There are several OCR Conversion Tools to choose from; what is best depends on the final output you are expecting

Purpose 1 – Convert PDF / Image File to other editable formats

Purpose 2 – Extract Text from PDF / Image File

Convert PDF / Image File to other editable formats (Preserve Original Formatting)

Recommended Option – Use OnlineOCR.net

• You can register for Free on their website which gives you access to OCR up to 25 Pages
• Create a registered username and password on their website
• Once logged in; you are redirected to the Dashboard
• The Simple Interface on the site is self explanatory;
  • There are large number of language options to choose from
  • Multiple Output formats can be selected
  • Selective Page numbers can also be defined
  • For multiples files; there is an excellent option to upload them as ZIP Files
• The feature that sets OnlineOCR apart from the rest is that the converted document restores up to 90% of the original document formatting

If your OCR Conversion requirement is beyond the Free Limit of 25 Pages; they have several economical pricing packages to choose from. If the requirement is business critical; I would suggest you look no further and proceed with the petty purchase to achieve fantastic results

In addition; they also have a highly responsive support team; just in case you run into any trouble with the features

Extract Text from PDF / Image File (Formatting is not preserved)

Recommended Option 1 – Using Google Docs (Free)

• Proceed to docs.google.com or drive.google.com.  You will need to sign into your google account before being able to use this feature

• Click the right-most icon as displayed and ensure the option ‘Convert Text from uploaded PDF and Image files’ is selected

• Upload the Image or PDF file by clicking the Red Icon

• Select the desired Document Language and Click Start Upload
• Once done; open the document from Google Docs
• Your original document / image will be followed by OCR Text than be freely edited / saved to another document format
• Use the File Menu from Google Docs to Download as other editable formats

Recommended Option 2 – Using Adobe Professional (Paid Software)

• You can use Adobe Professional directly with a Scanner to OCR Images to create Searchable PDFs
• You can also manually select files or collection of files in folders to OCR them
• You can further save the resulting PDF to editable formats like Word. But the chances of the original formatting to be preserved is minimal