PDF Evidence OCR

What it Does

It takes image-based PDFs (scans, photocopies, council uploads, consultant reports) and converts them into searchable, analysable text that PGAT and your workflow can actually use.

Some PDFs look like documents, but they’re actually just photos of pages.

You can:

• see the words
• but you can’t search them
• you can’t copy text
• and software can’t read what’s inside

This plugin resolves the issue, allowing the documents to be incorporated into PGAT and analysed as part of the full evidence base.

Screenshot

• Checks whether a PDF contains real text or just images
• Flags the common planning problem: “looks like a document, but isn’t searchable”

• Uses OCR to extract text from scanned pages
• Handles:
  • Committee reports
  • Infrastructure studies
  • Transport appendices
  • Consultation responses
  • Screenshot-style PDFs dumped on portals

• Produces a searchable PDF or text output
• Preserves page order so citations still make sense
• Makes quotes copyable (no more manual retyping)

Once OCR’d, the document can be:

• Searched for missing evidence claims
• Checked against Local Plan policy references
• Used for committee transcript cross-checks
• Quoted directly in governance analysis or complaints

This is the big one.

Authorities often rely on:

• Scanned appendices
• Late uploads
• Image-only PDFs

Without OCR, those documents are effectively invisible to scrutiny.
Your plugin removes that excuse.

Why it matters (in planning terms)

Without it:

• Evidence exists but can’t be verified
• Claims can’t be searched
• Gaps stay hidden

With it:

• “Evidence relied upon” becomes inspectable
• Absence, incompleteness, or contradiction becomes provable
• Decision-stage governance risk becomes visible