VBA to convert PDF to EXCEL without using external software?
Ok here is a weird one for you guys,
I am looking for the best way to convert a pdf into an excel workbook(worksheet) without using a third party tool or upgrading to Adobe Pro. is this possible?
I am looking for the best way to convert a pdf into an excel workbook(worksheet) without using a third party tool or upgrading to Adobe Pro. is this possible?
it all depends on what do you expect as a result, or what your original pdf looks like, do you want a table look alike pdf to be converted into rows/columns, do you just want to put the text in the pds in any row in excel? what is your input and what would be your desired output?
I use Docudesk to do my PDF to Excel conversions. It works well. Send me a sample PDF and I will convert it and send it back.
> without ... upgrading to Adobe Pro
By that comment, I presume you have Adobe Acrobat Standard (not Pro), in which case the feature is there — via File>Save As>Spreadsheet. Or are you saying that you have Adobe Reader, not Adobe Acrobat (neither Standard nor Pro)? Regards, Joe
By that comment, I presume you have Adobe Acrobat Standard (not Pro), in which case the feature is there — via File>Save As>Spreadsheet. Or are you saying that you have Adobe Reader, not Adobe Acrobat (neither Standard nor Pro)? Regards, Joe
well questions states "without using external software?" , so i guess he only wants to do this using VBA
> I use Docudesk
> without using a third party tool
> without using a third party tool
ASKER
I have a download file from a website that includes multiple pages of a table of data, it is this data I need to be converted to Excel. This will need to be done on a monthly basis, not a one off instances. I am unable to download files due to lack of administrator rights for my PC. Hence the need for vba code.
ASKER
I currently am using Reader only. I am waiting to here back from my company's IT dept, to see if possible to upgrade to Pro.
do you have office installed?
if so ,try opening it in word, if it converts the table properly we can start from there to figure something using vba
if so ,try opening it in word, if it converts the table properly we can start from there to figure something using vba
ASKER
Yes I am using office 2016, but need it in Excel.
I understand you need it in excel, I just want to know if your pdf can be processed by office pdf libraries, opening it with word will let us know that
ASKER
yes Word does open the file with table structure intact. What do we need to do to save it in excel, and there a way to automate the pdf to word conversion?
ASKER
after cut and paste word to excel not all columns are pasted correctly, some formatting may need to be down.
> I currently am using Reader only. I am waiting to here back from my company's IT dept, to see if possible to upgrade to Pro.
You don't have to upgrade to Acrobat Pro. You can upgrade to Acrobat Standard, which is less expensive. Both have the Save As>Spreadsheet capability.
> download file from a website that includes multiple pages of a table of data, it is this data I need to be converted to Excel
Is the downloaded PDF an image-only PDF or does it have text? You can see this easily by opening the file in Adobe Reader and trying to highlight the text. See if you can select/copy the text and paste it into Notepad. If so, the PDF has text; but if the selection simply creates a big blue box, it is an image-only PDF (as shown at the 45-second mark in this 5-minute EE video). In the latter case, you would need to OCR it in order for conversion to Excel to create something sensible. The good new is that both Acrobat Standard and Acrobat Pro have OCR capability (Acrobat calls it Text Recognition). Regards, Joe
You don't have to upgrade to Acrobat Pro. You can upgrade to Acrobat Standard, which is less expensive. Both have the Save As>Spreadsheet capability.
> download file from a website that includes multiple pages of a table of data, it is this data I need to be converted to Excel
Is the downloaded PDF an image-only PDF or does it have text? You can see this easily by opening the file in Adobe Reader and trying to highlight the text. See if you can select/copy the text and paste it into Notepad. If so, the PDF has text; but if the selection simply creates a big blue box, it is an image-only PDF (as shown at the 45-second mark in this 5-minute EE video). In the latter case, you would need to OCR it in order for conversion to Excel to create something sensible. The good new is that both Acrobat Standard and Acrobat Pro have OCR capability (Acrobat calls it Text Recognition). Regards, Joe
ASKER
it does download as text, it tried your suggestion and it does paste into Notepad.
> it does download as text, it tried your suggestion and it does paste into Notepad.
That's good news — means you don't have to OCR it.
Some of our messages have crossed in time, but I think where we stand are (1) Word 2016 opens the PDF file with the table structure intact and (2) a copy/paste from Word to Excel works reasonably well, although some formatting needs to be done. So without using a third-party tool or upgrading from Adobe Reader to Adobe Acrobat, it sounds as if you have a workable solution. And since you said that you're doing it "on a monthly basis" (which I take to mean once a month), then doing the steps of opening a PDF in Word, selecting/copying/pasting into Excel, followed by some formatting/clean-up, isn't too painful. But if you want something more automated, see if your IT folks are willing to get you Adobe Acrobat Standard or Pro (not free) rather than Adobe Reader (free). Of course, from a Windows/Microsoft perspective, Adobe products are third-party tools, so if your IT folks insist on doing it "without using a third party tool", then they'll probably be unwilling to purchase Acrobat. Regards, Joe
That's good news — means you don't have to OCR it.
Some of our messages have crossed in time, but I think where we stand are (1) Word 2016 opens the PDF file with the table structure intact and (2) a copy/paste from Word to Excel works reasonably well, although some formatting needs to be done. So without using a third-party tool or upgrading from Adobe Reader to Adobe Acrobat, it sounds as if you have a workable solution. And since you said that you're doing it "on a monthly basis" (which I take to mean once a month), then doing the steps of opening a PDF in Word, selecting/copying/pasting into Excel, followed by some formatting/clean-up, isn't too painful. But if you want something more automated, see if your IT folks are willing to get you Adobe Acrobat Standard or Pro (not free) rather than Adobe Reader (free). Of course, from a Windows/Microsoft perspective, Adobe products are third-party tools, so if your IT folks insist on doing it "without using a third party tool", then they'll probably be unwilling to purchase Acrobat. Regards, Joe
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if it does not work for you, you can send me a copy of your pdf if possible and i can make adjustments.
Take a look at the Get External Data wizard for importing data from a website. If the Data on the website is in a table, you may be able to link directly to the table and download the data without having to go through the PDF route.
The Get Data wizard allows you to enter the web address in a browser style window within excel. If the data table is downloadable it will show with a symbol next to it and clicking on it will select the data table.
Thanks
Rob H
The Get Data wizard allows you to enter the web address in a browser style window within excel. If the data table is downloadable it will show with a symbol next to it and clicking on it will select the data table.
Thanks
Rob H
so it workied for you? fine? parrtially?
Thanks for the points, but I would really like to know how this worked fo you.
Thanks for the points, but I would really like to know how this worked fo you.