PDFs (Portable Document Format) have been around for a long time, and they’re one of the most common ways to share documents. They’re great for preserving the look of a document, especially when you need it to stay the same across different devices.
But did you know there are different types of PDFs? One of the most useful for long-term storage is PDF/A, a version of PDF that ensures your files stay accessible and searchable for years to come.
In this post, we’ll show you how to make your PDFs searchable, why it matters, and how PDF/A can help. If you’re tired of digging through piles of documents or struggling to find info in your files, keep reading because we’ve got you covered!
Key Takeaways
- PDF/A makes your PDFs searchable and future-proof – It embeds fonts, images, and text, ensuring documents stay accessible and readable over time.
- OCR turns scanned PDFs into searchable text – Optical Character Recognition lets you search, copy, and manage content in image-based documents.
- Searchable PDFs help with GDPR compliance – They make it easier to find, update, or remove personal data when needed.
- You can automate OCR at scale with Klippa – Klippa processes high volumes of scanned documents and makes them searchable with built-in OCR.
What are Searchable PDFs?
At its core, a searchable PDF is a document that lets you find specific words or phrases inside it, just like you would in a Word document or web page. Instead of just being an image of text, a searchable PDF actually has the text “inside” the file, making it easy to search for and copy.
You’ve probably come across documents where you could copy and paste text or search for a term in the document using Ctrl + F. That’s the magic of a searchable PDF. It doesn’t matter if you scanned a paper document or converted something from a different format – as long as the text is searchable, you can quickly find exactly what you need without flipping through pages or scrolling endlessly.
What is PDF/A and Why It Makes PDFs Searchable?
PDF/A is a version of PDF specifically designed for long-term document storage and archiving. The “A” actually stands for “Archiving”.
Think of it as a “future-proof” format. Unlike regular PDFs, PDF/A makes sure that all the fonts, images, and even metadata stay embedded in the file so that it remains accessible and usable for years, even decades, down the line.
But here’s the key part: PDF/A also ensures that your documents are searchable. That means the text within the document is structured in a way that’s easy to find, even if the file is stored for a long time. No more worrying about losing track of important info or trying to open outdated files – PDF/A keeps things organized and easy to access, making your PDFs not only readable but fully searchable, no matter how old they are.
Since PDF/A ensures that documents are searchable and preserved for long-term use, it’s especially important for GDPR compliance, where easy access to personal data and records is required for transparency and data protection.
How Searchable PDFs Help with GDPR Compliance
When it comes to GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), ensuring your documents are searchable is not just about convenience. It is a key factor for compliance. GDPR emphasizes data privacy and transparency, and making your documents searchable can help you manage sensitive data more effectively.
Here’s how searchable PDFs contribute to your GDPR compliance:
- Easy Identification of Personal Data: Searchable PDFs allow you to quickly locate sensitive information like names or addresses, helping you comply with GDPR’s data protection rules.
- Accurate Data Management: GDPR requires personal data to be accurate. Searchable PDFs make it easier to review and update information, keeping it correct and compliant.
- Quick Data Deletion or Anonymization: Searchable documents make it easy to comply with the right to be forgotten by allowing you to find and delete or anonymize personal data as needed.
- Access to Consent Records: Searchable PDFs help you quickly find consent forms or records, ensuring you have the necessary documentation to meet GDPR requirements.
Now that you see how searchable PDFs help with GDPR compliance, let’s take a look at how you can make your own PDFs searchable and compliant.
How to Make PDFs Searchable
Making your PDFs searchable can save you a lot of time, especially when you’re dealing with large volumes of documents. There are a few ways to make this happen, depending on the type of file you’re working with. Let’s walk through the most common methods:
1. Using OCR to Convert Scanned PDFs
If you have scanned documents or images that are saved as PDFs, they’re essentially just pictures of text, which means you can’t search or copy the text. Optical Character Recognition (OCR) solves this problem by converting the scanned text into actual text that can be searched, copied, and edited.
OCR works by recognizing characters in the scanned image and turning them into machine-readable text. So, after using OCR, your PDF will look exactly the same, but now you’ll be able to search through it and even copy-paste text from it. OCR is a great tool if you’ve got a lot of scanned files that need to be searchable.
If you have a large volume of scanned documents, Klippa can help make them searchable through OCR. With Klippa DocHorizon, you can automatically process and extract text from images and PDFs, turning them into searchable, machine-readable documents ready for storage, archiving, or further processing. It’s a simple way to save time, reduce manual work, and make sure your files are easy to work with and easy to find.
2. Converting PDFs to PDF/A
Another way to make your PDFs searchable is by converting them to PDF/A. As we’ve already discussed, PDF/A is specifically designed for long-term archiving, and it ensures that your text is embedded properly for future use. This version of the PDF has also been built to be searchable. When you convert a PDF to PDF/A, you’re also making sure that it’s compliant and easy to retrieve years down the line.
The conversion process also ensures that your document is 100% self-contained, so you don’t have to worry about fonts or data becoming missing or unusable over time. This makes PDF/A the best choice for storing searchable documents that you need to keep safe and accessible.
But how exactly do you convert your PDFs to PDF/A? Let’s get into the process.
How to Convert PDFs to PDF/A
Converting a regular PDF into PDF/A makes sure that all the elements of the document (like fonts and images) are embedded, ensuring it remains accessible and searchable in the future. There are a few methods for converting PDFs to PDF/A:
1. Using Adobe Acrobat Pro
Adobe Acrobat Pro makes converting your PDFs to PDF/A quick and easy. To convert, simply open the document, go to the “Save As” option, and choose the PDF/A format. It’s a straightforward process that guarantees the document is fully compliant with PDF/A standards, ensuring long-term archiving and searchability.
