed file.** Pages 1 to 4 are a typed letter that already has text, and pages 5 to 40 are scanned attachments. Limit OCR to 5 to 40.
- **A trial run.** Recognize pages 1 to 3 in each mode before committing an 800-page file.
- **A single bad page.** A page that came out poorly can be rescanned, replaced and recognized alone.

### A settings note for the file

| Setting | What to record | Why |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Mode | Searchable or editable | It tells the next reader whether the page is a picture or a reconstruction |
| Language | The one selected | It explains odd readings if the choice was wrong |
| Page range | All, or the pages chosen | It shows which pages were never recognized |
| Version and edition | From the About screen | It makes the result repeatable |

A line in the matter notes with those four items takes less time to write than to reconstruct.

## Which PDFelement OCR mode suits an exhibit, and which suits a draft?

Use the searchable mode for an exhibit, a signed document, a produced record, or anything else that has to keep looking the way it was scanned. Use the editable mode when the point is to change the words, and keep that output as a separate working copy. When in doubt, choose searchable.

### Choosing by purpose

| The file is | Mode | Reason |
| --- | --- | --- |
| An exhibit to a motion | Searchable | The court and the other side should see the page as scanned |
| A signed contract for the closed file | Searchable | Signatures, initials and stamps need to stay as they are |
| A document received in discovery | Searchable | You are finding things in it, not rewriting it |
| An old lease you will redraft | Editable, on a copy | You need the words as text you can change |
| A form you will fill in again for a new client | Editable, on a copy | The layout is a starting point |
| A page where you need one table | OCR Area, on a copy | The rest of the page stays untouched |

### Two cases

**An exhibit.** Amara Diallo is attaching a 1998 easement to a declaration. The scan has a recorder's stamp and a handwritten book and page number. She runs the searchable mode on a copy, confirms the stamp and the handwriting look the same as in the scan, and searches for the grantor's name to confirm the text is there. Filing rules for searchable PDFs vary by court, so she checks her own court's requirements before she files.

**A draft.** The same easement is the model for a new one between different neighbors. She runs the editable mode on a second copy, names the result `easement 1998 - EDITABLE WORKING COPY.pdf`, and proofreads it against the scan before changing a word. Structure such as headings and numbering does not always come through recognition intact, and the post on [whether OCR keeps formatting](https://www.schemalaw.com/blog/does-ocr-keep-formatting) explains what to expect.

The editable copy never goes into the record as the 1998 easement. It is a new document that began life as a reading of an old one.

### How other editors frame the same choice

The searchable-or-editable choice is not peculiar to PDFelement. The post on [PDF-XChange Editor's OCR engines](https://www.schemalaw.com/blog/pdf-xchange-editor-ocr) describes an editor where the output types depend on which engine your licence includes, and the post on [OCR in PDF Expert on a Mac](https://www.schemalaw.com/blog/pdf-expert-ocr) describes one whose help center documents a single route with a review step before recognition is applied.

If the person who needs the text has no PDF editor installed, a browser service is another way to the same two outputs. Schema Law exports a searchable PDF, described on the site as your original file with a hidden text layer, and a Word file for editing. The free plan covers one document a day of up to three pages, enough for a test page, and the [pricing page](https://www.schemalaw.com/pricing) lists the larger plans. Whichever tool does the reading, a person still has to read names, dates and amounts against the scan.

## Try it on a real document

Upload a scanned PDF and export it as Word, a searchable PDF or plain text on the free plan. Your documents are never used to train an AI model. [Start free](https://www.schemalaw.com/api/auth/google)