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Extract text

Export selectable PDF text to a UTF-8 text file.

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PDF · up to 4 MB and 20 pages · one file

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Download-only results. No automatic upload.

Before you start

Extract available text in selected page order. Scans need the separate browser OCR tool; complex reading order and fonts can limit extraction quality.

Input: One PDF
Output: UTF-8 text

Supported files & limits

One PDF up to 4 MB and 20 pages. OCR can instead take one JPG/PNG scan. PDF-to-images and OCR render at most five selected pages, 2 million pixels each and 4 million total. Results: 2 MiB total, temporarily available in this tab for up to 15 minutes.

Supported PDFs include bounded compressed object and cross-reference streams and validated incremental revisions. Forms, attachments, scripts, signatures, hybrid references and unsupported compression remain unavailable. Unlock supported encrypted PDFs first. Images use standard 8-bit PNG or JPEG.

Engine notices

How to use this tool

Validate your PDF
Choose pages
Download extracted text

Help with PDFLane

1Choose files
2Check options
3Download & review

Get a useful result

How to extract selectable PDF text

Export selectable text from chosen pages as UTF-8. The tool reads text in the supported PDF rather than recognizing pictures of words.

Review reading order in columns and tables before using the text.
For a scanned page without selectable text, use Scan to text (OCR).

Common questions

Why was no text found?

The page may be an image or use an unsupported text structure. Try OCR for a supported scan.

Will formatting be preserved?

The download is plain text. It does not preserve font styling, images or the original page layout.

How to extract selectable PDF text

Common questions

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