I remember purchasing a plug-in for Acrobat 3 that allowed the exporting of a PDF to RTF. (Rich Text Format… a document file format developed by Microsoft for cross-platform document interchange–most word processors are able to read and write RTF documents.) It cost me $35, and since I was the only kid on the block who could export out of Acrobat, it paid for itself quickly.
Adobe soon built a variety of ways to export out of PDF files into Acrobat. While well hidden, the Save As dialogue box has allowed you to save as RTF and even Microsoft Word for several versions. Acrobat 8 included an Export task button, but it has vanished in version 9. Not to worry–there is an Export Command located in the File menu.
Rather than exporting a whole document out of Acrobat, I'll focus on a table within a PDF page. Suppose you'd like to have this table's data in a spreadsheet so you can manipulate it. There's no need to retype the data into Excel. All you need to do is use Acrobat's Selection tool to highlight the content you wish to export.
Next, right-click the selected text. There are three useful options: Copy as Table, Save as Table, and Open Table in Spreadsheet.
Selecting Open Table in Spreadsheet takes the selected portion of your PDF-based table and drops it directly and neatly into an Excel spreadsheet. This is CRAZY easy and very useful. (Mac users will only have Copy as Table and Save as Table available).
There are hidden gems throughout Acrobat 9. If you don't want to wait for them to trickle to you in these weekly tips, join me online and learn, hands-on, how to unlock the power of Acrobat. Click here for more details.
I am trying to copy a table out of a PDF, but i am not able to select the table with the Select text tool. It is not seeing the table, when it is obviously a table. What do I do then?
I am trying to copy a table out of a PDF, but i am not able to select the table with the Select text tool. It is not seeing the table, when it is obviously a table. What do I do then?
I am trying to copy a table out of a PDF, but i am not able to select the table with the Select text tool. It is not seeing the table, when it is obviously a table. What do I do then?
It’s likely because Acrobat does not know it’s a table. If it’s an image of a table, you will have to perform OCR on the doc to have it in editable text first. Another approach would be to examine the table’s Tags in the Tags palette. You may discover that it is tagged as something other than a table. It’s an involved process, but poke around – you should be able to discover how to change/redefine a tag.
Hope this helps.
David
It’s likely because Acrobat does not know it’s a table. If it’s an image of a table, you will have to perform OCR on the doc to have it in editable text first. Another approach would be to examine the table’s Tags in the Tags palette. You may discover that it is tagged as something other than a table. It’s an involved process, but poke around – you should be able to discover how to change/redefine a tag.
Hope this helps.
David
It’s likely because Acrobat does not know it’s a table. If it’s an image of a table, you will have to perform OCR on the doc to have it in editable text first. Another approach would be to examine the table’s Tags in the Tags palette. You may discover that it is tagged as something other than a table. It’s an involved process, but poke around – you should be able to discover how to change/redefine a tag.
Hope this helps.
David
how to fill out a pdf form using the data in an excel file? please explain the process if possible, thank you.
how to fill out a pdf form using the data in an excel file? please explain the process if possible, thank you.
how to fill out a pdf form using the data in an excel file? please explain the process if possible, thank you.