2. Using Foxit PhantomPDF
Foxit PhantomPDF is another reliable tool for converting PDFs into PDF/A format. You can access this feature by selecting the PDF/A Conversion option in the software. This allows you to convert existing PDFs to PDF/A, ensuring they are preserved and can be easily accessed in the future.
3. Online Tools for PDF/A Conversion
For a simple, cost-effective solution, you can use online tools like Smallpdf or Zamzar. These platforms let you upload your PDFs and convert them into PDF/A. While they may not have the same advanced features as Adobe or Foxit, they’re great for smaller tasks or occasional conversions.
What are the Benefits of PDF/A?
There are many advantages of using PDF/A as opposed to, for instance, the traditional PDF file format. To not make this blog annoyingly long, we will list what we think are the five most important ones.
- PDF/A documents are fully text searchable: The answer to many people’s headaches: PDF/A documents are fully searchable! This feature may help save numerous hours of manual labor. The text is preserved in the document, even when extracted with OCR software. The PDF/A file saves both the extracted text and the scanned image.
- PDF/A takes up relatively little storage space: Although PDF/A documents contain more information than images (such as TIFF), the PDF/A files are usually smaller due to the use of efficient compression algorithms.
- PDF/A documents stay valid forever: Existing PDF/A documents don’t need to be migrated when new standard amendments are introduced by the ISO committee. They will always stay compliant because the ISO cannot withdraw the PDF/A standard. This guarantees that you have a safe and usable document archive, and you will not lose any data or become non-compliant.
- Digital signatures guarantee security: Combining PDF/A with digital signatures ensures that PDF documents have not been altered and that they are authentic. For long-term archiving, this means optimal legal security.
- PDF/A is widely accepted: In Europe and Asia, PDF/A is already widely used for long-term archiving by governments, organizations, and businesses alike. The demand for this standard is growing in North America in certain branches. The PDF Association is very important in supporting PDF/A.
Common Use Cases of PDF/A
PDF/A is a versatile format with numerous practical applications across different industries. Here are some common use cases:
Digitization in Insurance
Insurance companies can use PDF/A to digitize paper invoices and create a digital archive. This makes it easy to search through documents when needed, improving productivity and reducing the need for physical storage.
Legal Document Archiving
Law firms often need to convert their legal documents to PDF/A to ensure they meet compliance standards and can be easily archived for long-term use. PDF/A helps preserve the integrity of legal documents while making them searchable.
Storing Terms and Conditions
Banks or businesses offering new services can store old terms and conditions in PDF/A format, ensuring that these documents are preserved and easily accessible whenever needed for reference or regulatory purposes.
Long-Term Collaboration
Engineers or teams working on drafts or project documents can save final versions in PDF/A format. This guarantees long-term accessibility and keeps all versions intact for future collaboration or review.
Healthcare Documentation
Healthcare providers can automatically archive all patient communications, such as emails and medical records, in PDF/A format. This ensures that documents are preserved for future access while remaining compliant with regulations.
How Klippa Can Help Make Your PDFs Searchable
When it comes to managing and converting documents, Klippa offers an easy, automated solution to ensure your files are searchable and GDPR compliant.
1. OCR for Scanned Documents
Got scanned documents that need to be searchable? Klippa’s OCR service can turn your scanned PDFs into machine-readable files. This means you’ll be able to search through those documents and find the exact info you need, saving you time and hassle.
2. High-Volume Processing
For businesses dealing with a large number of documents, Klippa DocHorizon is the perfect solution. We can handle high-volume processing, converting or applying OCR to hundreds or even thousands of files quickly and accurately. No more manual work – just automated, seamless document management.
3. Easy Integration with Your Workflow
Klippa’s services are designed to fit seamlessly into your existing systems. Whether you’re converting files, applying OCR, or archiving, our platform integrates smoothly into your workflow, helping you save time and improve efficiency.
Ready to make your documents searchable and compliant? Get started with Klippa today and simplify your document management!
FAQ
A regular PDF is a flexible document format that can include external links, fonts, and multimedia elements. In contrast, PDF/A is specifically designed for long-term archiving. It embeds all fonts, images, and data within the file to ensure it remains accessible and usable, even years after creation.
You can create a single PDF/A file using tools like Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat Pro. But if you’re working with scanned documents or images, they first need to be made searchable. And that’s where Klippa comes in. Klippa uses OCR to turn your scanned PDFs into searchable, machine-readable documents, helping you find the right data faster, stay organized, and meet compliance needs.
To ensure a PDF is PDF/A compliant, use a PDF/A validator. These tools, like VeraPDF, check if your document meets the PDF/A standards and confirm that all necessary elements are correctly embedded.
OCR (Optical Character Recognition) analyzes scanned documents or images and converts the text into a machine-readable format. This allows you to search for and copy text, making previously non-searchable PDFs easily accessible and manageable.
Not every document needs to be stored in PDF/A. It’s especially useful for long-term archiving, compliance, and legal documents that must remain accessible for many years. For everyday use, regular PDFs may suffice, but PDF/A is ideal when you need guaranteed preservation and searchability.
PDF/A ensures compliance by providing a format specifically designed for long-term document preservation. It embeds all fonts, images, and metadata within the file, making it fully self-contained and reliable for legal, regulatory, and archival purposes. This format is essential for industries that require documents to remain accessible, searchable, and compliant with standards like GDPR and ISO.