Is it program or way PDF file is created, "Search for" gives no results?
Results 1 to 4 of 4

Thread: Is it program or way PDF file is created, "Search for" gives no results?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2000
    Location
    Aurora, CO, USA
    Posts
    951

    Is it program or way PDF file is created, "Search for" gives no results?

    I use FoxIt reader for pdf files. Some pdf files I can search, and some will tell me no results were found, and the first word in the file was what I searched for. Is it how the file was created tht causes this, or some setting I can change? Is there another program or an add-on I could use to be able to search? One suggestion I found was to use "Save as..." in the File menu and save the pdf as a txt file, then open that in the word processor. I did that and when I opened the txt file, there were the headers for all the pages, nothing more. This is for totally personal use, no business features are needed. Thanks for your time and suggestion.
    JGB

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2000
    Location
    Idaho Falls, Idaho, USA
    Posts
    18,063
    When you load the .pdf file into Adobe Reader, do you see a padlock symbol on the left side? If yes, the whoever created the .pdf file has "locked" it, which disables the ability to copy and paste text or search for text.

    If you do not see a padlock symbol, what happens when you attempt to highlight, copy, and paste a section of text (that is not part of the headings) into Notepad, Wordpad, or Word? Are you able to highlight the text you want to copy or search for in the .pdf, or does the entire section highlight? If you cannot highlight individual words or phrases, then the .pdf file may actually just be an embedded graphic file image which has not actual text, just a picture of the text (like when you create a screen capture). You cannot search for text in images unless you have some OCR (optical character recognition) software.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2000
    Location
    Aurora, CO, USA
    Posts
    951
    Thank you for your assistance. I have some pdf files that allow copying, and some do nothing when searching of trying o highlight, etc., and I thought maybe there was some part of the menu of the program that I needed to change. I also found some programs that claim to allow one to search and copy as add-ons, or extensions, but I realize with your information it depends upon how the pdf was created, not something in the viewer that can be changed.
    JGB

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 1998
    Location
    Toronto
    Posts
    25,427
    @austinray I have moved your question about Corel Draw to it's own thread here..

    http://discussions.virtualdr.com/sho...w-to-Photoshop

    VirtualDr email notices are not working.
    Check back regularly for responses.

    _____________________
    cat lovers click here

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •