Good uses
- Searching a long PDF for a reference number or an amount.
- Quoting a clause of a contract or a paragraph of an IRS notice.
- Feeding text into another tool or script.
For tables, PDF to Excel keeps each value in its own cell, which is easier to work with than aligned text.
Searching statements and reports
Need every payment to one vendor across a year of statements? Merge the PDFs with Merge PDF, extract the text here, and search the result for the vendor name. Keeping the layout shows each match with its date and amount on the same line, so you can list them without opening every page.
When the text comes out strange
- Nothing at all: the PDF is a scan, a picture of text. Run the PDF Text Scanner first.
- Odd characters instead of letters: some PDFs embed fonts without a proper character map. The text can't be recovered as written; running the PDF Text Scanner on it usually works around it.
- Words joined or spaced out: the PDF positions each letter individually. Switch between the two layout options; one usually reads better.