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editab9890853
editab9890853
Participant
February 10, 2018
Answered

Adobe Acrobat Reader DC continuous release version 2018.009.20050 question: How to make "non-word-searchable" pdf files "word-searchable"?

  • February 10, 2018
  • 3 replies
  • 2121 views

Hi,

I would need information on Adobe Acrobat Reader DC continuous release version 2018.009.20050. There are certain pdf files from my online college classes which I can't do word search in with this Adobe version of mine. Is there any way to fix this? In other words, is it possible to make these pdf files "word-searchable"?

Thanks!

Edita

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Test Screen Name

1. Is it locked? How to tell. Go to File > Properties. Click Security. The Security Method must show as NONE. That's not always enough, but it's a start.

2. Is the scan good quality? Look at it. Does it look like a clean piece of paper - clean white background? Is the text sharp? Now zoom in. Does it stay reasonably sharp or does it look lumpy or broken?

3. Is it technical? Don't expect it to work if the text is maths or chemical formulae; if it is labels in diagrams; if it isn't normal English paragraphs.

You can also try a 7 day free trial of Acrobat Pro.

3 replies

T
Test Screen Name
Legend
February 13, 2018

Bear in mind Acrobat can also do OCR on the PDF directly without involving Word, which preserves the layout more closely.

T
Test Screen NameCorrect answer
Legend
February 12, 2018

1. Is it locked? How to tell. Go to File > Properties. Click Security. The Security Method must show as NONE. That's not always enough, but it's a start.

2. Is the scan good quality? Look at it. Does it look like a clean piece of paper - clean white background? Is the text sharp? Now zoom in. Does it stay reasonably sharp or does it look lumpy or broken?

3. Is it technical? Don't expect it to work if the text is maths or chemical formulae; if it is labels in diagrams; if it isn't normal English paragraphs.

You can also try a 7 day free trial of Acrobat Pro.

editab9890853
editab9890853Author
Participant
February 12, 2018

Thanks, again, for your reply! None of the 3 comments were the problem, but I tried the Adobe Pro DC trial version, and that worked.

The reason of the problem is that my file is an image file, but still a pdf file. Adobe Pro DC can convert it to Microsoft Word document and then it becomes word-searchable.

T
Test Screen Name
Legend
February 11, 2018

Adobe make Acrobat Reader, a free piece of software, for reading PDF files and filling forms. They also make Acrobat (confusing I know), which is not free, but perhaps $15 per month. If you subscribe to Acrobat and install if and if your PDF files are suitable (not locked, good quality scans of ordinary nontechnical text), Acrobat can make them searchable. You cannot do this for free.

editab9890853
editab9890853Author
Participant
February 12, 2018

Thank you so much for your response! How can I tell if the pdf is suitable (not locked, good quality scans of ordinary nontechnical text)?

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