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PDF Inspector

Inspect metadata, page dimensions, form fields, and document structure from any PDF file.

๐Ÿ“„
Drop a PDF here or click to browse

About this tool

Extract all text content from a PDF file - copy-paste-ready, with page numbers and layout structure preserved where possible. Works on text-based PDFs (not scanned images - use the OCR tool for those). Useful for extracting content from reports, research papers, contracts, and e-books for editing or analysis.

How to Extract Text from a PDF

  1. 1Upload your text-based PDF (not a scanned document).
  2. 2Optionally set a page range to extract only specific pages.
  3. 3Click 'Extract Text'.
  4. 4Review the extracted text in the output panel.
  5. 5Click 'Copy All' or 'Download as TXT' to use the content.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does the extracted text look garbled or out of order?+
PDFs store text as positioned character sequences, not flowing paragraphs. Multi-column layouts, tables, and complex formatting often extract in reading order that doesn't match visual layout. Use the OCR tool for scanned PDFs with non-standard layouts.
What is the difference between a text PDF and a scanned PDF?+
A text PDF contains actual character data that can be extracted directly. A scanned PDF is a photograph of a document with no embedded text - extraction requires OCR (optical character recognition). Upload to the OCR tool for scanned documents.
Can I extract text from a password-protected PDF?+
Only if you know the password and the owner password permits content extraction. Remove the password first using the PDF Password tool, then extract text.
How do I extract text from a specific page range?+
Set the start and end page numbers in the page range field before clicking 'Extract'. This is useful for large reports where you only need a specific section.
Looking for a deeper guide on this topic? Browse the Searchlight blog.
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