Turn scanned PDFs and photos into editable text, automatically

Short answer: Use a free Google Apps Script that reads every scan or photo you drop into a Drive folder, typed or handwritten, makes an editable Google Doc of it and puts the text in your sheet. It runs in your own Google account; nothing is sent to us. Setup takes 6 steps: Make a scans folder; Make a Settings tab; Paste the script; Turn on the Drive service; Read your scans; Get it into Word or Excel.

How to set it up

1. Make a scans folder. Create a folder in Google Drive for your scans and copy its link. PDFs and images (JPG, PNG and other photo files) in it get read; other files are left alone.
2. Make a Settings tab. Open a new Google Sheet and add a tab called Settings. Paste the folder link in B1. B2 is the language of the text as a code, such as en or es; leave it blank for English.
3. Paste the script. Open Extensions, then Apps Script, paste in the code from our email, and save. Reload the sheet and a Scans menu appears.
4. Turn on the Drive service. In the Apps Script editor, click the + next to Services, choose Drive API and click Add. The script uses it to have Google read the text in each file.
5. Read your scans. Choose Scans, then Read new scans, or Read new scans every 15 minutes to keep it running. Each file gets a Google Doc called the file name plus (text), and a row in the Scans tab with the file, a link to the Doc and the text.
6. Get it into Word or Excel. Open the Doc and choose File, Download, Microsoft Word to get a .docx. The Scans tab downloads as Excel the same way from the sheet.

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Good to know

• Google does the reading. Clear print comes out well; handwriting works best when it is neat and the photo is sharp and straight, so check the text before you rely on it.
• Each file is read once: the Scans tab remembers which files are done.
• A sheet cell holds about 50,000 characters, so a very long document's text is cut in the sheet. The Doc always has all of it.

Questions

What does this script do?

It is a free Google Apps Script that reads every scan or photo you drop into a Drive folder, typed or handwritten, makes an editable Google Doc of it and puts the text in your sheet.

How do I set it up?

In 6 steps: 1. Make a scans folder; 2. Make a Settings tab; 3. Paste the script; 4. Turn on the Drive service; 5. Read your scans; 6. Get it into Word or Excel. The full steps are on this page.

Is it free, and does it send my data anywhere?

It is free: enter your email on this page and we email you the script (Code.gs). It runs in your own Google account; nothing is sent to us.

Can you install it for me?

Yes. We set it up in your Google account in a short Connect session, connect it to your sheet and check that it runs.

Want this connected to the rest of your tools? Send us a short brief.