Turn a multi-page scan into readable text

Give it one scanned PDF and the Google Doc it should go into, and run it. The text on each page is recognised in the language you name and added to your Doc in reading order: a heading with the file name and date, then each page under its own 'Page' heading. Paragraphs keep their breaks, and a table comes through row by row with its cells split by a vertical bar.

It is a transcript, not a summary: the words written are the words recognised, and a page where nothing could be read is counted rather than filled in. Nothing already in the Doc is changed, so one Doc can hold many scans. A long scan is done in parts, 40 pages at a time by default; if any page is skipped, fails to write or is left for a later run, an [INCOMPLETE] note at the end says so and which page to start from next, so a half-read scan is never mistaken for a whole one.

You need iLovePDF (which recognises the text), Extend (which lays it out) and Google Docs connected, the scan, a link to the Doc, and the language on the page; the wrong language is the usual reason a scan comes back as gibberish.

Set scanFile to blank.Set scanFile to blank.

Set scanLanguage to eng.Set scanLanguage to eng.

Set transcriptDocument to blank.Set transcriptDocument to blank.

Set maxPages to 40.Set maxPages to 40.

Set firstPage to 1.Set firstPage to 1.

Trim transcriptDocument and save it as documentLink.Trim transcriptDocument and save it as documentLink.

Set transcriptId to documentLink.Set transcriptId to documentLink.

If documentLink contains /d/If documentLink contains /d/

Yes

Get the first item of the last item of documentLink split by /d/ split by / and save it as transcriptId.Get the first item of the last item of documentLink split by /d/ split by / and save it as transcriptId.

Else if @documentLink contains "/"

Stop and report a problem: The 'transcriptDocument' step does not look like a Google Docs link. Paste the link from the address bar while the document is open, or paste just its document id.Stop and report a problem: The 'transcriptDocument' step does not look like a Google Docs link. Paste the link from the address bar while the document is open, or paste just its document id.

Otherwise

No steps

If transcriptId is emptyIf transcriptId is empty

Yes

Stop and report a problem: No document id could be read out of the 'transcriptDocument' step. Paste the link from the address bar while the document is open.Stop and report a problem: No document id could be read out of the 'transcriptDocument' step. Paste the link from the address bar while the document is open.

No

No steps

Round maxPages to the nearest integer and save it as pageLimit.Round maxPages to the nearest integer and save it as pageLimit.

Round firstPage to the nearest integer and save it as startPage.Round firstPage to the nearest integer and save it as startPage.

Read scanFile Save it as scanInfo.Read scanFile Save it as scanInfo.

Use scanInfo.pages, or 0 if it is empty and save it as pageCount.Use scanInfo.pages, or 0 if it is empty and save it as pageCount.

If pageCount is less than 1If pageCount is less than 1

Yes

Stop and report a problem: That file has no pages that can be read. Check 'scanFile' is the scanned PDF itself, not a link to a page that shows it.Stop and report a problem: That file has no pages that can be read. Check 'scanFile' is the scanned PDF itself, not a link to a page that shows it.

No

No steps

If startPage is greater than pageCountIf startPage is greater than pageCount

Yes

Stop and report a problem: The scan has pageCount pages, so there is nothing from page startPage on. Set 'firstPage' to 1, or to the page after the last one written, then run it again.Stop and report a problem: The scan has pageCount pages, so there is nothing from page startPage on. Set 'firstPage' to 1, or to the page after the last one written, then run it again.

No

No steps

Set pagesAfterFirst to pageLimit minus 1.Set pagesAfterFirst to pageLimit minus 1.

Set lastPage to startPage plus pagesAfterFirst.Set lastPage to startPage plus pagesAfterFirst.

If lastPage is greater than pageCountIf lastPage is greater than pageCount

Yes

Change lastPage to pageCount.Change lastPage to pageCount.

No

No steps

iLovePDFRun OCR on scanFile. Save it as searchableScan.Run OCR on scanFile. Save it as searchableScan.

Trim searchableScan.document_ref and save it as searchableRef.Trim searchableScan.document_ref and save it as searchableRef.

If searchableRef is null or searchableRef is emptyIf searchableRef is null or searchableRef is empty

Yes

Stop and report a problem: The scan could not be made searchable, so no text was read. Check the file is a PDF and that it is not password protected.Stop and report a problem: The scan could not be made searchable, so no text was read. Check the file is a PDF and that it is not password protected.

No

No steps

ExtendParse a document. Save it as readPages.Parse a document. Save it as readPages.

Trim readPages.file_name and save it as scanTitle.Trim readPages.file_name and save it as scanTitle.

If scanTitle is null or scanTitle is emptyIf scanTitle is null or scanTitle is empty

Yes

Change scanTitle to Scanned document.Change scanTitle to Scanned document.

No

No steps

Set pagesFound to 0.Set pagesFound to 0.

Set pagesWritten to 0.Set pagesWritten to 0.

Set pagesBlank to 0.Set pagesBlank to 0.

Set pagesFailed to 0.Set pagesFailed to 0.

Set lastWriteProblem to blank.Set lastWriteProblem to blank.

Get today's date and save it as today.Get today's date and save it as today.

Make today readable as “Monday, November 2, 2026” and save it as readDate.Make today readable as “Monday, November 2, 2026” and save it as readDate.

If a step below fails, save the error as headingErrorIf a step below fails, save the error as headingError

Try

Google DocsAdd text to transcriptId. Save it as spacer.Add text to transcriptId. Save it as spacer.

