Musical scores are used to represent a melody long before it is translated to a music file such as Midi. Scores are popularly formatted in PDF files, fed into a music application where the musical notes are processed, which results in the reproduction of melodious tunes through your speakers. These tunes can then be exported as Midi files or other types of audio files. Now let's learn how to convert PDF to Midi file with 12 music score to Midi converter.

No OMR tool is perfect, The best Music Sheet to PDF converter depend on what you need.

• For general-purpose OMR conversion: ScanScore, PlayScore, SmartScore, and Sheet Music Scanner.
• For digital notation PDFs specifically: PDFtoMusic.
• For free editing after conversion: MuseScore.
• For professional post-conversion score cleanup: Sibelius.
• For free/open-source experimentation: Audiveris.

Part 1. What Is Optical Music Recognition (OMR)

The technology that computers acquire to read through sheet music is known as Optical Music Recognition (OMR). The technology is quite similar to OCR which helps people scan books, documents, and whatnot. The aim of OMR is to guide the computer to read and interpret sheet music. It aids with manual labor and efficiently reads through PDF files transcribing notes that are present on the paper. It has the ability to convert them into MusicXML, it is the standard music notation code. OMR is remarkable in producing a machine-readable version of the written music score.

To make the whole procedure more facile, technology has made it possible to convert it directly to MIDI. Using virtual instruments like Synths, you can hear the melody that is written. However, accuracy is a major dilemma in the whole scenario.

If you need to convert an image to a high-quality PDF, or print PDF sheet music in great quality, you can get help from a professional PDF editor. Wondershare PDFelement - PDF Editor Wondershare PDFelement Wondershare PDFelement comes with OCR that can convert scanned image to text PDF, edit PDF, convert JPG/PNG to PDF, combine or split PDF pages and more. It is a complete and easy-to-use PDF editor solution. 

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Part 2. 12 Best Sheet Music to MIDI Converters

As accuracy surely depends upon the efficiency of the software and method you use, there are a vast number of ways to convert PDF to Midi files. Who doesn't want a low-cost method to perform this action? There is no denying the fact that the procedure isn’t easy, but to get the highest accuracy there are a lot of options on the table. Here are some of the finest and most efficient methods to do so.

Method 1. Sheet Music Scanner

Sheet Music Scanner is a special tool that comes along with a built-in camera, allowing you to scan sheet music in printed form. Without any trouble, this software can play the song for you. Just download this application on your iOS device and select the instrumental sound and speed to enjoy it. The software is capable of scanning PDF files or images from the gallery. Moreover, it can export in formats like Midi, WAV, MusicXML, AAC, or MP3 to other applications. Just tap on the notes, symbols, or measures, you can play any song from any point. Sheet Music Scanner also supports several cloud storage such as One Drive, iCloud, Google Drive, etc.

Pros

• It is built specifically for scanning printed sheet music from camera images, PDFs, and image files.
• It supports direct export to MIDI, which makes it useful for quick sheet-to-MIDI conversion.
• It also exports MusicXML and audio, so users can continue editing the result in notation software if needed.
• It supports multi-staff music and playback controls, which helps verify recognition before exporting.

Cons

• Its recognition scope appears narrower than high-end desktop OMR tools, so complex orchestral notation or messy scans may need correction after export.
• It is more of a fast mobile scanning app than a deep score-cleanup environment.

Method 2. Forscore

In a matter of seconds, you can download and play a song using Forscore. For iOS devices, this software acts as a music sheet reader. To change your music world, it is one of the finest software on the market. It has a user-friendly interface with a lot of tools on board. You can improve everything from technical to the final performance. To manage repeat plays, the software allows you to create links. Its special “Half Page” feature allows you to avoid strident transitions. You can import PDF files from the internet using this software. It has facile steps to convert PDF to Midi file.

Pros

• It is excellent for organizing, displaying, annotating, and performing from digital sheet music on Apple devices.
• Its interface is polished and fast, especially for musicians already working on iPad, iPhone, or Mac.
• It integrates well with PDFs, cloud storage, setlists, and performance workflows.

Cons

• It is not an optical music recognition tool, so it does not meaningfully convert printed sheet music into MIDI by itself.
• Anyone needing sheet-to-MIDI conversion will need a separate OMR product.

Method 3. PiaScore

PiaScore allows you to browse music scores. It is one of the most astonishing software to have on an iOS device. You don’t have to worry about finding your favorite track. It allows you to scribe notes within music stores with the help of pens of six colors, stamp input, and text writing. It turns pages automatically for its users. PiaScore supports lock-protected files. To read easily, it has a crop page feature. It has astonishing tools like a music player, voice recorder, virtual keyboard, and much more. It is the perfect software to convert PDF into a Midi file.

