textutil convert PDF to txt producing garbled output
I am trying to convert PDF files to text files using textutil. I don't if there are special types of PDFs that can and cannot be converted. The files I am trying to convert are in a searchable format, which I assume is a minimum requirement. When I convert the file, the text document is completed garbled output. Here is my code:
textutil -convert txt example.pdf
Here are some of the first lines, in case that helps to identify where I am going wrong:
%PDF-1.3
%ƒÂÚÂÎßÛ†–ƒ∆
4 0 obj
<< /Length 5 0 R /Filter /FlateDecode >>
stream
xÌõYè‹∏«flı)8>2”„å,R%Ÿªõ¯fixs9ôM‚<YÅ`„Ô‰W,J¢‘íF3”@^2Z›<ädˇ:(ˇl>òüçuπ´Í¶ñ¶nõº.⁄⁄
4>~˘œ?Ã_ÕøÕ”W_≠˘Ù’·fl◊OL.ò´øÂKI5ÖÀª∫*≥O_ÃÀk”‘aH|1OØØù
±Ê˙'sqv0◊ˇ2oÆ√Vñ©˘÷Êmy2jæ»;P+Ú¢(*s˝ikó3>z¸ãõæ8;èè˙΄·ê—z~=|
¯D˝rËî)WÈå<˝¡ÒˇnÆfl/3¿’UnõÆ4~∫Á;Ú”µ≠J˙4‰JWùîgz8€]êªA@g¸≠kRŸ¯‹÷ùàëeÁÔπUŸÓ÷Ü´≤Œ
I'm guessing it has to do with some encoding feature -- not my area of expertise, so any assistance would be greatly appreciated!
pdf conversion text
asked Mar 31 '15 at 14:23
Brian PBrian P
1618
bumped to the homepage by Community♦ 49 mins ago
This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed.
add a comment |
I am trying to convert PDF files to text files using textutil. I don't if there are special types of PDFs that can and cannot be converted. The files I am trying to convert are in a searchable format, which I assume is a minimum requirement. When I convert the file, the text document is completed garbled output. Here is my code:
textutil -convert txt example.pdf
Here are some of the first lines, in case that helps to identify where I am going wrong:
%PDF-1.3
%ƒÂÚÂÎßÛ†–ƒ∆
4 0 obj
<< /Length 5 0 R /Filter /FlateDecode >>
stream
xÌõYè‹∏«flı)8>2”„å,R%Ÿªõ¯fixs9ôM‚<YÅ`„Ô‰W,J¢‘íF3”@^2Z›<ädˇ:(ˇl>òüçuπ´Í¶ñ¶nõº.⁄⁄
4>~˘œ?Ã_ÕøÕ”W_≠˘Ù’·fl◊OL.ò´øÂKI5ÖÀª∫*≥O_ÃÀk”‘aH|1OØØù
±Ê˙'sqv0◊ˇ2oÆ√Vñ©˘÷Êmy2jæ»;P+Ú¢(*s˝ikó3>z¸ãõæ8;èè˙΄·ê—z~=|
¯D˝rËî)WÈå<˝¡ÒˇnÆfl/3¿’UnõÆ4~∫Á;Ú”µ≠J˙4‰JWùîgz8€]êªA@g¸≠kRŸ¯‹÷ùàëeÁÔπUŸÓ÷Ü´≤Œ
I'm guessing it has to do with some encoding feature -- not my area of expertise, so any assistance would be greatly appreciated!
pdf conversion text
asked Mar 31 '15 at 14:23
Brian PBrian P
1618
bumped to the homepage by Community♦ 49 mins ago
This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed.
1
Have you tried your luck with poppler's pdftotext/html? Not every PDF can be converted that way. See if you can search for text in the PDF, if that doesn't work then you might have to resort to OCR
– frostschutz
Mar 31 '15 at 14:59
The lines that you show here is the PDF.
– A.B.
Mar 31 '15 at 15:45
@frostschutz That alternative worked perfectly. After install, I ranpdftotext example.pdfand it produced exactly what I needed. Feel free to suggest in the answer and I will accept!
