Compound Path back to editable Text?

[Djtaz1200]

I have an .AI session and when I open it all of the text has already been converted to individual letters that are compound paths.

I'd like to edit the text. Is there a way to convert it back to editable text?

[Monika Gause]

There are two plugins: one of them being VectorFirstAid

I forgot the name of the other one.

Then you could turn it into a raster image and then let Acrobat OCR do the job of coverting it back to text.

Still you would need to find the font.

[Djtaz1200]

Thanks for the Input Monika. I will check out the software!

[Randy Hagan]

Monica's steering you right.

The fastest ways to get text from outline type are to either scan and import printed layouts into Adobe Actrobat PDFs, or export the job(s) from Illustrator as raster images, then create PDFs from the resulting .tif/.jpg files.

The vector graphics won't convert back into text. But by creating the pixel-based files, Acrobat's OCR functions will "read" the letterforms and convert them back to text. Please don't forget to proof the text after Acrobat converts it. Acrobat is very good at creating text files through OCR, but it isn't perfect. The potential for typos, potentially embarrassing typos, is there.

Hope this helps,

Randy

[Djtaz1200]

Thanks Randy. Will give it a shot!

[carlosgarro]

For this case, (as Monika) I highly recommend you VectorFirstAid https://astutegraphics.com/software/vectorfirstaid/

[Myra Ferguson]

I stumbled across a free extension in the Adobe Exchange called Krasbit Recognition. I haven't tried it, so I don't know how well it works. The description says it uses machine learning to restore text. If you try it out, I'd love to hear if it worked.

[meganchi]

@Monika Guase recommended Astute Graphics VectorFirst Aid plugin.

You can download a free 14 day trial that allows you to convert it back to live text.

One caveat to this plugin for future reference is that it only converts outlines to live text IF the font is already present on your computer.