Guide: How to Extract Text from PDF file Using Inbuilt Mac Tools
To copy text from a PDF, open TextEdit and select the text you want to copy. Then, drag the text to the clipboard.
Step 1: Open the PDF file
To open a PDF file, you first need to open the Preview app. If you have a third party PDF application such as Adobe Acrobat, the steps are similar.
This is a demo file that demonstrates how to create a new web page.
Step 2: Select everything in the PDF
Normally, when you need to select text from a PDF with a lot of images and formatting, you probably use your mouse or trackpad cursor to select each block of text, copy it to the clipboard, and then paste it into your desired text. But if you need multiple pages of text, this can take forever. The answer is to just select everything, and we’ll show you how to then deal with the images and formatting. So go to Edit>Select All or use the hotkey Command-A.Once you do this, you will see the entire contents of your document selected. ..
Step 3: Copy and paste the PDF content
When you select the content of a PDF and open it in a text editor, you will see that the document is in Plain Text mode. To switch to this mode, you can use the shortcut Command-C or use the Format> Create Plain Text command. If your text editor is already in Plain Text mode, you will only see the text from your PDF and not images or formatting.
Bonus: Force all text editor documents to open in plain text mode
If you often do this PDF copy and paste routine, you can set TextEdit to open in plain text mode by default, which can save you a little time. To do this, select TextEdit> Preferences from the menu bar.In the Preferences window, select it New document tab and choose Flat text under the “Size” section.Flat text mode will save you some time, but you can always switch individual TextEdit documents back to Rich Text mode by using the method previously described. So you are not stuck with one or the other, but keep in mind that if you switch a Rich Text document to Plain Text and then switch back to Rich Text, you will lose all formatting in the process. ..
How to Extract Text from PDF file Using Inbuilt Mac Tools: benefits
Faq
Final note
How to Extract Text from PDF File Using Inbuilt Mac Tools If you’re looking to extract text from PDF files, then you’ll want to use some of the tools that are built into your Mac. Here’s how to do it:
- Open the PDF file that you want to extract text from.
- Choose one of the tools that is built into your Mac. For example, if you’re using a word processor, then select the word processor’s menu bar and choose “TextEdit.” If you’re using a scanner, then select the scanner’s menu bar and choose “Scanner.” If you’re using a graphics editor such as Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator, then select the graphics editor’s menu bar and choose “Graphics Editor.”
- Once you’ve selected one of the tools, click on its icon in the toolbar. This will open up its associated window. From here, you can start extracting text from the PDF file.
If you have any queries about how to extract text from PDF files using Inbuilt Mac Tools, then please ask us through the comment section below or directly contact us.
