[Hidden-tech] Looking for GOOD pdf-to-text converter

[Bill Bither]

> I'm looking for software that can convert PDF to text, and ideally
that 
> has some options for reformatting or global replacement, since what I 
> most often need to do is to break a PDF file down into fields and spit

> out tab-delimited text.  I've been using a freeware product that just 
> isn't reliable when big files are involved.  Does anyone have
something 
> they like for this?

I noticed that some of the responses have directed you to an OCR
product.  Most PDF files have text already stored in them, so what you
really need is a product that will extract the text out of the PDF.
This is much more reliable than OCR.  There is actually a local software
company (www.snowtide.com) that does this but the product is a developer
toolkit more for the enterprise market.  Ask for Chas, he might give a
local software company a deal.

OCR would be required only if the PDF contained an image, without text.
In that case I'm unaware of an off the shelf product that would
accomplish this.  We offer OCR and PDF Rasterization technology that can
do this for the developer.

While we're on the topic of OCR and PDF's, we will be releasing a beta
of an application that will generate searchable PDF's from scanned image
documents.  Send me an email if you're interested in testing it out.

Best Regards,

Bill Bither
Atalasoft, Inc.
www.atalasoft.com
www.billbither.com