Auto OCR Files In Specific Folder

[MacDependent]

I run Sonoma. Is there a way I can have pdf files that I put in a specific folder be OCR’ed automatically? Looks like I might be able to do it with Hazel but would need a script of some sort. Maybe Automator?

I tried to see if I could do this with Acrobat but it doesn’t look like Acrobat can do this in the background.

Ideally, I’d like to be able to do this without buying anymore software but I’m open to it if that’s the only way.

Anyone out there able to explain this to me like I’m 5?

Thanks!

[Christian]

I have not used it myself, but I have stumbled into OCRmyPDF multiple times and it has been mentioned in the MPU community occasionally, too:

PDFPen Alternative

To OCR PDFs from Hazel, I use ocrmypdf. Free, open source, works great! Let me know if you need any help, although I use shell commands in my Hazel rules rather than AppleScript.

Free, open source and apparently working very well.

[Vincent_Ardern]

ChatGPT can help you to make the script to use in Hazel

[Christian]

@kjw97 actually has published his Hazel scripts in the previously mentioned thread :

PDFPen Alternative

No worries! In Hazel, on the folder that I dump scanned documents into, I just have a rule called ‘OCR any PDFs’ as follows: [image] The first embedded script is just this: [image] The second script is just a sleep command that I must have put in to debug at some point. You can ignore that. Then once the PDF has been OCRed, I run other Hazel rules on it to look for embedded text and perform actions. For example, for receipts I save when paying my credit card: [image] Hope this helps! …

[kjw97]

Thanks for finding this for me Still works great, by the way!

[MacDependent]

Just use the script in Hazel? No need for other software?

[kjw97]

You’ll need ocrmypdf. Open source and free. Works great!