(→‎Commercial programs: please try out; add more)
(→‎Possible methods: using non-free Adobe Acrobat)
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==Possible methods==
==Possible methods==


* Acrobat has an "export as text" function There is supposed to be an option to save to RTF or Word format - but when we've checked (in Linux and Windows version) it only offers plain text. <!--If you open this in OpenOffice v 2.3 or greater, you should be able to export it as MediaWiki format. (Does this work smoothly?)-->
* Acrobat has an "export as text" function There is supposed to be an option to save to RTF or Word format - but apparently not in the free Adobe Reader. (If you have access to the larger non-free program Adobe Acrobat - v 5.0 or higher should work[http://www.library.mcgill.ca/edrs/services/publications/howto/PDFtoXLS/PDFtoExcel.html] - please try this and let us know here if it works. This is not free - but your workplace, university or school may be able to give you access to it. In the free program, (in Linux and Windows version) it seems to only offer plain text. <!--If you open this in OpenOffice v 2.3 or greater, you should be able to export it as MediaWiki format. (Does this work smoothly?)-->
* Use [[wikEd]] - this doesn't work yet, as the formatting is not saved when pasting into the edit box. Are there PDF readers or editors (or any other program which can open these files) which allow the formatting to be copied and pasted?
* Use [[wikEd]] - this doesn't work yet, as the formatting is not saved when pasting into the edit box. Are there PDF readers or editors (or any other program which can open these files) which allow the formatting to be copied and pasted?
* [[User talk:LeissKG]] - discussion on alternative techniques and issues in porting PDFs - OCR, text export.
* [[User talk:LeissKG]] - discussion on alternative techniques and issues in porting PDFs - OCR, text export.

Revision as of 05:00, 29 January 2008

This page is for exploring how to speed this process of porting PDF documents. The main help page (which needs updating) is at: Help:Porting content from PDF format.


Possible methods

  • Acrobat has an "export as text" function There is supposed to be an option to save to RTF or Word format - but apparently not in the free Adobe Reader. (If you have access to the larger non-free program Adobe Acrobat - v 5.0 or higher should work[1] - please try this and let us know here if it works. This is not free - but your workplace, university or school may be able to give you access to it. In the free program, (in Linux and Windows version) it seems to only offer plain text.
  • Use wikEd - this doesn't work yet, as the formatting is not saved when pasting into the edit box. Are there PDF readers or editors (or any other program which can open these files) which allow the formatting to be copied and pasted?
  • User talk:LeissKG - discussion on alternative techniques and issues in porting PDFs - OCR, text export.

Commercial programs

Question: are there free trial versions that do what we need? Help by trying them out. (These programs are not guaranteed - do some Googling to make sure they're safe, and/or make sure you've got good anti-spyware and anti-virus.)

These are not ideal, as 1. we can't invite everybody to help out without paying lots of money or stretching/breaking the licensing agreements, 2. they usually take an extra step, via Word, and 3. They're only for Windows.

But for reference (in case of desperation):

Images

  • Are images saved automatically during file export? It appears so for exporting to HTML/XML, at least. Do any of the formats include tags to indicate image location?
  • Export PDFs as (formated) text - help.adobe.com. Note: "Images in the PDF are saved by default in JPEG format." Is their location saved? Is there a way of smoothing the process of putting the image in right place in the wiki page?
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