The question is: what scanning software was used? Does that scanning software have some sort of built in OCR capabilities that looks for layers of text and tries to separate them before combining as a PDF?
The answer is in the software. If that scanning software can’t produce layers, then it is fake. If it can, oh well. That’s just the way the scanning software works.
This might be the answer right here.
That said though... there are a few layers that don’t make sense in that regard.
The second group down looks to be where the “seal” might be.
At the bottom of the list, the last clipping path removes grit from the sides of the page.
Also... some of the handwriting is layered, and some not.
BTW... I’m relieved by your post. I really want to see a legitimate reason for a layered file.
That said, it would have been nice if the person scanning it in had bothered to flatten it before posting.
Question.
Why wouldn’t OCR save the recognized text as text? Isn’t that the point of OCR? The layers we see are images with clipping paths.
Or does it see it as text but only in Acrobat Pro Reader?