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SuomiPhil
Inspiring
June 13, 2020
Answered

how to convert PDF text to 2 columns

  • June 13, 2020
  • 4 replies
  • 19933 views

I was given a multi-page PDF in landscape format which contains multiple sections all in one column. The text in the columns are, obviously, too wide. I would like to convert each section text to multiple columns for easier reading. 

 

Is there a way to do that in Acrobat?

 

Obviously, it would be easy to do in Indesign, but the file came to me in PDF format. (It is almost 20 pages. And it contains over 30 sections of text).

 

Is there any solution in Acrobat?

 

Thanks,

 

P

    Correct answer JR Boulay

    Yes, you should not do this with Acrobat.

    Export as PPTX to edit in Powerpoint.

    Export as DOCX to edit in Word, or to import in InDesign.

    4 replies

    D
    Daku22442906hub6
    New Participant
    December 30, 2021

    Steps to do this are below;

    1.In order to do this correctly. First you open the MS word 2003 or up is recommended.

    2. Click on PAGE LAYOUT tab  and 

    3. Click on Columns tab and from drop down select how many columns you want

    4. Copy the text from the Adobe Acrobat and select and copy all the text.

    5. now go to MS Word and paste it as text (A)

    It should work for you.

    Thanks

    JR Boulay
    JR BoulayCorrect answer
    Braniac
    June 14, 2020

    Yes, you should not do this with Acrobat.

    Export as PPTX to edit in Powerpoint.

    Export as DOCX to edit in Word, or to import in InDesign.

    Acrobate du PDF, InDesigner et Photoshopographe
      T
      Test Screen Name
      Braniac
      June 14, 2020

      This would be beyond painful to in Acrobat. Maybe export the text to Word to start reworking it into a new layout. 

      try67
      try67
      Braniac
      June 14, 2020

      I recommend you do not try to do that in Acrobat. Either ask for the original file, or export it to an editable format (like Word on InDesign), or re-create it. This kind of extensive editing should not be performed on a PDF file, which was never meant to be edited in this way.

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