extracting info from pdf

[kalos]

hello

I am starting to work with PDF files and I would like to extract a table and save it as a graphics file or as a MS Office table (not as Excel, because it has symbols, lines, etc, it is not only numerical data)

what is the best way to do this? I will incorporate it in a PowerPoint or MS Office document

I need it to be in the original quality

I also need not to use a crop tool, because I need the optimum margins, etc, is there a way to extract that table in the default way?

thanks

[ha14]

Hi

Able2Extract
http://www.investintech.com/able2extract.html

[cmpm]

Nitro's new free reader might do it.

http://www.nitroreader.com/

Claiming the ability to extract certain things.

[Curt]

Thanks for telling about this new reader, cmpm. Nitro's free reader is surprisingly good - especially at the price! It will however not load quite as fast as the advert makes you imagine, and for what I know, it can "merely" extract text and images, not 'tables'.

[ha14]

Try this FreeOCR
http://www.freeocr.net/

FreeOCR free software can recover text in the image of a printed text, but also a scanned sheet and even a PDF
this tutorial is in french but illustrated and easy to follow
http://www.pcastuces.com/pratique/bureautique/ocr/page5.htm

[daddydave]

I need it to be in the original quality

IMO this requirement will push you to spend money (and even then, still no guarantee it will be in the original quality). PDF Converter 7 (the $49.99 version) appears to have the ability to "Convert PDF and XPS documents into all Microsoft Office formats in a click."  I have never used it, but I know some people swear by the Pro version of it.

Unfortunately, I am not seeing a demo version on the site  

And of course Adobe Acrobat, the full version has the ability to save to Office formats as well, but it costs around $273 minimum in the U.S.

[rjbull]

PDF Converter 7

This is one of the Nuance ones.  I have Able2Extract.  Darwin kindly did a test on his Nuance Pro (more expensive) on the complicated front page of a World patent, for me to compare.  Nuance did a slightly better job, but there wasn't a lot in it.  Able2Extract in fact uses technology licensed from Nuance.

[daddydave]

PDF Converter 7

This is one of the Nuance ones.  I have Able2Extract.  Darwin kindly did a test on his Nuance Pro (more expensive) on the complicated front page of a World patent, for me to compare.  Nuance did a slightly better job, but there wasn't a lot in it.  Able2Extract in fact uses technology licensed from Nuance.

Sweet. The test was with the free version of Able2Extract, I take it?

[cyberdiva]

Sweet. The test was with the free version of Able2Extract, I take it?

I didn't see any free version of Able2Extract when I went to their website.  Or was your statement meant tongue-in-cheek?

[daddydave]

Sweet. The test was with the free version of Able2Extract, I take it?

I didn't see any free version of Able2Extract when I went to their website.  Or was your statement meant tongue-in-cheek?

It wasn't meant as tongue-in-cheek but now it appears I was wrong. It looks like they have a $99.95 version and a $129.95 version, and you can also buy a 30 day demo for $34.95.   (Seriously!)

[Curt]

I need it to be in the original quality

IMO this requirement will push you to spend money (and even then, still no guarantee it will be in the original quality). PDF Converter 7 (the $49.99 version) appears to have the ability to "Convert PDF and XPS documents into all Microsoft Office formats in a click."  I have never used it, but I know some people swear by the Pro version of it.

-I believe the $100 PRO version is needed if .XPS must be included.

Nuance, compare features, (each screenshot approx 960 pixels wide)
Edited: not a good width without a widescreen! >The original pdf document< may suite your monitor better! [Pictures removed.]

Edit #2:
Actually, I imagine the $150 Enterprise version is needed, for the jobs kalos described -
Nuance is a converter, not an editor.

[daddydave]

I believe the $100 PRO version is needed if .XPS must be included.

Then why does the web site say otherwise? I quoted directly from the description of the $49.99 product. At any rate, the original poster said nothing about XPS.

[kalos]

is there a free PDF editor/converter that works well? many converters fail to convert properly to doc, even Acrobat
if not, any paid one that is really good?

thanks

[ha14]

try universal document converter http://www.print-driver.com/howto/

[rjbull]

The test was with the free version of Able2Extract, I take it?

