How do I convert this into a doc so I can make changes?

[Sooz]

Hello!  Just me, with a new problem. 

I scanned 8 pages of hard copies and saved them in one PDF, and then I tried to convert them to one doc or docx using zamzar.com.

Unfortunately, once "converted", the text is not selectable so I cannot delete, add, or change anything in the document!

When I click on a page in the document -- that I saved with a doc or docx at the end --  "Format Picture" comes up in the Word menu bar.  The converter took all the pages and thought they were a picture, I guess, and not words and sentences and paragraphs. Maybe because there were words in the right "gutter" area of the PDF that ran perpendicular to the text paragraphs? I don't know.

I have a new Brother printer, copier and scanner. I don't think it plays nice with my iMac.
In fact, it is such a pain to scan a hard copy that I had to make a separate document called "How to Scan a document using Brother printer" so I'd have my step by step instructions!  I can get it done, but it's not easy!

Any suggestions? Ideas? Baby steps please, and pictures help!  Thanks!
Smiles,
Sooz

[Xairbusdriver]

"Scanning" any kind of document generally simply converts a "page" into an image. You should have had several choices; JPG, TIF, PNG and, obviously, PDF. But even nthe "PDF" is simply a 'picture' of the "page".

In order to get the text from the scan, you'll need an application that can convert each part of the image that looks like a letter, into an actual letter. Those apps are called Optical Character Readers. I'm not sure there are any free ones, but there are less expensive ones or ones that have a limited time of free use. It's getting late to provide possible software options...

OK. Just go to the Mac App Store and enter OCD in the search box. There are actually three free apps and another that is $4. They may be tedious and not too accurate, but what can you expect for that price. I actually use a $100 app and it is often less than 99% accurate!

BTW, are you using the Apple app called "Image Capture" or the software that comes with the Brother?

[Sooz]

Hi, Jim, and thanks for the info!

The apps at the app store were... interesting... especially reading the reviews of some of them!  I kinda liked one in particular, until details mentioned you get the first 3 pages free, then you have to front some moola. Considering I haven't had the need for a PDF ---> Word, I figured ....nope.

I'm pretty sure I'm not using Image Capture. I did RTFM a bit, and it said to make sure to use lPrint&Scan for the Mac, but then I read reviews and a lot of people said it was pretty much worthless. I didn't bother to pursue that.

I'm waiting to hear back from my sister, who may have an app that will convert things for me. Cross your fingers!

Thank again!
Smiles,
Sooz

[Xairbusdriver]

details mentioned you get the first 3 pages free

Yes, as I mentioned, many apps have a limited time or quantity for free plan. OCR, in particular, is difficult, so I would expect any app that can do that to have some cost.

I haven't had the need for a PDF ---> Word

After your scan and running that image thru an OCR app, you will/can have a plain text file/page. Then all you need to do is open the text file in Preview. You can then export/save the file as Word.

I'm pretty sure I'm not using Image Capture. I did [read the manual] a bit, and it said to make sure to use lPrint&Scan for the Mac

What manual? I don't think Image Capture even has a Help menu! It's so simple! "lPrint&Scan" sounds like a third-party app, probably made by the devs of one of the OCR apps.

There is also the possibility of a web-based app that can do the OCR work. I'll take a look for that.

[Xairbusdriver]

Downloaded and installed iText Free.
Scanned some text in Image Capture (twice, one PNG and one PDF).
Clicked the Menu Bar icon for iText Free and selected Select an image file.
Pointed it to the PNG file and up popped a screen with the text and a note that it had also been added to my Clipboard.
Opened Pages with a Blank template and hit command-V.
Exported to Word with ".docx" suffix.
Done.

iText Free does limit you to 20 "items" a month. I don't remember what an "item" is, I will assume it is a page scan. It was rated 4.2 at the App Store.

