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Azure Setup · 5–10 minutes

Get your Azure Document Intelligence key

Kaizen OCR’s Searchable PDF feature connects to your own Azure Document Intelligence resource. This guide walks you through creating that resource, copying the key + endpoint, and pasting them into the app.

Before you start: You’ll need a Microsoft account and a credit card. Azure won’t charge you unless you exceed the free tier (typically 500 pages/month on F0). We never see your key — it stays encrypted on your machine in a local SQLCipher database. Your key safety is your responsibility.

Log in at portal.azure.com and follow the seven steps below. The whole process takes about 5–10 minutes.

1

Search for “Document Intelligence”

In the Azure portal, click the search bar at the top. Type Document Intelligence and choose Document Intelligence from the dropdown suggestions.

Azure portal with Document Intelligence highlighted in the top search dropdown
2

Click “Create”

On the Document Intelligence overview page, click the Create button.

Azure Document Intelligence marketplace page with Create button visible
3

Fill in the resource details

Azure will ask you for a few things:

  • Subscription: your default Azure subscription
  • Resource Group: pick an existing one or create a new one (any name works, e.g. kaizen-ocr)
  • Region: East US is recommended
  • Name: anything meaningful, e.g. kaizen-docintel
  • Pricing tier:
    F0 (Free): 500 pages/month, zero cost — good for personal use.
    S0 (Standard): pay-as-you-go: $1.50 per 1000 pages (Read) or $10 per 1000 pages (Layout). Pick this if you’ll process more than 500 pages a month.

Click Review + create.

Document Intelligence create form with subscription, resource group, region, name, and pricing tier fields
4

Review and create

On the review screen, verify the region, pricing tier, and name are correct. Click Create. Azure will spin up the resource — usually takes 30–60 seconds.

Azure review and create page for Document Intelligence, showing the Create button
5

Go to the resource

Once deployment finishes, you’ll see a “Your deployment is complete” screen. Click Go to resource.

Azure deployment complete screen with Go to resource button highlighted
6

Copy your key and endpoint

In the left sidebar of your new resource, click Keys and Endpoint. You’ll see:

  • KEY 1 and KEY 2 — either one works. Click the copy icon next to whichever one you want.
  • Endpoint — something like https://<yourname>.cognitiveservices.azure.com/. Copy this too.
Keep these private. Anyone with your key can use your Azure credits. Don’t paste them into chat, screenshots, or public repos. If a key leaks, Azure lets you rotate it with one click from this same page.
Azure Keys and Endpoint panel showing KEY 1, KEY 2, and Endpoint with copy icons
7

Paste into Kaizen OCR

Open Kaizen OCR and go to Searchable PDF. You’ll see a panel with two fields:

  • Endpoint — paste the URL you copied in step 6
  • Key — paste KEY 1 (or KEY 2)

Click Test connection first. If it shows a green success indicator, click Save. You’re now ready to generate Searchable PDFs.

Test first. If the test fails, double-check the endpoint URL (should start with https:// and end with /) and make sure you copied the whole key (they’re long — 84 characters).
Kaizen OCR Searchable PDF panel with Endpoint and Key fields, plus Test connection and Save buttons

You’re all set

Head to Searchable PDF in Kaizen OCR, drop in a scanned PDF, pick the Read or Layout model, and hit generate. Your output will have fully selectable text, and Azure will bill your subscription based on the pages processed.

Frequently asked

No. On the free F0 tier you get 500 pages/month at zero cost. Azure only bills once you exceed free limits (and only if you selected S0 pricing). Check your usage in the Azure portal under your subscription → Cost Management.
Read ($1.50 / 1000 pages) extracts text and detects tables — ideal for most scanned documents. Layout ($10 / 1000 pages) preserves formatting, columns, and table structure faithfully — use it for contracts, forms, and complex layouts.
Yes — any region where Document Intelligence is available works. The region is part of the endpoint URL, so as long as you paste the endpoint Azure shows you, Kaizen OCR will talk to the right region.
On F0, your next request will fail with a 429 error until the monthly quota resets. You can upgrade to S0 at any time from the Azure portal. Kaizen OCR will show the Azure error message so you know why the job failed.
Go back to the Keys and Endpoint panel in Azure — there’s a Regenerate button next to each key. If you regenerate KEY 1, paste the new one into Kaizen OCR. To remove the connection, delete the fields in Kaizen OCR’s Searchable PDF panel and click Save.
Next: Use Searchable PDF Back to OCR Help