ABBYY FineReader PDF 15.2.14 — macOS

You have a stack of scanned paper, a PDF that won't let you copy text, or a photo of a contract taken on your phone. ABBYY FineReader PDF is the tool you pull out when you need that content turned into something editable.

Runs on Intel Macs and requires Rosetta 2 on Apple Silicon

FineReader 15.2.14 is an x86 64-bit app, so it runs on Intel Macs with macOS 11 or later. If you are on Apple Silicon, you will need Rosetta 2 installed. It is not a universal binary.

Convert documents

Point it at a PDF, a paper document, or a scanned image, and it will recognize the text and let you save it as DOCX, XLSX, RTF, ODT, or other formats. It supports 198 recognition languages, including English, Russian, German, French, Italian, and Simplified Chinese.

Edit and reuse text

The built-in PDF viewer and OCR editor let you correct recognition errors, copy fragments for citation or translation, and even protect PDFs with a password. You can also import images from your iPhone or iPad via Continuity Camera for quick conversion.

Bypass Gatekeeper with a terminal command to launch after install

The most frequent issue people run into is FineReader not launching after the initial install. This usually happens because Gatekeeper stops the unsigned app from opening. Running the bypass command in Terminal before dragging the app to Applications should fix it. If the app still won't open, check that you are using the correct Terminal command and that you have given Terminal permission to control your system in System Settings under Privacy & Security.

Another common problem: the OCR engine returns gibberish or wrong characters. That is almost always a language selection issue. Before you run recognition, open the language dropdown in the toolbar and make sure the correct language is checked. FineReader will try to auto-detect the language, but if your document uses a mix of languages or an uncommon script, setting it manually gives better results.

Some users report that scanned documents with very small fonts or heavy compression produce poor text recognition. FineReader has a pre-processing step that can clean up the image. If you see jagged or broken characters, try enabling the image cleanup options in the pre-processing dialog before starting OCR. This is not a guarantee, but it helps with most office-grade scans.

If you are on Apple Silicon and the app feels sluggish, confirm that Rosetta 2 is installed. You can check by opening Terminal and typing softwareupdate --install-rosetta. If it is already installed, nothing happens. If it is not, the command installs it. FineReader is an x86 app and relies on Rosetta to translate instructions on M-series Macs.

Built-in PDF viewer lets you search text without OCR

FineReader includes a built-in PDF viewer that works even without running OCR. You can open a PDF, scroll through it, and use the search box to find text inside a searchable PDF. This saves you from switching to Preview or another reader for quick lookups.

The dark mode support is straightforward. If your Mac is set to dark mode in System Settings, FineReader switches its interface to match. This is not a separate toggle inside the app — it follows the system preference.

Continuity Camera is a feature that does not get enough attention. If you have an iPhone or iPad, you can snap a photo of a document and import it directly into FineReader without saving it to Photos first. The app picks up the device and displays a preview. It works well for single-page documents or receipts that you want to convert on the spot.

The OCR editor mode lets you click on any recognized text block and correct it directly. This is useful when the OCR misreads a word or a number. You can also copy text fragments for citation or translation without saving the whole document. The selection tool is the same as in the viewer, so it feels consistent.

Exports to DOCX and XLSX for use in Word and Pages

FineReader integrates with macOS mostly through system services. You can export a recognized document as DOCX and open it directly in Microsoft Word or Pages. The XLSX export works for tables and spreadsheets, so you can take a scanned table and turn it into a Numbers or Excel file without retyping.

RTF and ODT exports are useful if you work with LibreOffice or other word processors. The RTF format keeps basic formatting and is widely compatible. ODT is the native format for LibreOffice and OpenOffice.

The searchable PDF output is compatible with Spotlight. Once you create a searchable PDF, you can find it by searching for any word contained in the document, even if the original was a scan. This is helpful for archiving paper documents and making them discoverable later.

For archiving purposes, FineReader can create PDF/A files. This format is designed for long-term preservation and is accepted by many legal and government systems. If you need universal access compliance, the PDF/UA option is also available.

Password protection is handled natively by FineReader. You can set a password on any PDF you export, and the resulting file opens in any PDF reader that supports password-protected PDFs. There is no extra software needed.

Turn an iPhone photo of a contract into an editable Word file

Let us say you have a printed contract that you need to edit and send back. You take a photo with your iPhone, then use Continuity Camera to import it into FineReader. The image appears in the main window.

Next, select the language of the contract from the language dropdown. If the contract is in English, leave it on English. If it is a bilingual document, select both languages from the list — FineReader supports multiple languages in one session.

Click the OCR button. The app processes the image and displays the recognized text in the editor. You can scroll through and fix any errors. Common issues are misread numbers or characters in small print. Click directly on the text block and type the correction.

Once the text looks right, go to the export menu and choose DOCX. Give the file a name and save it. Open the DOCX in Word, make your edits, and you are done. The whole process takes a few minutes once you get used to the steps.

If the contract has a table, try exporting as XLSX instead. FineReader preserves the table structure, and you can edit the data in a spreadsheet program.

• macOS 11 or later
• Intel processor (x86 64-bit)
• Interface languages: Russian, English, German, Italian, Simplified Chinese, French