[Xairbusdriver]

Dumped these apps:
   DocuScan Plus: Requires registration, password... 14 day trial. Meh!
   EasyScreenOCR: DUH, it only captures the 'text' on the computer screen.
   LEADTOOLS OCR: Crashed!
   Tessa: Way too complicated and saved output somewhere without telling me.
   Text Scanner: Never would open!

There are web-based OCR converters, I think they are free. I just don't like putting anything into the hands of strangers, especially those that are behind the web! Web servers cost money to run and maintain. Having folks hand over all kinds of documents sounds like a good way to harvest all kinds of information that can be sold for real money. There are already dozens of giant corporations making money that way.

[Sooz]

Jim, you are beyond awesome (betcha hear that all the time from your lady, huh?!!)  Thank you so much! 

Today I have a commitment to help out with a sewing project so when that's done, I'll download and follow your instructions--but I don't have image capture...will that make a difference?    I'll be using the PDF that was scanned from the original document.

The manual to which I referred was the downloaded Brother printer/scanner/copier manual.

I'll check in later and keep you posted! I'm crossing my fingers already.  Thanks so much!!!!!
Smiles,
Sooz

[Xairbusdriver]

Just as a reminder... You actually want/need to edit the text? Otherwise, you could simply open the PDF in Preview and print it.

One word of caution, you may need to divide that huge image into small segments, like a collection of pages. iText might 'choke' on a single image that big.

I don't have image capture

Sure ya do, it's a standard part of the Mac OS. Type Image Capture into Spotlight and see. Or just look in your Applications folder, it will be in the group of stuff that starts with an "I", right after anything starting with "H" and before anything starting with "J" or letters further toward the End-O-the-Alphabet. That assumes, of course, that you have things listed alphabetically as you should...

I'll be using the PDF [scanned image file]

That's fine, iText only has two options: 1. Capture Screen or 2. Select an image file. Number 2 should be all you need.

You can probably open Word (if you have it) to a blank page and after iText does its thing, click in that empty Word window and command-V!

The manual to which I referred was the downloaded Brother

Yeah, I knew I'd seen that somewhere before. I've never used it in the past 10 years. But I've also never used the Scanner part of our several Brother lasers for scanning anything other than making copies. I congratulate you for getting a a file out of it!

[Sooz]

Oh this is so frustrating!

Yes, I do want to edit the text--and yuppers, my applications are in alphabetical order, too!   

When I find Image Capture (thanks for the redirect), I open it and it says "no camera or scanner connected."  Brother does NOT play nice with Macs.  I do have my scanner connected b/c I'm able to scan with Preview--apparently a workaround for a Mac that I stumbled upon.

Does this iText stuff work if I have a hard copy of the document and scanned it and saved it as a PDF, or does it have to be the original PDF ?  It's a legal document and I have only the hard copy which is why I scanned it.

When I use iText, I am unable to select Option #2 <select image file> for either the PDF or the 'Word doc' b/c they are greyed out.

When I click on iText and select #1--Capture screen-- and drag and drop the first page of the document, I get this message:  The image will be uploaded to Google server to recognize.   I don't really want to do that, y'know.

Gonna go have a cookie and meditate on CALM!!!!  LOLAM! 

Smiles,
Sooz

[Xairbusdriver]

OK! Thanks for reminding me that you had used Preview for scanning. DUH! I just did that for the very first time in my 76 years! Who says you can't teach old dogs...

So...
You are not seeing the image below in Preview?

[Sooz]

You may be 76, but you are waaaaay sharper than I am!!!

Here's what I get... similar to your screen shot, but not quite...
In the second screenshot, if I have something on the flatbed scanner, it will show up in a few seconds. In the third screenshot, I just wanted to show my options for the format.

[Xairbusdriver]

OK. That's what I thought, you had been accessing the scanner on the Brother, else you would not have been able to get that first "PDF".

And the interface you are seeing is actually what you get with Image Capture. Apple uses it in Preview and it is also used by most scanning apps.

