PDF not selecting text properly (huge selection)

[ainal71745830]

Can someone tell me why is this happening? I have a regular pdf file with text on, but whenever I try selecting a portion or highlighting it, it selects a giant portion as if the font size was giant. I tried the "recognize text" tool (OCR) but did nothing. It's also not the first file I encounter this problem with.

Thanks in advance.

[try67 · Accepted solution]

This is usually the result of an incorrect font encoding when the file is first created. I assume you have Acrobat because Reader can't do OCR. If that's the case one possible workaround is to re-create the file. Export all pages as images, then create a new PDF from those images and run Text Recognition on it. Hopefully that will solve it. You should also report this issue to the authors of the PDF file.

[ainal71745830]

Thank you! It worked as you said, now I can finally select text properly. The quality dropped a little bit, but I guess that's because of the conversion from pdf to image file.

[intelligent_artistry0942]

Sadly, this solution would ruin the quality of the archive, image, etc.
This Acrobat bug is soo annoying

[AnandSri]

Hello @intelligent_artistry0942

I hope you are doing well, and thank you for reaching out.

Are you experiencing the issue with the latest version of Acrobat: 25.001.20693 Planned update, Sept 09, 2025? 

This issue is typically caused by incorrect font encoding or missing embedded fonts when the PDF was first created. Specifically:

• The text may be rendered as vector shapes or non-standard font mappings, which causes Acrobat to treat it as a large object.
• OCR (Optical Character Recognition) may not work if the text is already selectable but improperly encoded.
• Acrobat may substitute fonts if the original font is unavailable, leading to distorted or oversized selection areas

Check Font Embedding

Open the PDF in Acrobat.
Go to File > Properties > Fonts tab.
See if the fonts are listed as Embedded or Subset.
If fonts are missing or substituted, Acrobat may not interpret the text correctly.

Use OCR with Custom Settings
If the text is scanned or image-based:

Go to All Tools > Edit a PDF.
In the left panel, click Settings > More Settings.
Deselect “Use available system font”.
Click OK and run OCR again.

Instead of exporting pages as images (which reduces quality), try this:

Use Print to PDF from the original source (e.g., Word, InDesign) with font embedding enabled.
Or use Adobe PDF Printer and deselect “Rely on system fonts only” in the printer properties.

Use Preflight Fixups (Advanced)

Go to All Tools > Print Production > Preflight.
Search for “Embed missing fonts” or “Fix font encoding”.
Run the fixup to repair font issues without converting to images.

I hope this information helps.

Thanks,

Anand Sri.