# Digitizing Old Books **URL:** https://pdfbookslib.com/discussions/c/digitizing-old-books/23.md [Latest](https://pdfbookslib.com/discussions/latest.md) · [Categories](https://pdfbookslib.com/discussions/categories.md) · [Tags](https://pdfbookslib.com/discussions/tags.md) --- ## [About the Digitizing Old Books category](https://pdfbookslib.com/discussions/t/about-the-digitizing-old-books-category/25)
**Author:** [@system](https://pdfbookslib.com/discussions/u/system)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [October 28, 2026, 2:22pm UTC](https://pdfbookslib.com/discussions/t/about-the-digitizing-old-books-category/25 "2026-10-28T14:22:38Z")
From paper to searchable PDF. --- ## [My professor mentioned it, but what is a scanned PDF?](https://pdfbookslib.com/discussions/t/my-professor-mentioned-it-but-what-is-a-scanned-pdf/103)
**Author:** [@george\_packers](https://pdfbookslib.com/discussions/u/george_packers)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [November 13, 2026, 5:51pm UTC](https://pdfbookslib.com/discussions/t/my-professor-mentioned-it-but-what-is-a-scanned-pdf/103 "2026-11-13T17:51:47Z")
Our syllabus says we have to read a scanned PDF for next week, but I cannot select or highlight any of the words on my laptop. Is it basically just an image saved as a document? --- ## [Is it possible to do pdf ocr online without installing anything?](https://pdfbookslib.com/discussions/t/is-it-possible-to-do-pdf-ocr-online-without-installing-anything/128)
**Author:** [@Patrick\_69](https://pdfbookslib.com/discussions/u/Patrick_69)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [November 13, 2026, 5:21pm UTC](https://pdfbookslib.com/discussions/t/is-it-possible-to-do-pdf-ocr-online-without-installing-anything/128 "2026-11-13T17:21:54Z")
I need to upload a signed contract PDF to a portal that requires it to be secure, but password-protecting it on my work laptop got rejected. What does secure usually mean for uploads? --- ## [Can anyone tell me how to make a pdf text searchable?](https://pdfbookslib.com/discussions/t/can-anyone-tell-me-how-to-make-a-pdf-text-searchable/118)
**Author:** [@someone353152](https://pdfbookslib.com/discussions/u/someone353152)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [November 13, 2026, 4:07pm UTC](https://pdfbookslib.com/discussions/t/can-anyone-tell-me-how-to-make-a-pdf-text-searchable/118 "2026-11-13T16:07:02Z")
I have a 60-page scanned report from my old job that I need to pull quotes from for a presentation on Thursday. Right now it’s just a picture of each page, so Ctrl+F finds nothing and I can’t copy any text out of it. I’m… --- ## [Can someone show me how to make a PDF searchable?](https://pdfbookslib.com/discussions/t/can-someone-show-me-how-to-make-a-pdf-searchable/82)
**Author:** [@StormCrazy](https://pdfbookslib.com/discussions/u/StormCrazy)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [November 13, 2026, 2:37pm UTC](https://pdfbookslib.com/discussions/t/can-someone-show-me-how-to-make-a-pdf-searchable/82 "2026-11-13T14:37:12Z")
I have a 40-page scanned PDF, but searching for words doesn’t find anything, even text I can clearly see. How do I make the text searchable? --- ## [Can I use an offline pdf compressor for thesis scans?](https://pdfbookslib.com/discussions/t/can-i-use-an-offline-pdf-compressor-for-thesis-scans/127)
**Author:** [@beer](https://pdfbookslib.com/discussions/u/beer)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [November 13, 2026, 11:21am UTC](https://pdfbookslib.com/discussions/t/can-i-use-an-offline-pdf-compressor-for-thesis-scans/127 "2026-11-13T11:21:54Z")
My master’s thesis appendix has about fifty scanned pages and the file is way over the university portal’s 25 MB limit. Is there a reliable offline way to compress these PDFs without uploading them anywhere? --- ## [I keep seeing this option, so what is pdf ocr?](https://pdfbookslib.com/discussions/t/i-keep-seeing-this-option-so-what-is-pdf-ocr/125)
**Author:** [@Violet7](https://pdfbookslib.com/discussions/u/Violet7)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [November 12, 2026, 11:36pm UTC](https://pdfbookslib.com/discussions/t/i-keep-seeing-this-option-so-what-is-pdf-ocr/125 "2026-11-12T23:36:51Z")
I need to turn a note into a PDF on my phone before tomorrow’s meeting, but pasting it into email just stays plain text. How do I actually convert it? --- ## [How do I make my scanned thesis a 500kb pdf?](https://pdfbookslib.com/discussions/t/how-do-i-make-my-scanned-thesis-a-500kb-pdf/78)
**Author:** [@Ava](https://pdfbookslib.com/discussions/u/Ava)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [November 12, 2026, 6:37am UTC](https://pdfbookslib.com/discussions/t/how-do-i-make-my-scanned-thesis-a-500kb-pdf/78 "2026-11-12T06:37:15Z")
My thesis is a 120-page scanned document and the submission portal rejects anything over 500 KB, so I’m stuck with a file that comes out several megabytes. The pages are mostly black-and-white text, and I need it to be r… --- ## [How can I make PDF searchable after scanning my lecture notes?](https://pdfbookslib.com/discussions/t/how-can-i-make-pdf-searchable-after-scanning-my-lecture-notes/89)
**Author:** [@AndrewMartin](https://pdfbookslib.com/discussions/u/AndrewMartin)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [November 11, 2026, 12:06pm UTC](https://pdfbookslib.com/discussions/t/how-can-i-make-pdf-searchable-after-scanning-my-lecture-notes/89 "2026-11-11T12:06:55Z")
I scanned about 60 pages of my lecture notes into a PDF but now I can’t search or highlight any text in it, which is annoying with exams coming up. Is there a way to make the text searchable without rescanning everything…