Is It Possible To Select And Copy Text From A PDF Document ?

Occasionally I would like to copy and paste text from .pdf documents.
I have not found any way of doing it - is it impossible ?
If it can be done - how ?
Ian.

Well, first off, if the problem pdf was made from a web page, then the text on that web page probably wasn't built as html text. But that's not your problem. As for the pdf itself, you have a couple options, although neither of them are as good as being able to copy/paste the real text.
1) Use a screengrab (Cmd-Shft-4) of the text you want. This will create a .png file on your desktop of the area you selected. You may be able to insert this into Appleworks, although by nature it will still be a lo-res image, which won't print that great. May still be better than what you got originally. If you can't insert the .png, you can open it in Preview and save it in another format.
2) If available, you could open the problem pdf in Illustrator or Photoshop, see if that works better. Some pdfs, depending on where they originate, can be text-editable when opened in Illustrator (although the fonts used must be installed on your Mac to show up correctly).
Finally, if you like, you could email me the pdf or URL and I could take a look at it to see what I can do to help.

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Hi I've a big problem with adobe acrobat reader XI pro and I hope you can help me. The problem is; when I past copied text from some pdf books (not all of them) it past symbols only! wherever I past it! and even if I coped that text from another pdf reade

Hi
I've a big problem with adobe acrobat reader XI pro and I hope you can help me.
The problem is; when I past copied text from some pdf books (not all of them) it past symbols only! wherever I past it! and even if I coped that text from another pdf reader (adobe pdf reader, internet browsers, ...etc.).
This problem started to happen since yesterday when I installed adobe acrobat reader XI pro to try it before I buy it, and before that when I was using the free adobe pdf reader I was totally able to copy any text from any pdf and past it anywhere with nothing wrong.
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thank you a lot.

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Yes, I have tried saving as different formats. (The "save as tiff file workaround" idea is very time consuming and greatly degrades the quallity.)
The font is shown as being: "Arial083.313"
Something in the pdf program is recognizing the text, translating the 1's and 0's (that make up all computer files) into the letters that display on the screen that I can read and select with the mouse. So why can't that same "something" allow me to copy it? So frustrating.
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Another anoying piece of functionality is the way the cut and paste is handled.
If you're in a text converation for example and someone says can you send me so and so's number/email etc then fair enough you jump into contacts find the person and their information is then there for you to see. Why cant you just click on the info you want and copy the info? No you have to go into EDIT mode, then hold your finger on the item for the right bar to appear.
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I don't understand.. Once highlight, just touch and copy the number on the right hand pop up.
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import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
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I'm a tad confused with your question. Do you NOT want multiple selection, or do you?

Is It Possible To Select And Copy Text From A PDF Document ?

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