{
 "schema_version": 1,
 "generated": "2026-10-31",
 "id": "ocrmypdf-ocrmypdf--ocr-documents-in-other-languages",
 "repo": "ocrmypdf/OCRmyPDF",
 "repo_url": "https://github.com/ocrmypdf/OCRmyPDF",
 "repo_slug": "ocrmypdf-ocrmypdf",
 "title": "OCR documents in French, Chinese or mixed languages",
 "page_title": "How to oCR documents in French, Chinese or mixed languages with OC Rmy PDF",
 "summary": "Install Tesseract language packs and tell OC Rmy PDF which languages to look for.",
 "who": "A family historian or immigrant scanning records in two languages.",
 "problem": "Without the right language pack, accents and non-Latin scripts come out as gibberish.",
 "outcome": "Searchable PDFs with correct accented and non-English text, including bilingual documents.",
 "steps": [
  "List available packs with `apt-cache search tesseract-ocr` on Debian or Ubuntu",
  "Install one, for example `apt-get install tesseract-ocr-chi-sim`, or `brew install tesseract-lang` on macOS",
  "Run a single language with `ocrmypdf -l fra LeParisien.pdf LeParisien.pdf`",
  "Run mixed documents with `ocrmypdf -l eng+fra Bilingual-English-French.pdf Bilingual-English-French.pdf`"
 ],
 "agent_prompt": "Using ocrmypdf/OCRmyPDF, install the Tesseract language packs for <languages> and OCR <files> with `-l <codes>`. Then search each output for <word> to confirm the text layer is correct.",
 "agents": [
  "claude-code",
  "codex",
  "cursor"
 ],
 "difficulty": "Beginner",
 "time": "20 minutes",
 "basis": "readme",
 "caveat": "Language codes are ISO 639-3, so look up your language's code before running.",
 "category": "Life admin",
 "tags": [
  "Life admin"
 ],
 "lang": "python",
 "requirements": [
  "Linux, Windows (or WSL), macOS or FreeBSD, or the Docker image",
  "Ghostscript and Tesseract OCR installed",
  "Tesseract language packs for non-English documents"
 ],
 "risk": "none",
 "seen_in_the_wild": false,
 "mentioned_publicly": false,
 "risks": [],
 "best": false,
 "score": 0.9,
 "evidence": [],
 "url": "https://dedupedai.com/use-cases/ocrmypdf-ocrmypdf/ocr-documents-in-other-languages/",
 "md": "https://dedupedai.com/use-cases/ocrmypdf-ocrmypdf/ocr-documents-in-other-languages/index.md",
 "disclaimer": "Deduped lists open-source repositories that belong to other people. We do not own, maintain, audit, or vouch for any of them, and a repo appearing here is not an endorsement or a safety check. The use cases, steps, and prompts are written by AI and may be incomplete, outdated, or just wrong. Where a use case is marked \"Seen in the wild\", we link to public posts where someone described something similar, but we have not verified those posts and the use case itself is still our AI's own write-up. Use all of this at your own risk. Only run code, commands, or agents on systems and accounts you are authorized to use, and read the code and every command before you run it, especially anything that touches credentials, files, or the network. Nothing here is professional, security, legal, or financial advice. All trademarks and project names belong to their respective owners, and their use here does not imply affiliation. Content is provided as is, without warranties of any kind. Found a mistake, a safety problem, or something you want removed? Email hello@dedupedai.com and we will look at it promptly.",
 "api": "https://dedupedai.com/api/v1/usecases/ocrmypdf-ocrmypdf--ocr-documents-in-other-languages.json",
 "api_version": "v1"
}