Check that scanned PDFs are genuinely searchable
Get the source data and prepare the review

Documentation-verified native OCR and manual QA route; no automatic whole-file AI certification

WHAT WAS CHECKED
Public official product documentation only. No product login, account write, real client data, installation, or live workflow test. Prompts and schemas are proposed editorial adaptations; vendor documentation verifies component features, not these end-to-end recipes. Native exports retain their real headers; kit schemas require the explicit mapping steps below.

BEFORE YOU START
- Existing Acrobat desktop with Scan & OCR access (use the firm’s approved licensed installation).
- Working copies of synthetic/public PDFs and a reviewer who can read the original images. Never overwrite evidentiary originals.
- Optional firm-approved Excel Copilot access for organizing the deidentified test log; native OCR/search tests work without AI.

DATA ACQUISITION LIMITS
- The kit extraction.csv is a manually captured page/test log here, not a documented Acrobat one-click per-page CSV export.
- Acrobat AI answers are not proof that every page has a text layer or that OCR is accurate. Whole-file coverage requires checking every relevant page; sampling must be labeled sampling.

FILE YOU MUST SUPPLY
This kit contains QA logs and synthetic text examples, not a scanned PDF. Supply a synthetic/public PDF or a firm-approved working copy of the actual PDF. The source images are required for the OCR and visual-verification steps.

STEP 1: Create the test baseline
Tool: Acrobat desktop and a text editor
Open: Open a separately named working copy; Select text tool
Access needed: See recipe prerequisites; exact firm subscription and account permissions not tested.

Before OCR, record file_id, source_version and displayed page_count. Visually read a distinctive phrase and, where available, an important number/date on each tested page; enter each as a separate known-strings.csv row. For each page, select and copy all available page text to a plain-text editor and store exactly ONE aggregate extraction.csv row for that file_id/page. Record complete_page_capture, partial_page_capture or unselectable/empty in extraction_status. If only part was copied, record that scope in extraction_status. All known strings for a page will be checked as substrings of that one captured text value.

Expected output: files.csv and known-strings.csv plus initial extraction.csv rows (file_id,page,extracted_text,extraction_status). All are manual QA logs.
Use it next: Keep the original and baseline log unchanged; process only the working copy.
Check: Distinguish a PDF page index from printed/Bates page labels. Copy failure may reflect restrictions, not just image-only content; stop rather than bypass restrictions.
Documentation limit: Linked official documentation supports the named feature/menu. The workflow-specific prompt, schema, mapping and reviewer rules are editorial adaptations.
Source documentation:
https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/reusing-pdf-content.html

STEP 2: Run OCR on the working copy
Tool: Acrobat desktop
Open: All tools > Scan & OCR > In this file
Access needed: See recipe prerequisites; exact firm subscription and account permissions not tested.

Choose the intended page range and document language, then Recognize Text. For a batch use In multiple files > Add files and select a separate output folder/filenames. Preserve existing digital-text pages rather than rewriting them indiscriminately.

Expected output: Searchable working PDF with an OCR text layer where processing succeeded.
Use it next: Reopen the output and rerun the baseline copy/search tests.
Check: Record OCR errors, skipped pages and the chosen language/page range. A completed OCR job is not a passing QA result.
Documentation limit: Linked official documentation supports the named feature/menu. The workflow-specific prompt, schema, mapping and reviewer rules are editorial adaptations.
Source documentation:
https://helpx.adobe.com/ca/acrobat/desktop/create-documents/scan-documents-to-pdfs/recognize-text.html

STEP 3: Review OCR suspects and test known strings
Tool: Acrobat desktop
Open: Scan & OCR > Correct recognized text > Review recognized text; Find/search in the PDF
Access needed: See recipe prerequisites; exact firm subscription and account permissions not tested.

Compare each flagged word to its image. Correct only the OCR working-copy text when unambiguous; use Accept to advance. Independently search each known phrase/number and copy the result into the test log, including spaced-out words or digit mismatches. Keep one aggregate post-OCR extraction row per file_id/page and compare each expected string against that row. Never silently pair several per-page extracts by order.

