Opening a PDF containing a scanned document should reveal an excellent copy that replicates the appearance of a printed page. When that isn’t the case, it can be a confusing and frustrating experience. A scanned page that appears blurry and illegible not only isn’t useful, but it could also be a difficult problem to solve. Are there any ways to easily sharpen blurry text in a PDF? Let’s look at some of the steps you can explore to uncover the problem and attempt a solution.
Revisit the original source file
The best and easiest way to sharpen a PDF image is to simply scan the original document again. Often, blurry pages result from scanning errors, such as a bump to the machine or a dirty scanning plate. No amount of image editing and noise reduction will ever make such an image resolve more clearly. If you have access to the original document or you can communicate with its author, try to have the document re-scanned to a fresh PDF.
Check font smoothing options
Sometimes, errors in how a PDF editor displays documents may result from settings intended to make documents more responsive and easier to view. Checking the display settings in your editing software should be your next step. In Tungsten Power PDF, the process takes only a few steps to try.
- Click File, then choose the options dialogue. Select “General” to display general settings.
- Locate the “Page Display” section.
- Under “Smooth,” select “none” if it is not already selected.
Try each setting to explore whether the outcome makes your PDF more or less blurry. If the image quality resolves, you’ve found your solution.
Related post: How to Compress PDFs in 3 Steps
Update your PDF software
If some time has passed since the last time you downloaded the latest updates to your software, now is the time to do so. You may encounter display errors and blurriness because of out-of-date tools. Download and install the latest version before opening the file to recheck its quality.
Try converting the file
You may be able to rely on document conversion tools or even built-in optical character recognition to extract useful text from a blurry document. Try swapping the document into a format, such as Microsoft Word, to see if the output is readable. Converting the document into a full-text PDF is also an option, though OCR may not function well if the text is especially blurry. If this process does not work, you may not be able to sharpen the image further without first re-scanning the original document.
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FAQs
Open the photograph or image of the document in Acrobat. From the All tools menu, select Scan & OCR. From the left panel, select Enhance camera image and then from the dialog that opens, select Enhance. The image is enhanced and a PDF of the image is shown.
How to improve the quality of a scanned PDF? ›
Open the photograph or image of the document in Acrobat. From the All tools menu, select Scan & OCR. From the left panel, select Enhance camera image and then from the dialog that opens, select Enhance. The image is enhanced and a PDF of the image is shown.
How do I convert a blurry PDF to a clear PDF online? ›
ScanWritr is an online editor and converter allowing you to clean up PDF, which is stored on your computer, Dropbox or Google Drive. Use your PC, Mac or other device to open a document and clean it up using image enhancement features, eraser tool, and cropping. Furthermore, you don't have to install any app.
How do I clean up a poorly scanned PDF? ›
To clean up such an already scanned document, you would select Tools>Document Processing>Optimize Scanned Document. When you click on the Edit button in the "Filters" section, you get the filters dialog, which allows you to straighten ("Deskew") the image, and do a few other things.
How do I increase the clarity of an image in PDF? ›
Go to File > Options > Advanced > Image Size and Quality. Apply the image size and quality settings to the current document or to all new documents. Click “Do not compress images in file.” For default resolution, select “High fidelity.”
How can I fix a blurry scanned PDF? ›
The best and easiest way to sharpen a PDF image is to simply scan the original document again. Often, blurry pages result from scanning errors, such as a bump to the machine or a dirty scanning plate. No amount of image editing and noise reduction will ever make such an image resolve more clearly.
How do I make a scanned PDF readable? ›
Make a PDF searchable with Adobe Acrobat.
- Open Adobe Acrobat on your computer.
- Click Open.
- Find and select the document you want to make searchable, then click Open.
- Head to Tools and select Recognize Text.
- Press PDF Output Style Searchable Image.
- Select OK.
Incorrect Settings
Even if you start with good quality images and text, the final PDF file may look blurry. If this happens, check your output settings. Some PDF converters default to a relatively low resolution for output, resulting in a fuzzy-looking result.
How to brighten a scanned PDF? ›
What you need to do is select Tools>Content Editing>Edit Text&Images, then right-click on the image in question and select to "Edit Using..." and then pick an image editor. If you have Photoshop installed, that would probably be the best choice.
How do I correct a scanned PDF? ›
Open the scanned PDF file in Acrobat. From the All tools menu, select Edit a PDF. Acrobat automatically applies OCR to your document and converts it to a fully editable PDF copy. Select the text element that you want to edit and start typing.
Erase creases, folds, stains, smudges, stray pen marks and more with an industry-first cleanup tool in Adobe Scan. With the swipe of your finger, you can erase unwanted artifacts, fuzzy images, or any other unwanted content.
How do I sharpen an image in Adobe PDF? ›
Sharpen areas of an image
- Select the Sharpen tool .
- Set options in the options bar: Mode. Determines how the paint that you apply blends with the existing pixels in the image. Brush. Sets the brush tip. ...
- Drag over the part of the image you want to sharpen.
How to convert images to PDF
- Click on 'Choose file' and select the pictures that you would like to convert, or drag and drop them into the box.
- Next you have the possibility to drag the pictures into the desired order.
- Finally, click on 'Convert' and your PDF file will be ready to download shortly after.
To scan a picture without losing quality, ensure your scanner is set to a high resolution, use appropriate scanning settings, and consider using a photo enhancer app like YouCam Enhance to further enhance the scanned image's quality.
How to increase resolution of scanned documents? ›
Please note, the higher the DPI the larger the file size.
- Once you have authenticated the printer, tap Scan.
- Select a location of where you want the scan to save. ...
- Tap Change settings.
- Choose the DPI of your document.
- Tap Start. ...
- Tap Scan next page to add to the scan or tap Scan new document to start a new scan.
- Tap Finish.
Standard PDFs are not print-ready. They may have poor quality images and colors, which may not print correctly or print at a very low quality. You can use Acrobat Pro to create high-resolution print-ready PDFs from your standard PDFs.
How do you optimize a PDF scan? ›
Optimize a PDF (Acrobat Pro)
- Open a PDF in Acrobat.
- From the hamburger menu (Windows) or the File menu (macOS), select Save As Other > Reduced Size PDF.
- Choose the location to save the file and select Save. Acrobat displays a message showing the successful reduction in PDF size.
