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Joshua35315543jgze
Participant
February 11, 2025
Question

I cant select whole sentences

  • February 11, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 223 views

Hey everyone, 
I want to highlight and mark important passages, but I can't select them. I can only select single words and that with a double click. Means selecting a whole passage is dreadful. 

I checked OCR and yes, I can edit the PDF I created it via word. Checked other documents problem persists with all PDFs. I scanned the PDF, tired editing mode (no words are not in their own boxes). 

I dont wanna use all the time my reader - that's not why I pay monthly...

Thanks in advance!

1 reply

creative explorer
Community Expert
creative explorerCommunity Expert
Community Expert
February 11, 2025

@Joshua35315543jgze  Sometimes, the fonts used in the PDF can cause issues with text selection. The characters might not be mapped correctly, preventing proper highlighting. Even if you don't see the text boxes, the PDF might be structured with each word or small group of words contained within its own tiny, invisible box. This is a common issue, especially with PDFs created from scanned documents or those generated from certain software.

  • You mentioned trying OCR. If the PDF is image-based (even if it looks like text), OCR is essential. Use a good OCR program (like Adobe Acrobat Pro if you have it) and make sure it's set to create selectable text. After OCR, double-check that the text is selectable.

  • You also mentioned WORD. When saving a PDF in Word, try to avoid "Print to PDF" if possible. "Save As PDF" (or "Export to PDF") from within Word usually creates a better-structured PDF for text selection. 

  • For the current PDFs that you have already created, you could try and resaving as a PDF, "Save As PDF"

    Good luck
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