PDF and document utilities: guides

170 guides in this section. Pick the question closest to yours, or browse by tool. Page 6 of 8

• Why is each page image several megabytes when the whole PDF was small?A PDF stores text and shapes as small drawing instructions; an image stores every pixel. Why the image grows, and how DPI, format and compression bring it down.
• I turned a PDF price table into an image but the small numbers blur when zoomed in; how do I fix it?Fine print gets very few pixels at 72 or 96 DPI, so it smears when customers zoom. Go to 200 or 300 DPI and choose PNG; the numbers below show why.
• Other converters list page 10 before page 2 in my folder; will these page images sort in the right order?Some tools name images p1, p10, p2, and the order breaks. Here the page number is zero padded to the document's page count, so images sort correctly anywhere.
• I want to turn the pages of a signed contract into images; does the site keep a copy of my file?The file is never sent to a server: it is read and drawn in your browser with pdf.js. What stays on your device afterwards, and what a contract loses as an image.
• If I turn my price list PDF into images, does that stop competitors copying the text?An image drops the text layer, so prices cannot be selected and pasted, but anyone can still retype them or run OCR. It is a small hurdle, not protection.
• Will landscape or rotated pages in my PDF come out sideways as images?The rotation stored in the file is applied before the size is worked out, so images match what your PDF reader shows. And what to do if a page is sideways there too.
• My PDF mixes A4 and A3 pages; why do the images come out at different sizes?DPI is applied to each page's real size, so an A3 page yields a bigger image than an A4 page at the same setting. How to read the size groups, and how to match them.
• How do I put a PDF page into a PowerPoint slide as a crisp picture?Convert the page to PNG at 150 to 200 DPI and insert it as a picture. Why a slide needs fewer pixels than you think, and why PNG is better for text.
• I sell a PDF e-book in my online store; how do I turn its first page into a cover image for the product listing?Selling an e-book or guide as a PDF? Turn its first page into a JPEG for the product listing, then fit its shape and weight to your store theme.
• What JPEG quality should I pick when turning a restaurant menu PDF into a light but clear image?DPI sets how many pixels there are; JPEG quality sets how hard they are squeezed. Start at 150 DPI and quality 80 to 85, then compare two versions of the same page.
• How can I tell whether a PDF I received holds real text or only scanned images before I archive it?Before you archive a PDF, find out whether it is searchable: the extractor counts the pages with text and flags every scanned or blank page by number.
• My contract has real text except for a scanned signature page; how do I extract it and see which pages are missing?Choose Page by page: every page gets a heading, and a scanned page stays in the .txt with a note where it belongs, so the gap is visible instead of silently missing.
• Why are lines from the two columns of my newsletter PDF mixed together after extracting the text?Lines are rebuilt by height: fragments at the same level join left to right, so side by side columns merge. A worked example, and how to deal with it.
• I only need the terms and conditions on pages 12 to 15 of a long PDF; how do I extract just those?Type 12-15 in the Pages field and choose combined output to get the terms and conditions as one block. And why the printed page number may not match the file's page.
• I'm a freelance translator who charges per word; how do I count the words in a client's PDF?Extract the text in combined mode, paste it into a word counter and quote from that number. And why scanned pages must be counted separately before you send the quote.
• My supplier sent a revised contract PDF; how do I find what changed from the old version?Extract the text of both versions with the same settings, then run them through the text compare tool to see added, removed and changed lines.
• Is it safe to extract text from a payroll sheet or confidential contract PDF with an online tool?The file is read in your browser with pdf.js, and neither the PDF nor its text goes to a server. The real risk afterwards is your clipboard and the .txt file.
• Why won't the text extractor open my password-protected PDF even though I know the password?The tool does not open protected or encrypted PDFs and never asks for the password. Save an unprotected copy from your reader, then check the copy still holds text.
• How do I copy specs from a manufacturer's PDF datasheet into my Amazon listing without the header repeated on every page?Headers and footers come out once per page. Extract the spec pages, strip the repeated lines, tidy the spacing, and check values and units before you paste.
• Why does text extracted from a PDF break in the middle of sentences instead of flowing as paragraphs?A PDF stores positioned lines, not paragraphs. Each printed line comes back as its own line, and the tool adds a blank line only at clearly larger gaps. How to reflow it.
• Can I turn a PDF into an editable Word document with its formatting using this tool?Not with its formatting. You get plain text to paste into Word and restyle; fonts, images and table columns do not carry over. When that is enough, and when not.
• My scanner app says it saves a searchable PDF; can this tool get the text out of it?If the app added a text layer, the tool reads it like any text; if not, the pages are flagged as scanned. Word accuracy comes from the app's OCR, not from the tool.
• A customer sent a request for quotation PDF with a long item list; how do I move it into my quotation without retyping?Extract the item table pages: each row comes back as one line holding the description and quantity. Copy descriptions into your quote and check quantities.
• Why use a text extractor instead of just selecting and copying in my PDF reader?For a sentence, select and copy is fine. For a long document, the tool reads every page at once, with page markers, a .txt download and a scanned page report.