Pros

• It is useful as a digital score viewer and performance app for iPad-based workflows.
• It has strong music-reading and pedal/page-turn use cases for performers.
• It is better suited to managing and using scores than retyping them manually.

Cons

• It is not primarily a sheet music OCR-to-MIDI converter.
• For sheet-to-MIDI work, it is a poor fit compared with dedicated OMR tools like PlayScore, ScanScore, SmartScore, or PDFtoMusic.

Method 4. SuperScore Music

To import PDFs, this tool is the best. It does not extend PDFs to Liquid Music Display and MIDI playback. To deal with PDF files, it has a lot of features. The features include collections, page-turning method, unique makeup, etc. It allows users to import music files with the feature of Open or Share for several applications such as Dropbox, Mail, and many others. It has easy steps to convert PDF into MIDI file.

Pros

• It appears aimed at digital score use and modern music-reading workflows.
• It may appeal to users who want a contemporary score experience rather than older desktop notation software.

Cons

• Publicly accessible product information about sheet-to-MIDI conversion is limited, so its MIDI-conversion strengths are not well documented.
• Based on currently visible information, it does not stand out as a proven dedicated OMR-to-MIDI tool.
• Because the documentation is thin, buyers may have trouble judging recognition accuracy before trying it.

Method 5. MuseScore (Free)

The software supports importing and exporting MIDI and compressed/uncompressed MusicXML files.

Pros

• It is a powerful free notation editor that can export MIDI once notation is already in editable score form.
• It is excellent for cleaning up MusicXML imports after another tool performs the scanning.
• Its large user base and broad feature set make it a practical second-stage editor after OCR.
• It is the best value option for users who want free notation editing after conversion.

Cons

• It is not a dedicated sheet-music scanning solution on its own, so direct printed-sheet-to-MIDI conversion is not its main strength.
• Users usually need another OMR tool first, then bring the result into MuseScore for correction and MIDI export.

Here are the steps to convert PDF to MIDI using MuseScore;

Step 1: Install MuseScore application on your system and open it. Click the “File” button in the upper left corner. Choose “Import PDF” option from the dropdown menu.

Step 2: Sign in to MuseScore and click on then select the PDF file and upload the digital music sheet. The software will convert it to a project file, and download it.

Step 3: Reach the main window of MuseScore and press “Ctrl + O” and you will import the downloaded file.

Step 4: Lastly, choose “File” > “Export” and select the MIDI format. Choose the “Export” option to save the file in MIDI format.

Method 6. PlayScore

It is a remarkable music scanner software available for both Android and iOS.

Pros

• It is one of the most purpose-built apps for optical music recognition from photographed pages and PDFs.
• It handles standard notation, multi-staff scores, and playback well, which helps confirm that recognition is usable before export.
• It is especially useful for musicians who want to hear and practise from scanned music quickly.
• Its mobile-first workflow makes it convenient for fast capture and conversion without a complex desktop setup.

Cons

• Its workflow is strongest for playback and MusicXML-oriented use; users focused on perfect MIDI extraction from dense scores may still need cleanup.
• Advanced score correction and editing are not as deep as in desktop notation/OCR suites.

Here are the steps to scan sheet music and convert it to MIDI;

Step 1: Download and install PlayScore on your cellphone.

Step 2: Open the application and tap on the Camera icon and take photos of the page.

Step 3: Select the pages you want to convert and export as MIDI.

Method 7. ScanScore

ScanScore is efficient in converting PDF into MIDI file as it is compatible with Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS.

Pros

• It is built directly for scanning, recognizing, playing back, transposing, editing, and exporting scores.
• It supports export to both MIDI and MusicXML, which is ideal for moving recognized scores into DAWs or notation editors.
• It includes correction tools, which is important because OMR output often needs cleanup before final MIDI export.
• It runs on both Windows and macOS, making it more flexible than iPad-only score apps.

Cons

• Like most OMR tools, recognition accuracy can still depend heavily on scan quality and notation complexity.
• It is more conversion-focused than performance-polished, so the interface may feel less streamlined than lighter consumer apps.

Here are the steps to convert sheet music to MIDI on a mobile phone;

Step 1: Download and install ScanScore application on your device.

Step 2: Launch the application and to digitalize the music sheet, choose the import from app option.

Step 3: To correct scanning mistakes, use the correction tool and click the export button to convert the file to MIDI.

Method 8. SmartScore

It is one of the most reliable OMR applications. There are a lot of versions for you to choose from, depending on your needs. A demo for every version is easily available for you to experience. If you are only planning to scan and convert PDF file to MIDI file, SmartScore 64 MIDI is preferable.

