If you have a PDF now that has clear text you can use one of the on-line sites that do a free OCR conversion. Just Google that. Sites like smallpdf.com .
The results vary; give it a try. The file size will increase big-time….but for use on your computer it won’t really matter.
EDIT: I just re-read your post and noticed the part about Linux. Maybe the conversion won’t work for you but I will leave the post here figuring it might help someone else.
