Summary: Reports from the market search and surveys are shared as PDFs. In PDFs, analyzing the data is challenging. Analysts usually convert PDF to CSV to extract the raw data and perform the statistical calculations. This blog will walk you through various approaches to efficiently convert PDFs to CSV files. Moreover, we will look at both the automated tool, PDF Converter Tool, and manual approaches. By following the step-by-step process correctly, the PDF to CSV conversion is possible without any data loss.
Reasons Why Users Convert PDF File to CSV Format
For regulatory environments, tax reporting, and auditing, PDF to CSV conversion is essential. CSV files provide a structured format that is easy to verify. Below are the reasons why users consider this conversion:
- Users transform PDF data into a CSV file for in-depth analysis and report generation.
- With the PDF to CSV conversion, users can sync data directly into CRM, ERP, and other systems.
- Combining PDF reports from multiple sources into a single CSV eases the process of KPI tracking and trend analysis.
- By converting PDFs into CSV, users can edit, reformat, and manipulate the data.
- PDF to CSV conversion creates structured backups of PDF data, ensuring easy access later.
Different Approaches to Convert PDF to CSV File
Approach 01: Copy-Paste to Manually Convert PDF into CSV File
It is the simplest approach to convert PDF to CSV format. This process does not need any additional software.
The following are the steps to begin the conversion process:
- First, open the desired PDF file in any PDF reader.
- Now, go to the PDF page containing the data you want to convert.
- After that, select the text or table to be converted and right-click on it to choose Copy.
- Next, open any spreadsheet application like Excel.
- Then, right-click on a blank document and choose Paste.
- Now, format or adjust the data manually as needed.
- In Excel, head to File > Save as > CSV to save the file.
Limitations: Copying the text or table manually can take a lot of time. Manual formatting and adjusting are required after copy-pasting. This method fails to copy the text from a scanned PDF.
Approach 02: Manual Conversion from PDF to CSV Using MS Excel
Microsoft Excel offers a feature that directly imports the table from a PDF file. Once the data is imported, it can be formatted and saved as a CSV file.
These are the steps to initiate the process:
- First, launch MS Excel and open a blank workbook.
- Then, head to the Data tab and click Get Data > From File > From PDF.
- After that, find and select the PDF file you want to convert.
- Now, click on the Import button, preview, and select the tables.
- Next, press Load to import the tables into Excel.
- Once imported, click on File > Save As > Browse > Save as type > CSV.
- Finally, hit the Save button.
Limitations: Sometimes Excel is unable to analyze all the tables from the complex PDF files. The scanned PDFs are not supported in this conversion. Also, manual formatting and adjustments are needed.
Approach 03: Automated Tool to Convert PDF to CSV Fast
The PDF Converter is a powerful solution that simplifies PDF file management. It allows users to convert their PDF files into a wide variety of file formats, such as CSV, PST, etc. Besides this, it can convert PDFs into images, spreadsheets, eBooks, markup languages, and presentations. Also, it is useful for businesses that need to convert PDF files in bulk without any data loss.
Steps to convert PDF file to CSV file format:
- Install the tool on your desktop and launch it.
- Then, use the Select File option to locate and add the desired PDF file.
- Now, press Open and select the preferred file or folder from the list.
- Next, pick CSV as the output File Format and customize with additional filters if needed.
- Finally, click on Convert to complete the conversion process.
Conclusion
The conversion process to convert PDF to CSV is basically done by the analysts to manipulate the raw data. The above blog has everything you need to know about the PDF to CSV file conversion. The manual approaches can be performed only for a few file conversions. In contrast, for bulk conversions, we recommend the professional PDF Converter. It effortlessly carries out this conversion, ensuring original folder structure and no data loss. The user can choose the approach that is best suited to their need and technical knowledge.
You May Also Read: Convert PDF to Excel
Frequently Asked Questions
Q- Can I convert scanned PDFs to CSV?
Ans- Yes. But you need a PDF converter with OCR (Optical Character Recognition) functionality to read and extract data from scanned images.
Q- How do I handle PDFs with multiple tables on a single page?
Ans- Advanced converters allow you to select specific tables for conversion or automatically detect multiple tables, exporting each as a separate CSV file or sheet.
