There is perhaps a way to do this, but it's probably for Linux only. And even so, if you can do it, it probably won't be quite what you want (that is, pdf-to-odt format).
It's possible to extract the text from a pdf. The Linux tool is called pdftotext, and there are probably applications like it for Windoze and the rotten Apple, but again, they only extract text. If I were faced with this problem, I would try copying the text from the pdf, if your pdf reader will allow it. (Again, I am running Linux, so this usually isn't a problem.) Then I would paste the text into a blank odt document, one paragraph at a time. Or -- if the document isn't too long -- I would print out the pdf, or open it in your pdf reader, then type it in by hand. I know this probably isn't the solution you want, but there really aren't many other solutions. A pdf document is essentially a photograph of a text document. The actual text in the document is now only a picture of each page. Good luck! Bill On Friday 15 December 2023 09:33:18 Rory O'Farrell wrote: > On Fri, 15 Dec 2023 17:07:44 +0000 > > "W. Robert J. Funnell, Prof." <robert.funn...@mcgill.ca> wrote: > > I assume that by 'totally distorted' Yvonne meant that the text was > > present but the formatting was scrambled. If that is the case, I don't > > think that optical character recognition (OCR) software would do any > > better, and it might introduce errors in the text itself. > > > > I'm not aware of any better solution than using PDF-to-text conversion > > software, which is what I assume the Best Buy people did. It might be > > worth looking for such software that does a better job of reproducing the > > original formatting. In my experience, a fair amount of manual editing is > > required, depending on how complicated the formatting was. > > > > - Robert > > Almost every OCR program which produces plain text will require substantial > reformatting, which the proposed alterations may well require anyway. OCR, > no matter how accurately carried out, will have a small error rate: in my > experience 1% to 2%, which will require detailed proofreadng and > correction. > > Some careful searching may reveal PDF to ODT conversion programs that > preserve formatting, but the need for detailed proofreading and correction > will still exist. On the occasions I OCR long texts, I always reformat. > > Rory > > > ________________________________ > > From: Terence Warby <twcw.chenh...@gmail.com> > > Sent: December 15, 2023 10:38 > > To: users@openoffice.apache.org <users@openoffice.apache.org> > > Subject: Re: PDF to odt problem > > > > I think the best thing to do is to run the pdf file through an OCR > > program. This will recover the text and you can the edit this in > > OpenOffice writer. Hope this helps. ________________________________ > > From: AOL Mail <radiogoodh...@aol.com.INVALID> > > Sent: Friday, December 15, 2023 1:14:50 AM > > To: users@openoffice.apache.org <users@openoffice.apache.org> > > Subject: PDF to odt problem > > > > I am trying to change a PDF file to odt. I also take it to Best Buy and > > when the techs converted it to odt and wanted to open it on Open Office > > --- it was totally distorted. If I send you a PDF file can you convert > > it for me to odt, please. It is a book my husband, who is an author, > > wrote, and it needs some changes. My odt files disappeared, so the only > > way out is converting a PDF to odt. I will really appreciate it very much > > Yvonne Barkhuizen --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: users-unsubscr...@openoffice.apache.org For additional commands, e-mail: users-h...@openoffice.apache.org