Here is what I suggest:

• Scan the 8 page document, one page at a time. You will end up with 8 separate documents. That will make it easier for the convertor and your scanner.
• "JPEG", "TIFF", or "PNG" is fine, but do not use "PDF". Change the dots per inch setting to 300 [second & third image->"Resolution:"]. The default of 100 just makes the details of the characters harder to see for the OCR app, it pixelates the image.
• Have either Word or Pages or even TextEdit open with a blank page and paste the resulting text from iText into it.

You should end up with a multi-page document that may not take 8 physical pages in any of those apps. That final app will be plain text, but you can edit it as needed. Details on how may pages and other things can wait at this point.

If you need to convert that final document into a PDF, the Print Dialog can do that. For a Word document, Pages can do that easily.

[Sooz]

Update!  Here's what I did, and the results:

1   Scan the 8 page document, one page at a time. You will end up with 8 separate documents. That will make it easier for the convertor and your scanner.  I scanned one page as a trial run.

2   "JPEG", "TIFF", or "PNG" is fine, but do not use "PDF". Change the dots per inch setting to 300 [second & third image->"Resolution:"]. The default of 100 just makes the details of the characters harder to see for the OCR app, it pixelates the image.  DONE –saved as JPG and and used 300 dpi

3   Have either Word or Pages or even TextEdit open with a blank page and paste the resulting text from iText into it.  Saved to WORD… unable to change as it became an image again, tried iText and same thing--it's an image...I’ve never used Pages   Opened Text Edit and did a Drag & Drop from TextEdit onto a blank Word document—same issue—it's an image. Did a SAVE AS and selected docx and had same issue – it's an image.  Convert to plain text got me a blank page.

Sooooooo, my pal Jim (cyber hugs to you), I ran out of gas on this...and think I'm just going to type up those 8 pages and make changes as needed. I'm a very good typist!  It's all good! I know it's a puzzle for you and I probably messed up on following the very clear steps!

Gonna say g'night for now and log out... and maybe type a couple of pages before bedtime.
Smiles,
Sooz

[Xairbusdriver]

Close, but no banana!

Also be aware that you have only 20 uses of iText for this month. I assume you have used it at least once already?

3  Have either Word or Pages or even TextEdit open with a blank page and paste the resulting text from iText into it.

  Saved to WORD… unable to change as it became an image again, tried iText and same thing--it's an image

My instructions were a bit unclear in that step.

Don't drag the "JPEG" file(s) into Word. They are images. That's normally what you get from a scanner. A scanner is simply a fancy, bulky, very wide and somewhat slow camera. A camera produces an image.  What you need to do is use the little App Store app, iText, do the converting on each of the 8 image file(s). Thus:

• You already have at least that 1 image file (ending with ".jpeg"). Let's just work with that one. BTW, what is its entire name?
• Now, click on the iText icon (in the Menu Bar) and use the "Select image file" item. When the window comes up showing all your files and stuff on your drive, click on that 1 of the image file.
• After a bit if time, iText should show you a window with what it "thinks" is the text in that image. You should see a note that the text has been sent to your "Clipboard".
• Now, click in the Word window you opened and use the "Paste" command (command-V). That pastes the converted text into Word. Your image file never goes anywhere.

[Sooz]

Hi, Jim,

Thanks for the reminder about iText having a limit per month    ... and I think your instructions were clear and much appreciated (love the step by step stuff!).

Since I put the other documents away, I scanned a new page called "Sewing Club" and saved it as both "Sewing Club" which is how the scanner saved it, and I also saved a copy of it and named it "Sewing Club.jpg"

I opened iText, and did the *Select image file* and whether I selected Sewing Club or Sewing Club.jpg  I got this pop up (see below)--I'm reticent to upload to the Google server, but perhaps that's the way it gets to the clipboard? Upload to Google server just sounded too iffy to me with doing a legal document uploaded to some Google thing I don't understand (even though zamzar was helpful in the past).

Smiles,
Sooz