Google DocsAdd the heading '@scanTitle, read on readDate' to transcriptId. Save it as scanHeading.Add the heading '@scanTitle, read on readDate' to transcriptId. Save it as scanHeading.

On error

Show in the output: The heading for this scan could not be written: headingError.message.Show in the output: The heading for this scan could not be written: headingError.message.

For each page in readPages.chunks:For each page in readPages.chunks:

Add 1 to pagesFound.Add 1 to pagesFound.

If pagesWritten is greater than or equal to pageLimitIf pagesWritten is greater than or equal to pageLimit

Yes

Skip to the next item.Skip to the next item.

No

No steps

Trim page.content and save it as pageText.Trim page.content and save it as pageText.

If pageText is null or pageText is emptyIf pageText is null or pageText is empty

Yes

Add 1 to pagesBlank.Add 1 to pagesBlank.

Skip to the next item.Skip to the next item.

No

No steps

Replace the pattern (?m)^[ \t]*#{1,6}[ \t]+|^[ \t]*\|?[ \t]*:?-{3,}:?[ \t]*(?:\|[ \t]*:?-{3,}:?[ \t]*)*\|?[ \t]*(?:\n|$)|^[ \t]*\|[ \t]*|[ \t]*\|[ \t]*$|\*\* with in pageText and save it as plainText.Replace the pattern (?m)^[ \t]*#{1,6}[ \t]+|^[ \t]*\|?[ \t]*:?-{3,}:?[ \t]*(?:\|[ \t]*:?-{3,}:?[ \t]*)*\|?[ \t]*(?:\n|$)|^[ \t]*\|[ \t]*|[ \t]*\|[ \t]*$|\*\* with in pageText and save it as plainText.

If a step below fails, save the error as pageErrorIf a step below fails, save the error as pageError

Try

Google DocsAdd the heading 'Page page.page_start' to transcriptId. Save it as pageHeading.Add the heading 'Page page.page_start' to transcriptId. Save it as pageHeading.

Google DocsAdd text to transcriptId. Save it as pageWritten.Add text to transcriptId. Save it as pageWritten.plainText

Add 1 to pagesWritten.Add 1 to pagesWritten.

On error

Add 1 to pagesFailed.Add 1 to pagesFailed.

Change lastWriteProblem to pageError.message.Change lastWriteProblem to pageError.message.

Show in the output: Page page.page_start could not be written: pageError.message.Show in the output: Page page.page_start could not be written: pageError.message.

If pagesFound is 0If pagesFound is 0

Yes

Stop and report a problem: No pages came back from that scan, so nothing was written. Check the file is the scan itself and that it has at least one page.Stop and report a problem: No pages came back from that scan, so nothing was written. Check the file is the scan itself and that it has at least one page.

No

No steps

If pagesWritten is 0 and pagesFailed is greater than 0If pagesWritten is 0 and pagesFailed is greater than 0

Yes

Stop and report a problem: No page could be written to your Google Doc (lastWriteProblem). Check the link in 'transcriptDocument' and that your Google Docs connection can edit that Doc, then run it again.Stop and report a problem: No page could be written to your Google Doc (lastWriteProblem). Check the link in 'transcriptDocument' and that your Google Docs connection can edit that Doc, then run it again.

No

No steps

If pagesWritten is 0If pagesWritten is 0

Yes

Stop and report a problem: No readable text was found on any page, so nothing was written. A photograph of a page at an angle, or a scan set to the wrong language, both look like this - check 'scanLanguage' and try a straighter scan.Stop and report a problem: No readable text was found on any page, so nothing was written. A photograph of a page at an angle, or a scan set to the wrong language, both look like this - check 'scanLanguage' and try a straighter scan.

No

No steps

Set pagesMissing to pagesFound minus pagesWritten.Set pagesMissing to pagesFound minus pagesWritten.

Set runSummary to pagesFound pages were read and pagesWritten were written. pagesBlank had no readable text and pagesFailed failed to write.Set runSummary to pagesFound pages were read and pagesWritten were written. pagesBlank had no readable text and pagesFailed failed to write.

Set nextPage to lastPage plus 1.Set nextPage to lastPage plus 1.

Set pagesLeftNote to blank.Set pagesLeftNote to blank.

If pageCount is greater than lastPageIf pageCount is greater than lastPage

Yes

Build the text Pages @nextPage to @pageCount of the scan were not read this time: set 'firstPage' to @nextPage and run it again to add them below, without repeating the pages... and save it as pagesLeftNote.Build the text Pages @nextPage to @pageCount of the scan were not read this time: set 'firstPage' to @nextPage and run it again to add them below, without repeating the pages... and save it as pagesLeftNote.

No

No steps

If pagesMissing is greater than 0 or pagesLeftNote isn't emptyIf pagesMissing is greater than 0 or pagesLeftNote isn't empty

Yes

If a step below fails, save the error as noteErrorIf a step below fails, save the error as noteError

Try

Google DocsAdd text to transcriptId. Save it as noteWritten.Add text to transcriptId. Save it as noteWritten.[INCOMPLETE] runSummary@pagesLeftNote The pages above are not the whole scan.

On error

Show in the output: The incomplete-scan note could not be written: noteError.message.Show in the output: The incomplete-scan note could not be written: noteError.message.

If pagesFailed is greater than 0If pagesFailed is greater than 0

Yes

Stop and report a problem: runSummary plus pagesLeftNote.Stop and report a problem: runSummary plus pagesLeftNote.

No

Finish the run: runSummary plus pagesLeftNote.Finish the run: runSummary plus pagesLeftNote.

No

Show in the output: runSummary.Show in the output: runSummary.