Make scanned PDFs searchable with OCR Pro

Scanned or photographed PDFs are pictures of pages — they have no text layer, so FileDeck’s full-text search cannot read them. Enable OCR under Documents → Settings → Scanned OCR and FileDeck sends those pages to the FileDeck OCR service, which extracts the text and returns it, making the documents searchable like any other.

FileDeck Pro — this feature is included in all Pro plans. See pricing

How does OCR handle my files?

FileDeck is built to keep your documents on your own server: normal full-text search reads the text layer of your PDFs locally, and nothing leaves your site. OCR is the one exception.

• OCR is the only feature in FileDeck that sends document contents off your server, and it only does so for PDFs that have no text layer. Documents that already contain text are never sent anywhere.
• Files are processed and immediately discarded — the OCR service never stores them.
• OCR is off until you enable it, so nothing is sent without your explicit opt-in.

How do I enable OCR?

1. Go to Documents → Settings → Scanned OCR.
2. Turn on OCR for scanned PDFs.
3. Enter your FileDeck Pro OCR key. The key is stored securely and not shown again after you save.
4. Save your changes.

How do I run OCR on my documents?

1. Go to Documents → Settings → Search Index.
2. With OCR enabled, this screen is where OCR runs — it picks up PDFs that have no text layer.
3. Click Rebuild search index after a bulk import or whenever results look out of date, so newly extracted text is included.

Once a scanned PDF has been through OCR, it matches in instant search just like a native PDF — visitors don’t see any difference.

FAQ

Does OCR send all my documents off my server?

No. Only PDFs with no text layer are sent to the OCR service. Everything else — native PDFs, Office documents, and text files — is read entirely on your own server.

Are my files stored by the OCR service?

No. Files are processed and immediately discarded. They are never stored.

Is there a limit on how much I can OCR?

The managed OCR service is shared, so there’s a fair-use limit — it processes up to 100 scanned documents per day for your site (each up to 40 pages). If you enable OCR for a large backlog of scanned files, they’re processed a batch at a time and the remainder continue automatically over the following days — nothing is skipped or lost. (Running your own OCR service removes the limit, since it’s your own hardware.)

Can I see my OCR key after saving it?

No. The key is stored securely and not shown again, so keep your own copy somewhere safe.

Why is a scanned PDF still not matching in search?

Check that OCR is enabled under Documents → Settings → Scanned OCR and that your OCR key is saved, then rebuild the index from Documents → Settings → Search Index. See Troubleshooting search for more.