word count in pdf document

JuneBow

I have been emailed a document in pdf format. How can I do a word count of that?

PHARR

Hi June,

If the file has been created as .pdf document, one option is copying text to Word (sometimes you have to be careful as the words join up together).

Another one is using a special program for word count. (download trial for one-off use) Just google it or heres one i found very quickly http://www.anycount.com/try-free.

If the file has been created as a picture - the text is scanned and then made as .pdf document, the only option is manual counting.

Regards

eddddy

Just to expand on Paddy's comments...

It depends on what PDF reader you are using, whether the PDF file is protected and whether the content of the document is 'real text', or an image/picture of text (e.g. that has been scanned).

Assuming you have Adobe reader, an unprotected pdf file and the PDF contains 'real text' (not a picture of text), you can copy the text as Paddy suggests:

• From the Adobe Reader Toolbar... Click 'Edit' then 'Select All'. (All the text should now be highlighted.)
• Hit Ctrl+C to copy all the highlighted text
• Open a new MS Word Document. Hit Ctrl+V to paste the text into the doc, and take a look at the word count.

If the PDF is protected, you wont be able to copy the text in this way. You can google for software to remove the protection (but be careful of dodgy malware).

I suspect that the pdf word count programs that Paddy describes will also work on protected files - but I've never used one.

If the text is in an image/picture, you can use online OCR software to convert it to real text - but depending on the quality of the image, you may get variable results.

PHARR

eddddy wrote: »

It depends on what PDF reader you are using, whether the PDF file is protected and whether the content of the document is 'real text', or an image/picture of text (e.g. that has been scanned).

Assuming you have Adobe reader, an unprotected pdf file and the
I suspect that the pdf word count programs that Paddy describes will also work on protected files - but I've never used one.

Thanks Eddddy, I too have not used a program before can i say i just gave you possible options June

paddyrg

June, sounds like the document is an assessment/application of some kind, word counts don't usually apply outside of that kind of world. As such, it is probably easier to get the sender to resend it as a word document which you can wordcount easily without messing around.