diff --git a/src/documents/consumer.py b/src/documents/consumer.py
index 14f7904a7..424e22ce2 100644
--- a/src/documents/consumer.py
+++ b/src/documents/consumer.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import datetime
+import logging
 import os
 import shutil
 import tempfile
@@ -114,6 +115,7 @@ def should_produce_archive(
     parser: "ParserProtocol",
     mime_type: str,
     document_path: Path,
+    log: logging.Logger | None = None,
 ) -> bool:
     """Return True if a PDF/A archive should be produced for this document.
 
@@ -122,29 +124,58 @@ def should_produce_archive(
     ``@property`` methods — accessing them on the class returns the descriptor
     (always truthy).
     """
+    _log = log or logging.getLogger(LOGGING_NAME)
+
     # Must produce a PDF so the frontend can display the original format at all.
     if parser.requires_pdf_rendition:
+        _log.debug("Archive: yes — parser requires PDF rendition for frontend display")
         return True
 
     # Parser cannot produce an archive (e.g. TextDocumentParser).
     if not parser.can_produce_archive:
+        _log.debug("Archive: no — parser cannot produce archives")
         return False
 
     generation = OcrConfig().archive_file_generation
 
     if generation == ArchiveFileGenerationChoices.ALWAYS:
+        _log.debug("Archive: yes — ARCHIVE_FILE_GENERATION=always")
         return True
     if generation == ArchiveFileGenerationChoices.NEVER:
+        _log.debug("Archive: no — ARCHIVE_FILE_GENERATION=never")
         return False
 
     # auto: produce archives for scanned/image documents; skip for born-digital PDFs.
     if mime_type.startswith("image/"):
+        _log.debug("Archive: yes — image document, ARCHIVE_FILE_GENERATION=auto")
         return True
     if mime_type == "application/pdf":
         if is_tagged_pdf(document_path):
+            _log.debug(
+                "Archive: no — born-digital PDF (structure tags detected),"
+                " ARCHIVE_FILE_GENERATION=auto",
+            )
             return False
         text = extract_pdf_text(document_path)
-        return text is None or len(text) <= PDF_TEXT_MIN_LENGTH
+        if text is None or len(text) <= PDF_TEXT_MIN_LENGTH:
+            _log.debug(
+                "Archive: yes — scanned PDF (text_length=%d ≤ %d),"
+                " ARCHIVE_FILE_GENERATION=auto",
+                len(text) if text else 0,
+                PDF_TEXT_MIN_LENGTH,
+            )
+            return True
+        _log.debug(
+            "Archive: no — born-digital PDF (text_length=%d > %d),"
+            " ARCHIVE_FILE_GENERATION=auto",
+            len(text),
+            PDF_TEXT_MIN_LENGTH,
+        )
+        return False
+    _log.debug(
+        "Archive: no — MIME type %r not eligible for auto archive generation",
+        mime_type,
+    )
     return False
 
 
@@ -485,6 +516,7 @@ class ConsumerPlugin(
                         document_parser,
                         mime_type,
                         self.working_copy,
+                        self.log,
                     )
                     document_parser.parse(
                         self.working_copy,
diff --git a/src/paperless/parsers/tesseract.py b/src/paperless/parsers/tesseract.py
index e1f33c3af..b451520db 100644
--- a/src/paperless/parsers/tesseract.py
+++ b/src/paperless/parsers/tesseract.py
@@ -474,12 +474,28 @@ class RasterisedDocumentParser:
             text_original = None
             original_has_text = False
 
+        self.log.debug(
+            "Text detection: original_has_text=%s (text_length=%d, mode=%s, produce_archive=%s)",
+            original_has_text,
+            len(text_original) if text_original else 0,
+            self.settings.mode,
+            produce_archive,
+        )
+
         # --- OCR_MODE=off: never invoke OCR engine ---
         if self.settings.mode == ModeChoices.OFF:
             if not produce_archive:
+                self.log.debug(
+                    "OCR: skipped — OCR_MODE=off, no archive requested;"
+                    " returning pdftotext content only",
+                )
                 self.text = text_original or ""
                 return
             if self.is_image(mime_type):
+                self.log.debug(
+                    "OCR: skipped — OCR_MODE=off, image input;"
+                    " converting to PDF/A without OCR",
+                )
                 try:
                     self.archive_path = self._convert_image_to_pdfa(
                         document_path,
@@ -532,6 +548,14 @@ class RasterisedDocumentParser:
         # auto mode with existing text: PDF/A conversion only (no OCR).
         skip_text = self.settings.mode == ModeChoices.AUTO and original_has_text
 
+        if skip_text:
+            self.log.debug(
+                "OCR strategy: PDF/A conversion only (skip_text)"
+                " — OCR_MODE=auto, document already has text",
+            )
+        else:
+            self.log.debug("OCR strategy: full OCR — OCR_MODE=%s", self.settings.mode)
+
         args = self.construct_ocrmypdf_parameters(
             document_path,
             mime_type,