Last Reviewed:  April 14, 2023

Highlight in a Scan

Sometimes the highlighter won't work in a scanned document. The problem is that the highlight tool will only highlight text, and a scan doesn't actually have any text - it's just a picture.

Solution #1: Run OCR

What you need to do is run OCR to convert the "pictures" of words to actual words. It's a simple process. Just hit the OCR button.

When OCR is finished, you'll be able to highlight the words in the scan.

Solution #2: Use the Pencil or Rectangle Tool

You can still highlight by using the Pencil Tool or Rectangle Tool as the highlighter. The Pencil Tool will let you do freehand highlighting while the Rectangle will give you straight blocks of highlighting.

Pencil Tool:

  1. Select the Pencil Tool on the PDF editor's toolbar
  2. On the bar below, you'll now see some settings for that tool
  3. Pick your highlighter's color
  4. Set the Border Width to a large value, like 10 or 12 pt.
  5. Set the Opacity too 100%
  6. Set the Blend Mode to Multiply
  7. Click and drag to highlight

Rectangle Tool:

  1. Select the Rectangle Tool on the PDF editor's toolbar
  2. On the bar below, you'll now see some settings for that tool
  3. Set the Fill Color to whatever color you want for the highlighter
  4. Set the Stroke Color to the same
  5. Set the Opacity to 100%
  6. Set the Blend Mode to Multiply
  7. Click and drag to highlight

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