No, painfully paid for.  Oh, and the reason why I chose Able2Extract over Nuance at the time - pre-test, as it happened - was because Nuance directed me to their UK shop, where they translate $US into £UK one-to-one.  I might have missed a slightly better program, but they missed my business through greed and taking UK residents for fools.

[daddydave]

Oh, and the reason why I chose Able2Extract over Nuance at the time - pre-test, as it happened - was because Nuance directed me to their UK shop, where they translate $US into £UK one-to-one.  I might have missed a slightly better program, but they missed my business through greed and taking UK residents for fools.

Ah...got it. Yes, I did wonder about that, thanks for clarifying.

[rjbull]

is there a free PDF editor/converter that works well? many converters fail to convert properly to doc, even Acrobat
if not, any paid one that is really good?

Like others, I doubt you will find a free tool to do what you want, especially with tables.  I've used XPDF for extracting text from PDFs.  It will also extract images and (I think) do a few other things.  You might try the free online file conversion service Zamzar, which I found quite good when I tried it.  There's at least one more similar service, Media-Convert.

[daddydave]

I should add I have experiemented with freeware tools to convert PDFs to HTML (a potential intermediate format for Word), but the results were abysmal so I don't really recommend that.

[Perry Mowbray]

I have, at times, used OCR Terminal home page: Online OCR extensively, and like most (I think probably all) other software the results can be a little flaky and definitely need editing before using.

One job I was using for was converting data printouts into Excel spreadsheets (which had to go via word), and apart from mixing some of the combined cells up, it did pretty well. Still needed an edit as the original document was not perfect quality and in a small font size... but it saved quite a bit of time in the end.

[StuR]

kalos,

I've had very good luck a number of times with http://www.pdftoword.com/default.aspx . Upload your pdf to their site, they convert it and return by email. Occasionally within a few minutes, always within 24 hours. And free!

Just two days ago at work I had them convert a 9-pg pdf with tables, highlighting, and a screenshot: the .doc version they returned was perfect.

[Curt]

-your first post after FIVE years' membership?!
Wow, you're not a man of too many words. Respect!  

... http://www.pdftoword.com/default.aspx ...
... the .doc version they returned was perfect.

-as it also would be if you use their desktop program: Nitro PDF Professional

[kalos]

-your first post after FIVE years' membership?!
Wow, you're not a man of too many words. Respect! 

that's an honour to post in my thread

[StuR]

Curt,

Yeah, I've been mostly a lurker here. I imagine there are a bunch of DC people like me: active and interested computer user both at home and at work, but not a coder, not a serious computer hobbyist, not too much interested in mucking about with hardware or modifying software or the like.

But I follow DC enthusiastically, and it's given me FARR and Screenshot Captor (which I use and talk up regularly) and a bunch of other interesting things.
Mouser is a god.

So I've held back not through reticence, but because most active posters have levels of knowledge and skill well above mine. When I feel I have something useful to add, I will.

(and now two posts in one day. It's a Trend!)

[steveorg]

...extract a table and save it as a graphics file...

...I will incorporate it in a PowerPoint or MS Office document...

...I need it to be in the original quality...

...not to use a crop tool, because I need the optimum margins, etc

I'm focusing on the graphics approach that you mentioned because that just seems like the path of least resistance. Use Screenshot Captor to grab the image and your favorite graphics editor to adjust the margins to your liking.

[kalos]

disadvantages of Screenshot Captor (and any other screenshot tool):

1) it captures the graphics not in the original/default resolution (if you zoom in/out the pdf, it will capture the graphics in different resolution) and this may result in a graphics without optimum resolution (too zoomed out may distort, too zoomed in may become unusable if you want it bigger)

2) it captures the graphics not in the original/default borders (since you drag the rectangular on your own) and this may result in a not well proportioned image

look this pdf editor how nice it recognizes and selects the image (see the blue borders):

but it cannot copy and paste in an MS Paint file! it cannot extract it!