How to Make a Scanned PDF Searchable Using Postman

Step 1: Confirm That the PDF Is Not Searchable

Open the scanned PDF in a PDF reader or web browser and use its search function to look for a visible word.

If no result is found and the text cannot be selected, the document likely consists only of scanned page images and requires OCR.

Step 2: Import the PDF.co Postman Collection

Download the PDF.co Postman Collection JSON.

In Postman:

1. Open the File menu and select Import.
2. Select the downloaded JSON file.
3. Complete the import.
4. Create or select a Postman environment.
5. Add an environment variable named x-api-key and enter your PDF.co API key as its current value.

Step 3: Select the Make Text Searchable Request

Open the imported PDF.co collection and locate:

POST /v1/pdf/makesearchable

The request uses the following endpoint:

https://api.pdf.co/v1/pdf/makesearchable

Ensure that the request includes these headers:

x-api-key: {{x-api-key}}
Content-Type: application/json

Step 4: Configure the Request

Enter a JSON request body such as:

{
  "url": "https://pdfco-test-files.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pdf-make-searchable/sample.pdf",
  "lang": "eng",
  "pages": "",
  "name": "searchable-document.pdf",
  "async": false
}

Update the values as needed:

• url: Public URL or filetoken:// link for the scanned PDF.
• lang: OCR language code, such as eng, spa, deu, or fra. Multiple languages can be combined, such as eng+deu.
• pages: Pages to process. Leave blank for every page. Page numbering starts at 0.
• name: Output PDF filename.
• password: Include this parameter if the source PDF is password-protected.
• async: Use false for a short synchronous test. Long-running documents can use asynchronous processing.

The default OCR and rendering settings are appropriate for many documents. If the scan requires different processing, use the optional profiles parameter.

Available settings include OCR mode, OCR resolution, rendering resolution, rotation, and image-preprocessing filters. Refer to the Make Text Searchable API documentation and PDF.co Profiles documentation before adding profile parameters.

Step 5: Send the Request

Select Send in Postman.

A successful response resembles:

{
  "url": "https://pdf-temp-files.s3.amazonaws.com/.../searchable-document.pdf",
  "pageCount": 1,
  "error": false,
  "status": 200,
  "name": "searchable-document.pdf"
}

Confirm that error is false and status is 200.

Step 6: Verify the Searchable PDF

Open the URL returned by PDF.co and download the generated PDF.

Use the search function in your PDF reader or browser to find a visible word from the scanned page. You should now be able to search for and select recognized text while the original page image remains visible.

PDF.co output URLs are temporary, so transfer the resulting document to permanent storage before the link expires.