– Brian P
Mar 31 '15 at 16:05
add a comment |
I am trying to convert PDF files to text files using textutil. I don't if there are special types of PDFs that can and cannot be converted. The files I am trying to convert are in a searchable format, which I assume is a minimum requirement. When I convert the file, the text document is completed garbled output. Here is my code:
textutil -convert txt example.pdf
Here are some of the first lines, in case that helps to identify where I am going wrong:
%PDF-1.3
%ƒÂÚÂÎßÛ†–ƒ∆
4 0 obj
<< /Length 5 0 R /Filter /FlateDecode >>
stream
xÌõYè‹∏«flı)8>2”„å,R%Ÿªõ¯fixs9ôM‚<YÅ`„Ô‰W,J¢‘íF3”@^2Z›<ädˇ:(ˇl>òüçuπ´Í¶ñ¶nõº.⁄⁄
4>~˘œ?Ã_ÕøÕ”W_≠˘Ù’·fl◊OL.ò´øÂKI5ÖÀª∫*≥O_ÃÀk”‘aH|1OØØù
±Ê˙'sqv0◊ˇ2oÆ√Vñ©˘÷Êmy2jæ»;P+Ú¢(*s˝ikó3>z¸ãõæ8;èè˙΄·ê—z~=|
¯D˝rËî)WÈå<˝¡ÒˇnÆfl/3¿’UnõÆ4~∫Á;Ú”µ≠J˙4‰JWùîgz8€]êªA@g¸≠kRŸ¯‹÷ùàëeÁÔπUŸÓ÷Ü´≤Œ
I'm guessing it has to do with some encoding feature -- not my area of expertise, so any assistance would be greatly appreciated!
pdf conversion text
asked Mar 31 '15 at 14:23
Brian PBrian P
1618
I am trying to convert PDF files to text files using textutil. I don't if there are special types of PDFs that can and cannot be converted. The files I am trying to convert are in a searchable format, which I assume is a minimum requirement. When I convert the file, the text document is completed garbled output. Here is my code:
textutil -convert txt example.pdf
Here are some of the first lines, in case that helps to identify where I am going wrong:
%PDF-1.3
%ƒÂÚÂÎßÛ†–ƒ∆
4 0 obj
<< /Length 5 0 R /Filter /FlateDecode >>
stream
xÌõYè‹∏«flı)8>2”„å,R%Ÿªõ¯fixs9ôM‚<YÅ`„Ô‰W,J¢‘íF3”@^2Z›<ädˇ:(ˇl>òüçuπ´Í¶ñ¶nõº.⁄⁄
4>~˘œ?Ã_ÕøÕ”W_≠˘Ù’·fl◊OL.ò´øÂKI5ÖÀª∫*≥O_ÃÀk”‘aH|1OØØù
±Ê˙'sqv0◊ˇ2oÆ√Vñ©˘÷Êmy2jæ»;P+Ú¢(*s˝ikó3>z¸ãõæ8;èè˙΄·ê—z~=|
¯D˝rËî)WÈå<˝¡ÒˇnÆfl/3¿’UnõÆ4~∫Á;Ú”µ≠J˙4‰JWùîgz8€]êªA@g¸≠kRŸ¯‹÷ùàëeÁÔπUŸÓ÷Ü´≤Œ
I'm guessing it has to do with some encoding feature -- not my area of expertise, so any assistance would be greatly appreciated!
pdf conversion text
pdf conversion text
asked Mar 31 '15 at 14:23
Brian PBrian P
1618
asked Mar 31 '15 at 14:23
Brian PBrian P
1618
edited Mar 31 '15 at 14:38
Brian P
asked Mar 31 '15 at 14:23
Brian PBrian P
1618
asked Mar 31 '15 at 14:23
Brian PBrian P
1618
asked Mar 31 '15 at 14:23
Brian PBrian P
1618
1618
bumped to the homepage by Community♦ 49 mins ago
This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed.
bumped to the homepage by Community♦ 49 mins ago
This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed.
1
Have you tried your luck with poppler's pdftotext/html? Not every PDF can be converted that way. See if you can search for text in the PDF, if that doesn't work then you might have to resort to OCR
– frostschutz
Mar 31 '15 at 14:59
The lines that you show here is the PDF.
– A.B.
Mar 31 '15 at 15:45
@frostschutz That alternative worked perfectly. After install, I ranpdftotext example.pdfand it produced exactly what I needed. Feel free to suggest in the answer and I will accept!
– Brian P
Mar 31 '15 at 16:05
add a comment |
1
Have you tried your luck with poppler's pdftotext/html? Not every PDF can be converted that way. See if you can search for text in the PDF, if that doesn't work then you might have to resort to OCR
– frostschutz
Mar 31 '15 at 14:59
The lines that you show here is the PDF.
– A.B.
Mar 31 '15 at 15:45
@frostschutz That alternative worked perfectly. After install, I ranpdftotext example.pdfand it produced exactly what I needed. Feel free to suggest in the answer and I will accept!
– Brian P
Mar 31 '15 at 16:05
1
1
Have you tried your luck with poppler's pdftotext/html? Not every PDF can be converted that way. See if you can search for text in the PDF, if that doesn't work then you might have to resort to OCR
– frostschutz
Mar 31 '15 at 14:59
Have you tried your luck with poppler's pdftotext/html? Not every PDF can be converted that way. See if you can search for text in the PDF, if that doesn't work then you might have to resort to OCR
– frostschutz
Mar 31 '15 at 14:59
The lines that you show here is the PDF.
