Convert PDF Files to Text with Google OCR
Google Drive can extract text from regular PDF files as well as scanned PDFs though OCR. This wrapper utility for Apps Script that can be used for converting PDF files to Google Documents and it can perform OCR as well. You do need to enable Advanced Drive services from the Google Dashboard.
/* Credit: https://gist.github.com/mogsdad/e6795e438615d252584f */
var blob = DriveApp.getFileById(PDF_FILE_ID).getBlob();
var text = pdfToText(blob, { ocrLanguage: 'en' });
Logger.log(text);
/**
* Convert pdf file (blob) to a text file on Drive, using built-in OCR.
* By default, the text file will be placed in the root folder, with the same
* name as source pdf (but extension 'txt'). Options:
*/
const convertPDFToText = (pdfFile, options) => {
// Ensure Advanced Drive Service is enabled
try {
Drive.Files.list();
} catch (e) {
throw new Error("Enable 'Drive API' in Resources - Advanced Google Services.");
}
// Prepare resource object for file creation
var parents = [];
var pdfName = pdfFile.getName();
var resource = {
title: pdfName,
mimeType: pdfFile.getContentType(),
parents: parents,
};
// Save PDF as GDOC
resource.title = pdfName.replace(/pdf$/, 'gdoc');
var insertOpts = {
ocr: true,
ocrLanguage: options.ocrLanguage || 'en',
};
var gdocFile = Drive.Files.insert(resource, pdfFile, insertOpts);
// Get text from GDOC
var gdocDoc = DocumentApp.openById(gdocFile.id);
var text = gdocDoc.getBody().getText();
// Save text file, if requested
resource.title = pdfName.replace(/pdf$/, 'txt');
resource.mimeType = MimeType.PLAIN_TEXT;
var textBlob = Utilities.newBlob(text, MimeType.PLAIN_TEXT, resource.title);
var textFile = Drive.Files.insert(resource, textBlob);
return text;
};
Amit Agarwal
Google Developer Expert, Google Cloud Champion
Amit Agarwal is a Google Developer Expert in Google Workspace and Google Apps Script. He holds an engineering degree in Computer Science (I.I.T.) and is the first professional blogger in India.
Amit has developed several popular Google add-ons including Mail Merge for Gmail and Document Studio. Read more on Lifehacker and YourStory