Free Methods for Highlighting Scanned PDF
Summary :
It’s easy to highlight text in PDFs, but what about scanned PDFs? We are going to guide you to use a free PDF editing tool and address this scanned PDF highlight issue. Both desktop and online versions are available.
Table of Contents
How to Highlight Scanned PDF
Highlighting in scanned PDF documents is a common need for students, researchers, or any office person. It allows you to easily draw attention to important sections, make notes, and absorb information.
Unlike normal PDFs, scanned documents are images piled in the file, not editable text. The complexity of working with image-based files makes it difficult to select and highlight text.
In this article, we’ll walk through simple techniques to add highlights to scanned PDF files.
Using PDFgear to Highlight Scanned PDF
PDFgear is an all-in-one PDF solution with powerful OCR to convert scans into editable text. Through features like annotation, conversion, e-signatures, and more, it makes working with PDFs more efficient.
With its extensive capabilities and simple user interface, PDFgear speeds up PDF generation, editing, collaboration, and optimization. PDFgear is such a powerful tool that even drawing on PDFs can happen.
To highlight scanned PDFs, PDFgear even offers options. You can have a plan B with the same software for the same goal. How amazing it is.
Method 1. Add Area Highlight
Step 1. Open Your PDF File with PDFgear
Download PDFgear and install it on your computer > Open PDFgear > Import the scanned PDF file.
Open the File with PDFgear
Step 2. Use Area Highlight Tool
Go to “Annotate” > Click “Area Highlight” > Select a color you want to use for highlighting.
Choose Area Highlight Tool
Step 3. Select the Area You Need to Highlight
Drag your cursor to select an area you want to highlight > The color fills in the area automatically > Save the file.
Confirm the Highlight Area
Method 2. Convert Scanned PDF to Editable Word
Whenever we talk about highlighting text, the first thing that pops out in our head is the smooth experience that we use a few clicks to highlight text in Word. Then why not consider converting noneditable PDF to editable Word and then highlight things in it?
Since it’s super easy to convert PDF to Word with PDFgear, we will introduce this indirect way for your reference.
Step 1. Open PDFgear and Pick “PDF to Word”
Open PDFgear on your computer > Go to “PDF to Word” > Add the PDF file to be highlighted.
You can perform batch conversions without any limitations on the quantity of files.
Choose PDF to Word
Step 2. Mark ORC and Choose the Language
Click in the small box which marks ORC function > Choose the language used in your PDF in the dropdown menu > Click “OK”
Use OCR Tool
Step 3. Start to Convert and Get the Results
Hit “Convert” > You will get a Word file from the PDF > Open it with Microsoft Word and use your familiar highlight tool from there.
Get Highlighted Text in Word
How to Highlight Scanned PDF Online
PDFgear online editor is worth trying because it requires no installation or registration. Moreover, it’s totally free and leaves no watermark for whatever PDF file you are dealing with. PDFgear online tool offers great convenience to your work related to PDFs.
Basic functions like editing text online or text whiteout online can not show its power, explore more to see its charm. To highlight scanned PDFs, PDFgear won’t let you down.
Here are the steps to do this work.
Step 1. Open PDFgear Online and Open the File
Open the website of PDFgear online editor > Hit “Choose file” or drag your PDF onto the page.
Open PDFgear Online Website
Step 2. Add Rectangle
Click “Edit and Annotate” on the top right side > Go to “Add Shape” > Select “Add Rectangle”.
Add Shape in PDF
Step 3. Select the Area You Want to Highlight
Drag to select the area that needs highlighting. You will see a transparent rectangle showing up on your PDF page.
Select the Area to Be Highlighted
Step 4. Choose a Highlight Color
Go to the “Change Color” button > Pick a color, let’s say yellow > You can see the rectangle becomes yellow.
Pick a Color
Step 5. Adjust the Opacity of the Highlight Area
Hit “Change Opacity” > Drag the red dot to the left side until you think the opacity is right as a highlighter. We recommend 20% for your reference.
Change the Opacity
FAQs
Can I Highlight Scanned PDFs in Adobe Reader?
Yes, you can highlight scanned PDFs in Adobe Reader. Open your PDF file in Adobe Reader > Select the area you want to highlight > A toolbox will show up near the area you just selected> Click highlighter from the toolbox> Save the PDF.
Why Can’t I Highlight a Scanned PDF?
Several potential reasons might lead to the failure of highlighting a scanned PDF. If the PDF contains images rather than text, you can’t highlight it directly. If the PDF is scanned in low quality or with complex formality, you may fail to highlight it.
How Do I Highlight a Scanned PDF on a Mac?
You can use PDFgear to highlight a scanned PDF on a Mac. Download PDFgear on your Mac > Open PDFgear with your PDF > Navigate to “Annotate” > Choose “Area Highlight” > Select the area you want to highlight > Pick the color you like to use for highlight > Save your file.
Conclusion
Highlighting text in a scanned PDF requires the document to contain actual text data rather than just images. While basic software like Adobe Reader struggles to recognize the text, more advanced PDF editors like PDFgear can help to improve text recognition, thus giving more positive scanned PDF highlight results. If a free PDF editor allows you to easily highlight, annotate, and work with scanned PDFs as if they were regular text documents, don’t hesitate to go for it!
