Google Chrome updates and finally recognizes the text in the scanned PDFs

We are finally there: Google He started the roll-out of a function that has long been expected inside his browser Chromean apparently technical novelty, but which promises to radically change the daily experience of those who work, or study, with digital documents. The novelty in question is the long -awaited possibility of Select, copy and search for text also in scanned PDFs. Let’s find out more.

Google Chrome solves a long -standing problem

Until now, one of the most frustrating limits of the PDF display integrated in Chrome was its inability to correctly manage files scannedthat is, those documents that do not contain real digital text but are only images of the text. A type of document extremely widespread and, speaking of the Bel Paese, both among individuals and, above all, in the public administration; Despite the prevailing and increasingly widespread digitalization of every aspect of our lives, most of the official documents, or at least important, are still in paper formatdocuments that are then scanned and turned into images, to send them.

In concrete terms, when one of these digitized pdfs opened, Chrome showed him as if it were a simple imagewithout the possibility of selecting words, copying them or carrying out global research within the content with the classic “Ctrl + F”. Those who work with many documents know well how long it can make you lose this limitation; Sometimes these are whole books or manuals, converted into PDF with a scanner but never subjected to optical text recognition (OCR), therefore unusable for research purposes or annotation of the text inside them.

Well, to remedy this bad habit, Google’s solution lies in theIntegration of an OCR directly in the browser. With the latest Google Chrome update, the situation changes drastically: Big G’s browser will now be able to distinguish the text also in the scanned documentsthanks to a functionality of Optical characters recognition (OCR) integrated directly into the PDF viewer.

In practice, therefore, it will now be possible to select and copy the text from a scanned PDF as it would be done with a normal digital document; The search function on the page (“Find”, Ctrl+F) works properly also in the PDFs which were previously only images. All, we underline, takes place in the context of anUser experience that remains unchanged the user interface level; The novelty is under the hood.

It is interesting to note that, at the level of user interface, Chrome does not report evidently when you are reading a scanned PDF with an active OCR or not. There are no warnings or visual indicators as the function is completely invisible and acts in the background: from now when the text is selected, everything will work as always, with the only, great, difference that, before, that text was not even visible for Chrome.

The Rollout of the function initially started in the beta version of Chrome, but now it is also coming for the stable version of the browser, reaching a much wider audience. The possibility of copying and looking for text in the scanned PDFs directly in Google Chrome is one of those silent but fundamental innovations, which drastically improve the user experience of a service without distorting the user interface or introduce new paradigms of use.

This is not the only innovation that Google is planning for its mobile browser. Recently, the company has announced the use of On-device artificial intelligence To identify and fight suspicious notifications, as well as improvements in the management of PDF documents thanks to an integrated native reader.

How to download or update the Google web browser app

To download or update the browser Google Chrome on smartphones Androidjust reach the app on the Google Play Store app through the underlying badge and make a tap on “Update” (in the event that you have installed it and an update is reported) or “Install” (in case you want to try it for the first time).

In the event that you want to try the preview versions of the browser, you can rely on three distinct beta, canary and dev channels: it will not be necessary to adhere to a beta program but just download and install the version you most considered appropriate directly from Google Play Store.