"What is PDF Extraction?"

By Reena Cruz
Investintech.com
Issue 2 for 2008

Don’t let words fool you. Or scare you for that matter. As intimidating and technical as it may sound, the phrase "PDF extraction" simply means extracting, or (more commonly) converting, the content in your PDF file into another file format—usually one in which you can easily edit and reuse the information for other purposes. As all users know, this extraction (or conversion) process can either be disastrous or successful.

It all depends on the PDF extraction tools (aka "PDF converters") you use. Whether it’s text or image extraction you’re looking to perform, here’s a little PDF perspective on some extraction tools that might work for you.

If you already have Adobe Acrobat installed, check out BCL Jade. This Acrobat plug-in has support for extracting text and graphics, as well as tables for Excel and regular text for Word. An interesting feature of this product is that you literally extract data with an "extraction zone", a drag and drop feature that encases content within boxes, letting you drag them into other applications.

For an all-round desktop product, you might want to consider Able2Extract. With its select-to-convert abilities, this product can extract PDF content into HTML, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Text formats. This product comes with custom Excel template and conversion options and the ability to convert static PDF forms into fill-able Word forms. Able2Extract also has PDF to image conversion capabilities with options for colour conversion, multi-page image animation and DPI resolution.

For those looking to gain specific, more advanced PDF to vector image extractions (for CAD file supporting applications), you should take a look at pdf2cad. This product offers conversion features and functionalities that accurately translate the formatting and graphical intelligence of your vector-based PDFs into DXF and HPGL formats.

All three products have limited trial versions, so be sure to check out all the highlighted features of these tools. It doesn’t matter whether you use the word "extraction" or "conversion". These products can do both! For more, check put the Create & Convert PDF category at PDF Store.

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