– A.B.
Mar 31 '15 at 15:45
The lines that you show here is the PDF.
– A.B.
Mar 31 '15 at 15:45
@frostschutz That alternative worked perfectly. After install, I ran
pdftotext example.pdf and it produced exactly what I needed. Feel free to suggest in the answer and I will accept!– Brian P
Mar 31 '15 at 16:05
@frostschutz That alternative worked perfectly. After install, I ran
pdftotext example.pdf and it produced exactly what I needed. Feel free to suggest in the answer and I will accept!– Brian P
Mar 31 '15 at 16:05
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
With reference to TEXTUTIL(1) manual page it seems pdf is not between formats managed by this utility:
fmt is one of: txt, html, rtf, rtfd, doc, docx, wordml, odt, or webarchive
On Linux/Unix installing a scriptable product like XPDF/pdftotext may be a valid solution like some comment already suggested.
For those on OS X it's possible extract text from PDF by a native OS X automator action ( ..see this answer or last 4' of this tutorial) then consider that automator's workflow can be "scripted" via CLI automator command
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:45
Community♦
1
answered Jul 31 '15 at 9:04
Franco RondiniFranco Rondini
1114
add a comment |
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With reference to TEXTUTIL(1) manual page it seems pdf is not between formats managed by this utility:
fmt is one of: txt, html, rtf, rtfd, doc, docx, wordml, odt, or webarchive
On Linux/Unix installing a scriptable product like XPDF/pdftotext may be a valid solution like some comment already suggested.
For those on OS X it's possible extract text from PDF by a native OS X automator action ( ..see this answer or last 4' of this tutorial) then consider that automator's workflow can be "scripted" via CLI automator command
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:45
Community♦
1
answered Jul 31 '15 at 9:04
Franco RondiniFranco Rondini
1114
add a comment |
With reference to TEXTUTIL(1) manual page it seems pdf is not between formats managed by this utility:
fmt is one of: txt, html, rtf, rtfd, doc, docx, wordml, odt, or webarchive
On Linux/Unix installing a scriptable product like XPDF/pdftotext may be a valid solution like some comment already suggested.
For those on OS X it's possible extract text from PDF by a native OS X automator action ( ..see this answer or last 4' of this tutorial) then consider that automator's workflow can be "scripted" via CLI automator command
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:45
Community♦
1
answered Jul 31 '15 at 9:04
Franco RondiniFranco Rondini
1114
add a comment |
With reference to TEXTUTIL(1) manual page it seems pdf is not between formats managed by this utility:
fmt is one of: txt, html, rtf, rtfd, doc, docx, wordml, odt, or webarchive
On Linux/Unix installing a scriptable product like XPDF/pdftotext may be a valid solution like some comment already suggested.
For those on OS X it's possible extract text from PDF by a native OS X automator action ( ..see this answer or last 4' of this tutorial) then consider that automator's workflow can be "scripted" via CLI automator command
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:45
Community♦
1
answered Jul 31 '15 at 9:04
Franco RondiniFranco Rondini
1114
With reference to TEXTUTIL(1) manual page it seems pdf is not between formats managed by this utility:
fmt is one of: txt, html, rtf, rtfd, doc, docx, wordml, odt, or webarchive
On Linux/Unix installing a scriptable product like XPDF/pdftotext may be a valid solution like some comment already suggested.
For those on OS X it's possible extract text from PDF by a native OS X automator action ( ..see this answer or last 4' of this tutorial) then consider that automator's workflow can be "scripted" via CLI automator command
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:45
Community♦
1
answered Jul 31 '15 at 9:04
Franco RondiniFranco Rondini
1114
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:45
Community♦
1
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:45
Community♦
1
edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:45
Community♦
1
1
answered Jul 31 '15 at 9:04
Franco RondiniFranco Rondini
1114
answered Jul 31 '15 at 9:04
Franco RondiniFranco Rondini
1114
answered Jul 31 '15 at 9:04
Franco RondiniFranco Rondini
1114
1114
add a comment |
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1
Have you tried your luck with poppler's pdftotext/html? Not every PDF can be converted that way. See if you can search for text in the PDF, if that doesn't work then you might have to resort to OCR
– frostschutz
Mar 31 '15 at 14:59
The lines that you show here is the PDF.
– A.B.
Mar 31 '15 at 15:45
@frostschutz That alternative worked perfectly. After install, I ran
pdftotext example.pdfand it produced exactly what I needed. Feel free to suggest in the answer and I will accept!– Brian P
Mar 31 '15 at 16:05