Skip to main content
Participating Frequently
October 5, 2020
Answered

How do you collect text data from filled forms in local PDF files?

  • October 5, 2020
  • 2 replies
  • 2647 views

I have about 80 local PDF files having input forms that have been filled by students. I would like to extract text data from them so that I can easily score their answers. How do you do that by the latest Acrobat Pro? I need do that on local files.

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer try67

You didn't mention your version of Acrobat but it can be done using the Merge Data Files into Spreadsheet command, which is under Tools - Prepare Form (and then under More Form Options, in some versions).

2 replies

try67
try67Correct answer
Community Expert
October 5, 2020

You didn't mention your version of Acrobat but it can be done using the Merge Data Files into Spreadsheet command, which is under Tools - Prepare Form (and then under More Form Options, in some versions).

oxoxonAuthor
Participating Frequently
October 5, 2020

Thank you very much. It is what I was looking for and it worked, but all the Japanese characters in the form fields are broken after exporting to a CSV file.

try67
Community Expert
October 5, 2020

The encoding of the file created is UTF8, which might not cover Japanese characters. In order to do that you would need to use some other tool, I'm afraid. Maybe try exporting files as TXT or FDF files, and then merge them using a different utility. Another option is to use a script to do it, instead of the built-in Merge Data Files command.

Amal.
Community Manager
Community Manager
October 5, 2020

Hi there,

 

We are sorry for the trouble. As described, you want to extract data from the filled PDF form.

 

Please try the following steps and see if that helps

 

  1. In Acrobat, open the response file and select the data to export.
  2. In the left navigation panel, click Export, and then choose Export Selected.
  3. In the Select Folder To Save File dialog box, specify a name, location, and file format (CSV or XML) for the form data, and click Save.

 

For more information please look at the help page https://helpx.adobe.com/in/acrobat/using/collecting-pdf-form-data.html#export_user_data_from_a_response_file

 

Regards

Amal

oxoxonAuthor
Participating Frequently
October 5, 2020

The PDF files were collected via a web form as a file attachment, and so the individual users have not submitted the form. In this case, how do I create and initializethe response file you mentioned? Thank you very much for your help.