CapDrop — Turn any on-screen content into one searchable PDF

Windows 10/11 · auto-capture page by page · 100% local OCR · one searchable PDF you can Ctrl-F

CapDrop captures anything visible on your screen, page by page, and binds it into a single searchable PDF with a real, invisible text layer behind every page. Draw a box, pick the key that turns the page, set an interval, and walk away — CapDrop captures each page, auto-crops it, runs OCR locally on your PC, and merges everything into one PDF. Open it, press Ctrl-F, and search the whole document.

🔗 Download & docs: https://capdrop.app 💬 Bugs / feature requests: open an issue here.

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What it does (the whole pipeline in one app)

Select screen area
   → choose page-turn key (Page Down / Space / Arrow / Enter)
   → capture → press key → wait → capture → repeat
   → local OCR
   → one searchable PDF

No stitching screenshots by hand. No separate OCR step. No ShareX + AutoHotkey + OCRmyPDF combo. One app, unattended, start to finish.

Why CapDrop

• One app, whole pipeline — capture, auto page-turn, OCR, and bind in a single run.
• 100% local OCR — OCR runs entirely on your machine. Nothing is ever uploaded. No cloud, no account, no data harvesting.
• Unattended — bind a hotkey; it captures the current page and advances to the next automatically. A 300-page document becomes tap-tap-tap → one searchable PDF while you walk away.
• Real searchable PDF — an invisible OCR text layer sits over the original page image, so the page looks identical but supports Ctrl-F, text selection/copying, and Windows indexing.
• One-time price — $19 lifetime (2 PCs), 7-day free trial. No subscription.
• For content you own — your own slides, DRM-free PDFs and e-books, your scans. Does not bypass DRM (protected players capture as black frames by design).

Good for

• Course slides — Zoom lectures, Udemy, Coursera, company LMS → one searchable deck.
• DRM-free e-books & long PDFs — page by page into one bound, searchable file.
• Scans, dashboards & training portals — capture on-screen text that won't copy, make it searchable in one pass.

How CapDrop compares

Combinations exist, but CapDrop does the entire capture → auto-page-turn → offline OCR → searchable-PDF pipeline in one app.

Requirement	CapDrop	ABBYY FineReader	FastStone Capture	ScanPapyrus	ShareX + OCR combo
Capture selected screen region	✅	✅	✅	⚠️ scanner	✅
Repeated / interval capture	✅	❌ single timed	✅	✅ physical	⚠️ scripting
Auto-press page-turn key	✅	❌	❌	❌	⚠️ AutoHotkey
OCR	✅	✅	❌	✅	⚠️ separate tool
OCR 100% local (no upload)	✅	✅	—	❌ online	✅
Combine into one PDF	✅	✅	✅	✅	⚠️ separate tool
Searchable PDF	✅	✅	❌	✅	⚠️ separate tool
Unattended (walk away)	✅	❌	⚠️	⚠️	⚠️
One app	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌
One-time price	✅ $19	❌ subscription	✅	✅	free/mixed

_{Feature notes reflect each tool's documented behavior at time of writing; correct us via an issue if anything changed.}

FAQ

Is my data uploaded? No. OCR runs entirely on your PC. Captures never leave your computer.

Does it bypass DRM? No. It's for content you own or have the right to capture. Protected players capture as black frames.

Free vs paid? The free tier auto-captures, turns pages, and bundles them into an image-only PDF. The 7-day trial unlocks searchable OCR export and auto-crop; a one-time $19 license keeps it forever (2 PCs).

Platforms? Windows 10 and 11.

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CapDrop is a Windows productivity app. This repository hosts its documentation and issue tracker. Get the app at capdrop.app.