PDFify is intended to generate searchable PDF documents by applying optical character recognition. In this regard, the tool allows composing a new file by merging pages from different sources, including other PDFs, images of scanned pages and screenshots.
The application has an easy-to-use interface perfectly matching its workflow. The first step consists in adding pages, which you can do from files, screenshots or a scanner. Luckily, you can browse through the pages on the left and preview their contents thanks to its built-in viewer. At this point, you can also rearrange them in the desired order.
The next step is proceeding to apply OCR. In this respect, it is excellent news that the tool supports more than 100 languages. Likewise, it is powered by a trustworthy OCR engine: Tesseract. Still, it is possible to use Apple’s built-in OCR instead. Once the process is done, you can use your computer’s text-to-speech engine to read the document aloud. Moreover, it can be saved, shared via email or sent directly to printer.
One of the best features of this tool is that it supports various ways to acquire pages. In this respect, there is a built-in scanner dialog, which lets you use your iPhone or iPad as a scanner. Likewise, you can take screenshots without needing to leave the app. What is more, any text or image copied to the clipboard can be pasted as well.
All in all, PDFify has the main advantages of recognizing text from practically any source. In my opinion, however, it still lacks the possibility of creating various documents in a single operation. Luckily, you can get this product from the Mac Store at no cost, but there are subscriptions available as in-app purchases.
Pros
- Acquires pages from multiple sources
- Built-in viewer
- Lets you pick an OCR engine
- Supports multiple target languages
- Allows reading the text aloud
- Shares the results in multiple ways
Cons
- Cannot generate various documents in a single operation