IT Employment
You can always cut and paste into Word, Wordpad, or some other text editor. However, from within Acrobat Reader, I don't think that you can simply highlight certain text, but rather you'll have to "Select All" from Acrobat Reader Edit menu followed by "Copy" from the same edit menu. (Copy is grayed out until you Select All.) You can then Paste" into another document, a word document, for example. You can then cut, paste, delete, etc. from that Word document (or whatever) as necessary.
There may be another way to do it, but this is what I do, so I've never looked for another option.
by oz_media
I use Adobe Acrobat now but I seem to remember a text select tool in Reader that I used to use to C&P docs.
The full Adobe Acrobat is really amazing once you use it for a while though. Definitely worth the money just for the Acrobat Distiller. If you do a lot of the C&P stuff, I'd recommend trying to get a copy of Acrobat, you'll love it! Especially the revision, notations and file sharing options when creating documents.
Not to mention that a PDF retains all formatting and can be read via a free reader that ANYONE can install on any OS, as opposed to a Word doc, that requires the recipient to have Word.
For someone who take a lot of pride in his written material and documentation, I'm surprised to hear you don't use it?!
OM
But our office standard for document creation is MS Office (Word), so I don't have the full Adobe software installed on everyone's desktop. (But I do have it on mine as well as a couple of others.) I do, however, have Reader installed on everyone's computer.
Many people have asked me this very question (how to get text from an Adobe file using only Reader), and the only way I know of is to select all text from the edit menu, then select copy, then paste into their Word doc. But what I don't know how to do with just Reader (if it can be done at all) is to select only some of the text or some of the pages instead of all of it.
by terryngigi
by cactus pete
You might try this sight: http://tinyurl.com/oet2
They can be confusing to navigate at times, but it's a good site for software...
by thechas
Template Zone offers an MS Office add-on that includes PDF file utilities.
http://www.templatezone.com/orpro/product_features.asp?CID=
Remove any spaces from the pasted link.
Chas
by jardinier
Quite a lot of software I encounter comes with Adobe Acrobat which is required to read the manuals. This applies especially to "Expert" software, if this is readily available in the USA. Most "Expert" products come in jewel-case form, so it doesn't represent a costly investment.
The Australia Electoral Commission periodically issues free CD-ROMs of Election results and the like. These also have Adobe Acrobat on them. I have never had to consider purchasing this product, because sooner or later I purchase a piece of software which has Acrobat on it, and once I have it, then I never need to get it from another source. Newer software may include a newer version, which simply overwrites the existing version.
So you might try contacting whatever is the equivalent of the Electoral Commission in the USA and see if they, too, have freebie CD-ROMs which include Acrobat.
This program is also usually included in the software that comes with a computer magazine. As I have never needed to get it from this source, I don't know if it is a demo version with a time limit.
by oz_media
I think you're referring to Acobat Reader. This is just a viewer with VERY limited options and no creation abilities. The Reader is used to view documents created in Adobe Acrobat, this is what makes PDF a PDF,Portable Document Format. You can create an Adobe PDF file with Acrobat and anyone, no matter what OS can get the Acrobat Reader as a free download from Adobe.com as opposed to requiring a full software install, as in Word or WP.
No need to buy 'Expert' software, the Reader is free! Save your money.
by johnmaxy
by jardinier
I never paid much attention as I have only used the program to read pdf files.
On the Start Menu of my Windows computers, you see "Adobe Acrobat," but when you select this, the only item available is "Acrobat Reader."
I guess you can learn something new every day, if you keep your eyes and ears open. Thanks for the info, Oz.
by oz_media
ADOBE ACROBAT is VERY expensive software. If you have a need to create and share documents cross platform, it is well worth the money.
ACROBAT READER: Is a free program that can be downloded to ANY computer regardless of OS and it's free.
The concept is: If you create a document in Portable Document Format (PDF) the user only needs the free Acrobat Reader to view the document and it will retain all formatting and fonts (embedded)so that no matter what you have installed, (Word, Lotus notes or what have you), you will see the same document with the same formatting everyone else does.
by oz_media
I don't have Reader installed because i use the full Acrobat. There is a text select tool in Reader that allows you to select text based on line or individual text. I'm sure the right click context menu gives the Cut and Paste option. I used Reader to modify brochures before I got Acrobat Full, I'm almost positive that this will do what you need it to.
The text tool, as in the Full version, should be a letter T with the dotted box around it. If your users can't see it, it is available by customizing the tool bar or view (sorry I forget which).
OM
There is a text selector toolbar which toggles on and off. I'm surprised I didn't notice it before. (I guess it's because I don't use reader too much.) With that toggled on, you can indeed highlight selected text for cutting.
This is a much better option than the "select all" in the edit menu (deleting what you didn't want after pasting).
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