Expected output: Per-tested-page pass/fail/uncertain evidence and corrected working-copy text where justified.
Use it next: Populate extraction.csv from the observed post-OCR text and statuses.
Check: Review even when no suspect is flagged. Test coverage must list pages checked and unchecked; a failed search does not prove absence of source content.
Documentation limit: Linked official documentation supports the named feature/menu. The workflow-specific prompt, schema, mapping and reviewer rules are editorial adaptations.
Source documentation:
https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/desktop/create-documents/scan-documents-to-pdfs/fix-scanned-text.html
https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/reusing-pdf-content.html

STEP 4: Summarize the actual test results
Tool: Excel Copilot, optional; or manual review
Open: Alias-only QA workbook > Copilot icon at lower right > Chat only
Access needed: See recipe prerequisites; exact firm subscription and account permissions not tested.

Place the deidentified known-string and one-row-per-page extraction logs in an Excel workbook. Open Copilot in Chat only and paste the prompt, or manually search each expected string within the corresponding extracted_text cell.

PASTE THIS PROMPT
Use only these manually observed PDF searchability logs. Join expected strings to exactly one aggregate extraction row using file_id and page; report duplicate extraction rows as an error. Check each expected phrase/number as a literal substring of that page’s extracted_text, not as equality with the whole text cell. Flag mismatches, spaced-out words, empty extraction and partial/untested page coverage. Quote the expected string and observed evidence. Return file_id,page,expected_string,observed_excerpt,issue,review_action and coverage count. Do not certify the whole PDF, infer untested content, interpret legal substance, edit the workbook or alter PDF files.

Expected output: Exception queue with file_id,page,known string,observed text,issue,review action; coverage summary.
Use it next: Human reads each queued original image and verifies corrected working copy.
Check: Require literal examples and page references; do not let an assistant invent untested page coverage.
Documentation limit: Linked official documentation supports the named feature/menu. The workflow-specific prompt, schema, mapping and reviewer rules are editorial adaptations.
Source documentation:
https://helpx.adobe.com/ca/acrobat/desktop/create-documents/scan-documents-to-pdfs/recognize-text.html
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/excel/copilot/get-started-with-copilot-in-excel

STEP 5: Release the searchable reference copy
Tool: Document reviewer
Open: Approved local working-copy folder and QA log
Access needed: See recipe prerequisites; exact firm subscription and account permissions not tested.

Save the searchable reference PDF under a distinct name with its test log. Resolve or clearly flag failed/uncertain pages; retain original scans unchanged.

Expected output: Searchable working copy with an honest page-coverage and exception record.
Use it next: Staff use it for search while consulting original images for substantive accuracy.
Check: Numbers, names and dates require visual verification before reliance; no claim that OCR is an authoritative transcript.
Documentation limit: Linked official documentation supports the named feature/menu. The workflow-specific prompt, schema, mapping and reviewer rules are editorial adaptations.
Source documentation:
https://helpx.adobe.com/ca/acrobat/desktop/create-documents/scan-documents-to-pdfs/recognize-text.html
https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/desktop/create-documents/scan-documents-to-pdfs/fix-scanned-text.html

ACCOUNT AND SOURCE CHECKS STILL NEEDED
- Acrobat edition/version and OCR tool access were not tested.
- No native per-page extraction CSV or automatic mixed-page completeness detector was verified.

USING THE FILES IN THIS KIT
Use the exact files or source text named in the steps above. Native exports keep their own headers. The kit tables are editorial review worksheets; they are not a claim that a product exports those fields. Some routes use reviewed text directly or require additional original files. Never rename an unreviewed raw export to make it appear mapped. Keep expected-result files separate from inputs.

The source account, actual data, prompts and end-to-end workflow were not tested. Any final communication, filing, permission change, payment or publication needs its own authorized human action. This guide performs none.