Foxit PDF Reader text copy problems?

[nicholasdu]

I tried to copy text from a PDF file, and here is what I get:

Intended text:
In the early 1980s neoliberal governments (particularly the Reagan
administration
in the USA and the Thatcher administration in the UK) were in the
ascendant in North America and Western Europe.

Actual text:
1980 (-).

Has anybody else come across this? It could be a protected PDF
document, which Adobe wouldn't even try to copy. I just downloaded a
copy of the doc from a different website, and it seems to copy fine.

 

[nicholasdu]

Verified: Foxit does not copy text very well. I'm going to try a
different reader.

 

[The Six Million Dollar Man]

Verified: Foxit does not copy text very well. I'm going to try a
different reader.

Try this program.
http://www.pdf-to-html-word.com/pdf-to-text/

 

[Al Klein]

I tried to copy text from a PDF file, and here is what I get:

Intended text:
In the early 1980s neoliberal governments (particularly the Reagan
administration
in the USA and the Thatcher administration in the UK) were in the
ascendant in North America and Western Europe.

Actual text:
1980 (-).

Has anybody else come across this? It could be a protected PDF
document, which Adobe wouldn't even try to copy. I just downloaded a
copy of the doc from a different website, and it seems to copy fine.

If you're talking about the formatting, pdf doesn't maintain
formatting in copy or convert unless the document is designed to be
copied or converted. And almost no one ever does that.

 

[slld]

Then pay $39.95
NOT freeware..

 

[The Six Million Dollar Man]

Then pay $39.95 NOT freeware..

Yes it is FREEWARE.

From the page I posted

"Easy PDF to Text Converter is freeware. It works well on Windows
98/ME/2000/NT/XP Platform."

and

"Download Free Version of Easy PDF to Text Converter

Still not sure the program fits your needs? Try free version with no
limited features.Click Download to download the Free version of Easy PDF
to Text Converter."

Also note on the Purchase page, http://www.pdf-to-html-word.com/pdf-to-text/

"Easy PDF to Text Converter FREE" has no price point beside it, because
it is free.

 

[nicholasdu]

If you're talking about the formatting, pdf doesn't maintain
formatting in copy or convert unless the document is designed to be
copied or converted. And almost no one ever does that.

I am referencing just the text copying capability. Here's an example
from page 2 of the Berg Report, published by the World Bank in 1981. I
perhaps need not reference it because the text is so confused:

during
declined
or has actually
unchanged
4
with a long-established
; countries
this period
the nations
class (most of
trading
indigenous
such a group
and those where
West Africa)
of
which
origin; countries
and of recent
is smaller
and
transformation
are attempting socialist
of the
the example
are following
those which
economies.
market
homo-
considerable
is, nonetheless,
There
African economies
within the region.
geneity
small in economic terms,
for the most part
are
and small
incomes
average
of low
a result

 

[nicholasdu]

PDF to text is a very helpful program. My McAfee doesn't like the
scripts that are run (createfile, etc.), however, and so I have to tell
McAfee just this once that it's O.K.

 

[nicholasdu]

My bad. I use PDF Text Reader 1.1
(http://www.ctdeveloping.com/ctdeveloping/products/pdftextreader_info.asp).
It is very fast for converting PDFs into text. PDF to text seems very
slow.

 

[Al Klein]

Al Klein wrote:

I am referencing just the text copying capability.

There's almost never any text in a .pdf file - you're looking at a
*vectorized* picture of text. Assuming that the word on the left is
actually to the left of the word on the right makes you think that
dragging your mouse from left to right gets you <word on left> <space>
<word on right>, when they may actually be drawn the other way around,
top to bottom or all odd letters first (who knows what the internal
engine did), and you get them in the order they're drawn in.