Acrobat Reader 9.3.2 search function

Are you sure the PDF contains actual text. Scanned files look like they have text, but are actually images.

Yes, I "published" it in pdf format from my Word Perfect for Windows program!

Do you have Acrobat Professional? or did you use some other conversion program to create the PDF?

Here's a simple test you can perform to determine how searhable the may be.

1. Use the "Text select" tool, next to the hand on the toolbar, or the "Tools > Select & Zoom > Select Tool" menu item, to select a word on the PDF.
2. Activate the Search tool by clicking on the binoculars toolbar button.
3. Copy and Paste the selected word into the search box and click the search button.

What results do you get?

Thom Parker
The source for PDF Scripting Info
[url=http://www.pdfScripting.com]pdfscripting.com[/url]

The Acrobat JavaScript Reference, Use it Early and Often
[url=http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/javascript.php]http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/javascript.php[/url]

Then most important JavaScript Development tool in Acrobat
[url=http://www.pdfscripting.com/public/34.cfm#JSIntro][b]The Console Window (Video tutorial)[/b][/url]
[url=http://www.acrobatusers.com/tutorials/2006/javascript_console][b]The Console Window(article)[/b][/url]

Thomp - I did as you suggested (I tried it on a couple different words in the document) and get the same result, i.e., "Reader has finished searching the document. No matches were found".

experiment with the FIND tool. if no joy, create a test page in WP and publish it to PDF. can you select and copy a string (word) from the newly published test PDF and paste it back to WP? WP has a non-default setting by which you can 'publish text as graphics' (on the details tab of the publish to PDF dialog). Could this setting be at the root of the problem? Also, as an alternative you could convert the WP file to PDF with a utililty like CutePDF.

Hi,

Corel's current WordPerfect version outputs to PDF via a Nuance process and not Adobe PDFMaker.
If Acrobat Standard/3D/Professional/Professional Extended is not installed there is no Adobe Printer available.
In such a situation the WP user would be publishing to PDF via the Nuance process.

Earlier versions of Word Perfect used an 'in-house' process.
Having used the 'in-house' process with an older WordPerfect release I found it to be not as robust as Adobe PDFMaker.

Cannot speak to the Nuance process versus Adobe PDFMaker; however, there is information available at Corel's webspace and in WP user groups/forums.

As WordPerfect is not listed as one of the applications supported by Adobe PDFMaker
an output PDF would be produced by:
--| File > Print to Adobe Printer,
--| the 'in-house' process for older WP releases or
--| the Nuance process for current WP release(s).

In the Print dialog for File > Print in older releases of WordPerfect there is selection for 'print text as graphic'.
Its selection would result in an image of the text (effectively, no different than doing a scan of paper).
Such would preclude Find or Search locating anything.

The older WordPerfect "Publish to PDF" did/does provide text that can be located by Find or Search (with Adobe Reader or Acrobat).

With older releases of WordPerfect printing to PDF via Adobe Printer did/does provide PDF page content that can be located with Find or Search (Adobe Reader or Acrobat).

So, that leaves the current release using the Nuance process.
Either the Nuance process cannot output 'proper PDF' or there is a configuration issue.

If the Nuance process is, in fact, flawed then there is nothing Adobe Reader or Acrobat can do about that.
If a configuration issue is at play then, once resolved, Adobe Reader or Acrobat would be able to locate text via Find or Search.

With that said, it is worth noting that Adobe Reader/Acrobat (starting with release 8.x)
appears to have become less forgiving of poorly formed PDF
(i.e., poor execution of PDF Reference and now, ISO 32000-1:2008(ISO Standard of PDF).

Be well...

Thanks to all who supplied reply-posts. I think daka630 has hit pretty close to the source of the problem, that being I have an older version of WP (X3 13.0.0.470). I now notice that when I click on Publish to PDF, the next screen that comes up has "Compatiblity" options of Acrobat 3, 4 and 5 - and of course I'm using version 9.3.2, so that probably explains it.
I've also found that I can do search functions on other non-WP formatted pdf files. I started with WP 5.1 for DOS and graduated up this current version. Looks like I'm going to have to bite the bullet and get a newer version of WP for Windows!

Search has stopped working in 9.3.4. Reports "no matches found" even in the most obvious cases - forward or backward makes no difference.