Pros

• It is one of the longest-established dedicated music scanning products, which gives it strong credibility for serious OMR work.
• It is designed not only to capture printed scores but also to edit them after recognition, which is valuable before MIDI export.
• It is a better fit than lightweight mobile apps for complex, archival, choral, or arrangement-heavy conversion jobs.
• Its desktop-oriented workflow is attractive to users who need more control over recognition and correction.

Cons

• It can feel heavier and less beginner-friendly than simpler mobile scanning apps.
• Users who only need fast casual conversion may find it more than they need.

Method 9. Sibelius

For nation and writing, it is one of the best-known software in the market. It has three different versions and unnumbered features for its users. To enjoy the OMR function, you need to choose the right version. It has packages that include PhotoScore and NotateMe Lite for free. PhotoScore is known for allowing users to scan the sheet music with their phone using its camera. It is one of the most usable software to convert PDF into MIDI file.

Pros

• It is a professional-grade notation environment and can export MIDI very well once notation is in editable score form.
• It is strong for refining imported scores after recognition by another tool.
• It is a good destination for advanced arranging, engraving, and cleanup after OCR.

Cons

• It is not mainly a scan-sheet-to-MIDI solution by itself.
• For printed music conversion, users generally need separate OMR software before using Sibelius.
• It is overkill if the only goal is quick sheet-to-MIDI extraction.

Method 10. Audiveris

It is an open-source endeavor to aid people in scanning their sheet music and converting it to something readable by the systems. If you are looking for free software, it is one of the most suggested tools.

Pros

• It is a dedicated open-source OMR project, which makes it attractive for users who want a free scanning workflow.
• It is one of the few no-cost tools aimed directly at converting printed music into machine-readable notation.
• It is useful for technically inclined users who are comfortable with open-source workflows and post-processing.

Cons

• It is less consumer-friendly than polished commercial apps.
• Setup, learning curve, and correction workflow can be more demanding than with mainstream paid tools.
• It is generally a better fit for advanced users than for beginners wanting fast, reliable MIDI conversion.

Method 11. SharpEye

SharpEye is an older version of OMR programs but it is surely remarkable enough. It is one of the most basic software with easy interface. It does the job quite easily as its basic PDF to MIDI software. It does not have many unique features for its users.

Pros

• It is a classic music OCR tool with a long-standing reputation among users who digitize printed scores.
• It can still be useful for older sheet-scanning workflows where modern app polish is less important than raw OCR purpose.

Cons

• It is an older product and feels dated compared with newer OMR software.
• Its age raises concerns around interface modernity, compatibility, and long-term support.
• For up-to-date sheet-to-MIDI work, newer alternatives are usually easier to recommend.

Method 12. PDFtoMusic

PDFtoMusic is one of the most capable applications for converting music scores and sheet music on PDF files to Midi. The free version of the application will only convert the first page of the PDF to Midi among other restrictions.

Pros

• It is excellent at extracting music from PDF files that were originally exported from notation software.
• It directly supports MIDI export and is designed for fast PDF-to-playback and PDF-to-data workflows.
• Its reliability is a major strength when the source PDF is digital rather than scanned.
• It can be one of the fastest routes from a clean notation-generated PDF to MIDI.

Cons

• It does not handle scanned sheet music, which is a major limitation if the source is a photo or paper scan.
• It is only a strong choice when the PDF already contains notation data from score software.

Step 1. Once you have uploaded your PDF file, PDFtoMusic begins scanning through the document for musical notes. Discovered notes are played back while the program continues searching for more notes on the document.

Step 2. You can export the musical notes to various file formats, including Midi (.mid extension), MP3, WAV, and OGG.

Step 3. PDFtoMusic also enables users to edit the content of the PDF file by adding sound from instruments such as guitars and pianos. You can further remove notes that you don't want to include in the final Midi music file, making a digital music editor by extension.

How to Convert PDF to MIDI Online

There are many online file converters and you may wonder if there is a solution to turn PDF to MIDI online without downloading a software program. Unfortunately, there is no online converter that is able to perform OMR and convert PDF to MIDI online.

Converting sheet music and music scores on PDF to Midi is not an easy job and it is still a challenge for many desktop PDF to MIDI converter to scan and accurately recognize the PDF sheet music, therefore, currently it is impossible to convert PDF notes to MIDI online.

Tip: Can I convert MIDI to PDF?

Yes. Most notation software, such as Musescore, PlayScore, can export MIDI to PDF file. You can do this. For example, on Musescore, you can save a MIDI to PDF by going to File > Export > to PDF. Also, if you have PDF editor such as Wondershare PDFelement, Adobe Acrobat installed, you can also use the Print option to print MIDI file to PDF.

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