A Guide to Open Source PDF Extractors

April 7, 2023637 views

PDF files are widely used in various industries, including legal, finance, and healthcare. These files often contain important information that needs to be extracted for analysis or reporting purposes. However, extracting data from PDF files can be a time-consuming and challenging task, especially if the file contains complex or unstructured data. Fortunately, there are many open source PDF extractors available that can make this process easier and more efficient. In this article, we'll explore some of the best open source PDF extractors and recommend WPS PDF as the top option due to its user-friendly interface, advanced features, and affordability.

Offline PDF Extractors

1. PDFsam Basic

PDFsam Basic is an open source PDF extractor that can be used offline. PDFsam Basic allows users to extract specific pages, split or merge PDF files, and extract text and images. PDFsam Basic is free to download and use.

Review

"Awesome software for basic PDF edition"

What do you like best about PDFsam Basic?

This software is very simple to use, it has a self explanatory and intuitive interface with a strong set of options to better organize my PDF files. The document manipulation functionalities are very vast, and for those only looking to merge and split files or extract, mix and rotate PDFs quickly, this tool comes in very handy. Another feature to remark about it is the fact that I can manipulate large size files very smoothly without crashes and lags

2. Tabula

Tabula is another open source PDF extractor that can be used offline. Tabula allows users to extract tables and data from PDF files, which can be exported into CSV or Microsoft Excel formats. Tabula is free to download and use. Tabula is a great tool for data analysis and research, as it can save a significant amount of time by automating the process of data extraction from PDF documents. It has a user-friendly interface and can handle large PDF files efficiently.

Review

Apr 05, 2019

"Easy to use, perfect for table extraction"

What do you like best about Tabula?

This is the best software by far. I hate copying tables! This tool makes it so easy! Save time and money

Online PDF Extractors

1. SmallPDF

SmallPDF is an online PDF extractor that offers a wide range of features, including the ability to extract specific pages, split or merge PDF files, and extract text and images. It is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, as well as iOS and Android devices. SmallPDF offers both free and paid versions, with the paid version offering additional features such as unlimited documents and storage.

Review

"A great tool to compress and modify your PDF documents."

What do you like best about Smallpdf?

What I like the best about Small PDF are all the features this tool provides even if you are in the free version. You can compress PDF

files without losing the quality of the document and this will allow you to send any document you want via email or even WhatsApp.

Also, the function of converting a PDF to word has helped me a lot when I needed to modify a PDF document.

2. PDF Candy

PDF Candy is another online PDF extractor that allows users to extract specific pages, split or merge PDF files, and extract text and images. It is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, as well as iOS and Android devices. PDF Candy offers both free and paid versions, with the paid version offering additional features such as no ads and unlimited tasks.

Review

"Every PDF Tool you will ever need"

What do you like best about PDF Candy?

-PDF Candy is one of my go-to and daily use tools. It is a great tool for all the PDF conversions one will ever need.

-Whether it is PDF to Doc, PDF to Excel, JPG to PDF.

-The interface is pretty simple and easy to understand for new users.

3. WPS PDF

WPS PDF is an open source PDF extractor that offers both offline and online capabilities. It is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, as well as iOS and Android devices. WPS PDF allows users to extract specific pages, split or merge PDF files, and extract text and images. It also offers advanced features such as OCR technology, which can recognize text in scanned documents and convert it into editable text.

FAQs on Open Source PDF Extractor

What open source software extracts PDF data?

There are several open-source software programs available that can extract data from PDF files such as PDFSam Basic and Tabula.

How can I extract PDF files for free?

To extract data from a PDF file for free using WPS Office, you can try the following steps:

  • Open the WPS PDF Viewer or WPS Writer program.

  • Click on the "Open" button to select the PDF file that you want to extract data from.

  • Once the file is opened, select the text or images that you want to extract.

  • Right-click on the selected content and choose the "Copy" option from the drop-down menu.

  • Open a new document or text editor program (such as Microsoft Word or Notepad).

  • Right-click in the new document or text editor and choose the "Paste" option from the drop-down menu.

  • The selected content should now be pasted into the new document or text editor.

What PDF Extractor Would be the Best Option?

Open source PDF extractors can help you extract important data from PDF files more efficiently and effectively. Whether you're looking for an offline or online option, there are many open source extractors available that can meet your needs. However, we recommend WPS PDF as the best open source PDF extractor due to its user-friendly interface, advanced features, and affordability. So why not give it a try by clicking here and take your PDF extraction experience to the next level?

15 years of office industry experience, tech lover and copywriter. Follow me for product reviews, comparisons, and recommendations for new apps and software.