How to Easily Extract Text from PDF Scanning In 6 Clicks

The business is modernizing its operations by shifting from paper records to a digital records management system. These files contain critical information such as employee information, internal reports, etc, which have been scanned into PDFs. However, these scanned PDFs contain just images, limiting the data retrieval. Therefore, they decided to extract text from PDF to efficiently organize, search, and analyze the data. They can either do it manually or make use of a dedicated PDF Extractor Tool to automatically extract the text from the scanned PDF file. Read the blog carefully to learn about various methods to make this extraction possible. 

PDF (Portable Document Format) is a universal file format for sharing and archiving documents. It preserves the formatting of the document across systems. The format ensures that your document prints exactly the same on any device. 

Benefits of Extracting Text from PDF Document

Extracting texts from PDFs lets you collect and analyze data faster and easier. Here’s why this process is essential:

• PDF text extraction allows students and researchers to quickly access the relevant information from research articles.
• Researchers extract text from a PDF to gather data from different sources to analyze trends and compare data.
• Users who extract text from a PDF quickly collect the critical information, saving time and reducing human errors.
• In professional domains like data science, finance, and legal practice often extracted text from PDFs to collect large volumes of data.
• Saving extracted text from PDFs makes it easier to search and retrieve important information from complex PDFs. 

Considering the reasons discussed above, it is clear that extracting the content from a PDF is the best practice.

Reliable Ways to Extract Text from PDF Document

Users have several options for extracting text from PDFs. It can be done manually by using the copy-paste method. Also, it can be done using a secure automated converter tool. The most effective method varies based on the document’s size and complexity. 

Manual Method 01: Extract Text from Scanned PDF Using OCR in Adobe Acrobat Pro

Adobe Acrobat Pro DC offers a built-in OCR feature that can turn scanned PDFs into fully searchable and editable files. OCR stands for Optical Character Recognition. It is a paid version of Adobe Acrobat. Also, make sure your scanned PDF is clear.

Follow these steps to begin the PDF text extraction:

1. Open Adobe Acrobat Pro DC.
2. Click on File and open, and select the desired scanned PDF.
3. Navigate to Tools > Scan & OCR.
4. Now, choose the language and the page range options if required.
5. Then, click on Recognize Text to start the OCR process.
6. Once the process gets completed, highlight the text that you want to extract.
7. Right-click on it and choose Copy.
8. Paste this text into your preferred text editor.

Limitations: Adobe Acrobat DC is a paid version. Also, the OCR feature can produce errors if your scanned PDF is not clear, or is handwritten. 

Manual Method 02: Extract Content from PDF Using Google Drive and Google Docs

Google Drive offers a simple way to extract the text from scanned PDFs by using its free OCR feature through Google Docs. 

These are the steps to begin the process:

1. Open Google Drive and sign in with your Google account credentials.
2. Go to New and select File Upload. 
3. Then, choose your scanned PDF and upload it.
4. Once uploaded, select the PDF in your Google Drive and right-click on it.
5. Choose Open with > Google Docs.
6. Now, click on File > Download and select the desired file format.
7. Copy and paste the extracted text into your preferred text editor.

Limitations: The Google Drive OCR may struggle with poorly scanned PDFs, handwritten scanned PDFs. The formatting may not be preserved. 

Manual Method 03: Extract Only Text from PDF Using MS OneNote

Microsoft OneNote’s built-in OCR feature extracts textual content from images, including scanned PDFs added as images. This is helpful when you need to extract text from specific pages of documents. 

Use this step-by-step approach to extract text from the PDF file:

1. Open Microsoft OneNote on your system.
2. Create or open a notebook where you want to insert the scanned PDF.
3. One opened, go to the page where you want to add the scanned PDF.
4. Go to Insert > File Printout and choose your scanned PDF.
5. Now, right-click on the image of your scanned PDF.
6. Select Copy Text from Picture.
7. Open any text editor and paste the copied text. 

Limitations: Extracting the content from large PDF documents can become a time-consuming and tedious task. Formatting may not be preserved properly. The handwritten scanned PDFs are not recognized by the Microsoft OneNote OCR.

A Dedicated Tool to Extract Text from PDF 

The PDF to Text Converter is an all-in-one solution to extract text from a PDF document. In addition to text, it extracts fonts and images. It supports batch operations, flexible page selection, and a document preview feature. Users also have the option to skip the files that were previously processed and select custom page ranges. The tool allows users to unlock the password-protected PDF files. 

Follow these steps to begin the extraction process:

1. Download and launch the tool.
2. Now, select Add File to add your PDF File.
3. In the Check PDF Preview section, pick Preview text.
4. Under Data Extraction Filter, go to Save Text Into and choose the output format.
5. After that, set your Page Filter and check Skip previously processed data.
6. At last, click Extract to begin the process.

Conclusion

This blog has highlighted the importance of extracting text from PDFs to quickly collect data to simplify workflow. Manually extracting the text can take a considerable amount of time and can be complex. Whereas using a professional dedicated PDF to Text Converter, users can handle large volumes of PDF Files and extract text from PDF. The tool supports batch extractions and provides advanced features that simplify the entire process. This makes it an ideal choice among individuals and businesses.

Related Guide: Extract Email ID from PDF Files.

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