Why can't I copy the text from a PDF?

windows windows-xp pdf pdf-reader

19,709

Solution 1

This answer has the solution:

How does a PDF prevent itself from being printed?

The print permission is in the pdf file itself and is mostly used by Adobe products. Some products pay it attention, and some others print it anyway. It is quite easy to remove.

See the article [How To Unlock Adobe PDF Files][1], where it explains how to use [Freeware PDF Unlocker][2] to remove this and other passwords.

Warning : Comment by Chris Betti says

As of Oct 7, 2013, the Freeware PDF Unlocker setup installs unwanted software without confirmation, and fails to install the product itself.

Use older versions (if can be found) or search for another product.

[1]: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-unlock-adobe-pdf-files-2/
[2]: http://freeware-pdf-unlocker.en.softonic.com/

Solution 2

Some PDFs are protected so you can't copy the text. This link shows how to do it in Acrobat.

Another possibility is that your "text" file is actually an image, i.e. it is created from a scan or a screendump. In that case it is still readable, but there is no text in it. If this is the case, a single click on the "text" in Acrobat will shade the whole text in a blue box.

Solution 3

These are protected or restricted document.You can't copy text from it.

You can remove it online

https://smallpdf.com/unlock-pdf

19,709

Rookie

Updated on September 18, 2022

Comments

Rookie almost 2 years

I have a pdf that I can't copy text from.

I have tried several pdf readers: Foxit, Sumatra, PDF-XChange, mupdf
NONE of them allows me to simply copy the text!

What could cause this?
- user5249203 almost 12 years
  
  Can you post a link to a small PDF that demonstrates the issue?
- Mokubai almost 12 years
  
  This does depend a lot on the PDF file concerned as almost every PDF viewer I have seen has a text select tool and can copy to clipboard but the PDF file itself can request the copy functionality to be disabled.
- Peter Mortensen almost 12 years
  
  This issue may be due to password protection of the PDF file (that may prevent copying and/or printing) and not affected a particular PDF reader.
- Rookie almost 12 years
  
  @PeterMortensen, damn... post it as an answer & i accept it. it really did work!
- Peter Mortensen almost 12 years
  
  @Rookie: Unfortunately, this question has been closed, so I can't post an answer.
- Rookie over 11 years
  
  @PeterMortensen, you could request it to be opened again (click reopen button under the tags). i dont have enough power for doing that yet.
- slhck over 11 years
  
  Question reopened, you can post the answer and even accept it. But please remove it from the question again! Cheers!
Rookie almost 12 years

I can select the text... but i cant copy it, at least not for free.
Rookie almost 12 years

Looks like the text was converted to vector graphics, thats why i couldnt copy it. I really thought that every single PDF reader has made the feature only for registered versions, that made more sense than someone converting text into vector graphics!
Rookie almost 12 years

Ehh... i dont know what it is anymore. I can search the text by pressing that web-search button on foxit, but i cant copy it inside the program, only from the webpage where the Foxit copies it to.
phuclv about 7 years

if the file is stored as images then even if it's unlocked you still can't copy it, unless you use some OCR tool