Is anyone able to copy text from Adobe's own documentation PDFs? If not, why would they prohibit it?

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
October 21, 2020
5 replies
259 views

While reading Adobe's official documenation on Photoshop/JavaScript scripting, I've noticed that it seems to be impossible to copy/paste text from the PDFs. This, of course, is very frustrating when trying to take notes or try out segments of code.

Example:
https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/acom/en/devnet/photoshop/pdfs/photoshop-scripting-guide-2020.pdf

^Try viewing that PDF either in browser or downloaded. Are you able to copy text from it?

I'm assuming that Adobe has locked these PDFs in a way that prevents copying text. Why would that be? Can we please have copy-enabled PDFs, Adobe?

Thank you for any feedback or guidance!

This topic has been closed for replies.

gernoth20933089

Participating Frequently

The mentioned file is password-protected:

I can mark parts, but I cannot copy them.

Strange that others can...

Best regards ...Gernot Hoffmann

Jeff Arola

Community Expert

Yes it is password protected, but it seems that not many non adobe applications actually enforce that restriction.

If you use a web browser like Firefox to open the pdf, then there are no copy restrictions enforced.

gernoth20933089

Participating Frequently

I'm using Firefox, but I think we have to modes how to open a PDF:
a) directly by Firefox software (password protection might be ignored).
b) using Acrobat in Firefox (my mode, password protection is valid).

Best regards ...Gernot Hoffmann