PDF Convert is a companion app for capturing or importing documents and producing accessible, searchable, editable output. Scan from any WIA-compatible scanner, open existing image or PDF files, and let PDF Convert OCR every page automatically — then save as an Accessible PDF, plain text, RTF, or Word document.

The PDF Convert application icon — a green tile showing a scanner-style document with the letters OCR underneath.

Full PDF Convert help

Video help

A walkthrough of Sensory PDF Convert v2. The video only contacts Vimeo once you press play.

A walkthrough of Sensory PDF Convert v2

How to launch it

PDF Convert is installed alongside Sensory Readable by the standard Readable v3 installer — there is no separate installation. Open it from the More dropdown on the Readable toolbar, or find PDF Convert in the Windows Start menu.

What it does in a nutshell

  • Three ways to bring pages in — scan, open an image (JPEG, PNG, BMP, TIFF), or open an existing PDF
  • Automatic OCR — runs as each page is added, with auto-crop, orientation, deskew and blank-page detection
  • Four save formats — Accessible PDF (default, Ctrl+S), Plain Text, Rich Text (RTF), or Word Document (DOCX)

When to use PDF Convert vs Sensory PDF Reader

Use Sensory PDF Reader
When you want to read an accessible PDF aloud in a dedicated reading interface — with hover modes (Word/Line/Block/Section), tint, zoom and annotations. Sensory PDF Reader does not OCR; if a PDF can't be read or text can't be selected, use PDF Convert to make it accessible first.
Use PDF Convert
When you want to improve a document's accessibility for repeated reading, sharing, archiving, or sending to recipients with screen readers — or when you need the text extracted to a linear format (RTF or DOCX) for other tools.

Using Adobe Reader?

Readable can read PDFs opened in Adobe Reader using Ctrl+Space, the Play button, Speak on Select and Hover Read — the same controls that work everywhere else. For best results, run Adobe's Accessibility Setup Assistant once to improve how Adobe exposes PDF text to Readable. It's a short one-time wizard:

  1. In Adobe Acrobat Reader, open the ≡ Menu (top-left) → Preferences, or press Ctrl+K.
  2. In the Categories list, select Accessibility.
  3. Click Setup Assistant and work through the prompts. The recommended choices enable screen-reader support, set a comfortable colour contrast, and expose PDF text to other applications cleanly.
  4. Confirm at the end to save. Adobe remembers your choices for all future PDFs.

If a PDF still reads in the wrong order or skips text, the file itself has no defined reading order — Readable can only follow what Adobe exposes. Running an inaccessible PDF through PDF Convert may improve its accessibility, and also allows the text to be output as a linear document in formats such as RTF or DOCX.