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copy and paste multi column text from pdf

Forum Index > General Acrobat Topics > copy and paste multi column text from pdf
2008-05-08 23:28:25
yen
Registered: May 6 2008
Posts: 4

i have a pdf file that was generated by an ocr program.
But however, i tried to select a multicolumn text and paste into a text file, the text become untidy.

e.g
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the text above should be in two columns.
anyway i can paste nicely?
tks.
=D

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2008-05-09 10:20:03
#1
daka630
Expert
Registered: Mar 1 2007
Posts: 1420
Always exceptions I'm sure, But...

Fundamentally, OCR is not designed to recognize and reproduce the underlying layout/structure used when making a file. Once on paper, what those layout setups were is lost. The characters, in paper's scanned image, are recognized. Column or table layouts are not. So, actually, what you have is what it should be.

Be well...

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2010-07-01 21:28:23
#2
PTChris
Registered: Jul 1 2010
Posts: 1
My problem is similar to this, in that I have a nice presentable all-text pdf document laid out in two columns, but when I try to select the text from one column, the selection includes all the text in the other column as well.

I don't know how this pdf was generated, but I need to be able to select the text in the first column as it flows, without picking up the adjacent text from the second column.

I have tried to export the document to Word, plain text, and html in hopes it improves my ability to select the right text, and none of these will separate the text into it's own column independent of the other.

Can someone advise what I need to do to this document to be able to select the text of one column only?

Right now my choices are limited to copying and pasting one single line of text at a time, or just type the whole thing from scratch. I need better.
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2010-07-02 09:27:40
#3
rbogie
Registered: Apr 28 2008
Posts: 432
the basics: with select text tool copy/paste all text (all columns) to Excel. working with Excel, place a unique delimiter (say, #) in each row where the columns divide. use 'text to columns' tool (on data menu). use 'delimited' option. then in the 'text to columns wizard' place a check for delimiter 'other' and place your chosen delimeter in the adjacent field (in this case, #); click next and finish. select and copy all the cells in a column and paste (unformatted) to Word. you will need to experiment and learn the tricks.
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2010-07-02 09:33:04
#4
lkassuba
ExpertTeam
Registered: Jun 28 2007
Posts: 3636
With the Select Tool selected, try holding the Ctrl+Alt (Windows) keys down. This will give you a rectangle bounding box that you can use to select just one column of information.

Lori Kassuba is an AUC Expert and Community Manager for AcrobatUsers.com.

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2011-06-11 19:56:03
#5
yakabud
Registered: Jun 11 2011
Posts: 2
all my .pdf pages are in 2 columns, how can I convert them into 1 column only?
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