Make a PDF Look Scanned and Keep Text Searchable
Add a scanned look while keeping existing text searchable and copyable. Learn which files work, how to enable the option, and how it differs from OCR.
Blog
Notes on PDF handling, document workflows, and privacy-first tools.
DjVu to PDF: open scanned books in your browser without installing a reader
Open .djvu and .djv books in Look Scanned, check the pages and export a PDF without installing a DjVu reader. DjVu support is currently experimental.
CAJ to PDF: open CNKI papers without CAJViewer and turn them into scanned PDFs
Look Scanned now opens CNKI's CAJ, KDH and NH files. Check every page of a paper in your browser, add a scan effect and download a PDF that opens on any device.
Typst and AsciiDoc to scanned PDF: no CLI, Ruby or upload needed
Look Scanned now opens Typst and AsciiDoc source files. Drop in a .typ or .adoc file, check the pages in the preview, and save a PDF that looks like it came off a real scanner.
ODT to scanned PDF: LibreOffice documents, no LibreOffice needed
Look Scanned now opens OpenDocument text files. Select an .odt or .ott file from LibreOffice or OpenOffice, check its pages, headers and footnotes, and save a PDF that looks scanned.
WPS to PDF: open .wps, .et and .dps files without WPS Office
Got a .wps, .et or .dps file that Microsoft Office won't open? Look Scanned now reads WPS Writer, Spreadsheets and Presentation files in your browser and turns them into scanned-looking PDFs.
HWP to PDF: can't open an .hwp file? Turn it into a scanned PDF
Look Scanned now opens Hancom Office Hangul documents (.hwp and .hwpx), in beta. Check every page in your browser without installing Hancom Office, and save a PDF that looks like a paper scan.
Jupyter Notebook (.ipynb) to scanned PDF: no nbconvert or LaTeX needed
Look Scanned now opens Jupyter notebooks. Select an .ipynb file, check the code, outputs and charts in the preview, and save a PDF that looks like a scanned printout.
EML and MSG to PDF: turn a saved email into scanned pages
Look Scanned now opens saved emails. Drop in an .eml, .emlx or Outlook .msg file and get a PDF of the message, headers and all, that looks like it was printed and scanned.
Markdown, HTML and TXT to scanned PDF: proper pages and page breaks
Markdown, HTML and plain-text files are out of beta. They now open as proper A4 pages in your browser, with page breaks, tables and code blocks where they belong, and no detour through the Print dialog.