French characters, recognized properly
Accents (é, è, ê, à, ù, â, î, ô, û), the cedilla (ç), the diaeresis (ë, ï) and ligatures such as œ are recognized as real characters, so words like cœur and garçon keep their spelling when copied.
Handwritten French is recognized too, alongside printed text on the same page. Neat block letters come out best; hurried cursive is less reliable.
No language setting needed
You don't pick a language. The OCR detects it on each page, so a folder of French files and English files can go in the same batch.
Pages that mix French and English, or French and German as in Swiss and Belgian documents, are handled without choosing a language.
Searching French text in the result
French text uses elisions such as l'État and d'un. Depending on the scan, the OCR may output a straight (') or curly (’) apostrophe, and viewers treat them differently. If a phrase with an apostrophe doesn't match, search for the word after it.
French documents people convert
- Invoices and quotes (factures, devis)
- Contracts and leases (contrats, baux)
- Notarial and legal documents (actes)
- Payslips and HR records (bulletins de paie)
- Handwritten forms and notes
Older and harder documents
Typewritten and older printed pages generally work well. Faded originals and low-resolution scans cause most errors, so 300 dpi is a good minimum.
If a file already has a text layer, it is returned unchanged. Tick Force OCR to replace a poor existing text layer; see how Force OCR works.
How to convert
- Create an account. It comes with 10 free pages to try it, valid for 7 days, with no credit card.
- Drop in PDFs, JPGs or PNGs, up to 50 files at a time.
- Most files are ready in 10 to 30 seconds. Download each searchable PDF, or all of them as a ZIP.
After that, monthly plans start at $9 for 250 pages, or you can buy a one-off pack of 250 pages for $14.99 or 1,000 pages for $39.99. Pack pages never expire.
Questions
- Do I need to choose French before uploading?
- No. The language is detected automatically, including on pages that mix French and English.
- Does it read handwritten French?
- Yes. Handwritten French is supported alongside printed text. Neat handwriting gives the best results.
- Will the document look different?
- No. The page image stays the same. OCR adds an invisible text layer on top of it.
- Are my files kept?
- No. Files are deleted automatically within an hour of processing.