How to Check if PDF Requires OCR using PDF.co and Zapier

Step 1: Create a Zap

• To begin. First, log into your Zapier account and click the Create Zap button.

Step 2: Google Drive App

• Next, select the Google Drive app and the New File in Folder as a trigger.

Step 3: Setup Trigger

Let’s set up the Google Drive configuration.

• In the Drive field, select My Google Drive.
• In the Folder field, enter the specific folder where the file resides.

Step 4: Test Trigger

• Then, click on the test trigger button to make sure that we set it up correctly.

Once the test trigger was successful. You may now add another app.

Step 5: Add PDF.co App

• Let’s add another app and select PDF.co. Then, choose the PDF to Anything Converter to convert PDF into any document.

Step 6: Setup PDF.co Configuration

Let’s set up the configuration…

• For the Output Format field, select the JSON(text objects and structure).
• For the PDF URL field, choose the Web Content Link from your Google Drive.
• In the Pages field, add the list of pages separated by a comma. Type 0 for the first page.
• For the Inline Output field, set it to true to return data as inline.

After setting up the configuration, click on the test and review button.

Step 7: PDF.co Test Result

• Great! PDF.co was successfully processing our request. We can now move to the next step.

Now, let’s build a path for different steps and rules.

Step 8: Add Action Path

• Let’s add an action and select the Path built-in tools.

Step 9: Edit and Rename Path

• Next, type in your desired Path name for the first rule. This path will check if the PDF requires an OCR.
• Then, click on the Edit button.

Step 10: Setup Rules and Settings

Let’s set up the first rule

• First, select the data from PDF.co app for the chosen field.
• Next, add the condition you want to apply for the field data.
• Then, enter the text related to the field data and click on the Continue button to test it out.

Step 11: Testing Result

• Great! We successfully set up the first rule. Now, let’s add an action to make scanned PDFs searchable.

Step 12: Add Action and Event

• Let’s add the PDF.co app and choose the PDF Make Searchable to turn images or PDFs into searchable text.

Step 13: Setup Action

• For the PDF URL field, input the direct URL of the source file.
• For the OCR Language field, select the language to be used for extracting text from scanned PDF. Let’s use English as a default.
• Then, type in your desired output file name.

After setting up, click on the test and review button to see the result.

Step 14: Test Result

• Excellent! Our test was a success, kindly copy the URL and paste it into your browser to view the output.

Now, let’s make a path for files that don’t require an OCR.

Step 15: Rename and Edit Path

• Type in your desired Path name for the second rule. This path doesn’t require files to have an OCR.
• Then, click on the Edit button.

Step 16: Setup Rules and Testing

Let’s set up the second rule.

• First, add the data from the PDF.co app.
• Next, add the condition with a different rule that doesn’t have contains your field data.
• Then, enter the text not related to your field data and click the Continue button to test it.

Step 17: Rules Testing Result

• Great! We successfully set up the second rule and the file doesn’t require an OCR.