Deleting a block of text in a PDF document
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Thread: Deleting a block of text in a PDF document

  1. #1
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    Deleting a block of text in a PDF document

    I have a PDF document that consists of text arranged in three vertical columns. I would like to delete the left-most two columns. I am using a trial copy of Acrobat X Pro.

    I can't see how to delete the first two column and am having no luck getting help from Adobe or the Adobe users' forum. I would certainly appreciate help from Virtual Drs.

    FWIW: I see how to mark a block of text using the "crop" feature, but how do I delete the cropped area? I see only a "delete the page" option.

  2. #2
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    Do you have the original document that the .pdf was created from?

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    jdc2000: I do have the original hard copy (with the three columns of text) from which I obtained the pdf file via a scanner.

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    Rescan, probably need the professional mode on the scanner, and only select the part you want.

  5. #5
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    More Questions:

    Are you attempting to make a 2 column document out of a 3 column document, with the spacing changed to 1/2 of the page width for each column instead of 1/3 page width per column, or do you just want to block of blank out what is in the 3rd column?

    If you just want to blank out what is in the 3rd column, the easy way is to use a blank piece of paper to cover the unwanted column. This is easiest if you have a flatbed scanner. With an autofeed scanner you would need to tape it over the original page.

    Are you wanting to be able to edit the text as well? If yes, then you should consider using your OCR software to read the text and make a Word (or Wordpad) document out of the page, then edit it in Word (or Wordpad), then print it to a .pdf file.

  6. #6
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    Thanks. I will see if my scanner offers that selectivity option.

  7. #7
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    Unfortunately this scanner (with auto feed) does not have OCR. And since I have 150 pages, masking off the columns I don't want is not really a solution.

  8. #8
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    150 pages - useful information.

    Does your scanner software allow you to select the area of the page(s) to be scanned. If yes, that would be an easy way to crop the unwanted column.

    If no, then another solution might be to scan the pages to .bmp, .tif, or .jpg files, and then use Irfanview, Fastone, or Photoshop to batch crop them (assuming that the same crop values would apply to all of the pages). Then, batch print them to .pdf files. I am assuming that you want each page as a separate .pdf file.

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  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by SpywareDr View Post
    You'll need to convert it to editable text first.

    Google: online ocr
    Yes, I think that is the real problem. The file I have is not a real PDF file!

    That file ---- that I obtained by scanning pages of text with a scanner that does not have OCR capability --- carries the extension pdf. That is, the file I get is, say, myfile.pdf. I can view that file using Adobe Acrobat but it is not editable, nor can I select out any piece of it (crop out) as a separate file. Rather, the file appears to be just an image of the scanned page.

    Why I wonder does it carry the pdf extension? Why isnt it a jpg? Why does Adobe permit such a file to be labelled a PDF file when it is not? What am I missing here?

    I have tried several so-called PDF-to WORD converters on this file without success and I have given up trying. But let me ask one final time ….. are there any (free or for-fee) OCR aps around that I can install on my XP desktop that will convert text within an image into editable text (WORD or Wordpad)?

    Thanks for your patience.

  11. #11
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    The file you have is a real .pdf file, it just contains only an image of the page. If you have Acrobat X Pro, that should have OCR capability, provided the image is of decent enough quality.

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    Quote Originally Posted by wdc View Post
    I see how to mark a block of text using the "crop" feature, but how do I delete the cropped area? I see only a "delete the page" option.
    Sounds like either you have mistaken another tool for the crop tool or you are not using the crop tool correctly. The Crop tool is under Tools > Advanced Editing. Using the crop tool, the area that is inside the "box" that you drag out with the pointer is the area that will be retained - not the other way around. So, drag out a box so that it surrounds the column you want to keep and hit "Enter". In the dialog box that comes up, under "Page Range", select "All", so that the same cropping will apply to all 150 pages at the same time - of course, this will only be good if the column that you wanna keep is roughly at the same position on all the pages.

    And, FWIW, your pdf is a real pdf. Since you obtain it via scanning, it is essentially a image (graphic) file; hence, on cut-and-paste on "text" as there is no "text". Like jdc2000 said, Acrobat X Pro has a "OCR Text Recognition" function (under "Document" in the menu). Apply that and you can then copy and paste text.
    Last edited by falcon2000; July 11th, 2012 at 12:52 AM.

  13. #13
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    falcon2000: Thanks for the clarification. I'll keep playing with it.

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