Can You Extract Structured Table Data from PDFs Without OCR?

Extracting Structured Table Data from PDFs Without OCR

Extracting tables from PDF documents while preserving their structure can be challenging without the use of OCR. This task requires emulating human table recognition capabilities in code.

In the case of the provided example, there is an additional hurdle to overcome: the PDF doesn't contain direct text extraction data. Attempts to copy and paste the text in Adobe Reader result in semi-random characters, indicating that the fonts used in the document are not encoded correctly.

This means reliable text extraction is impossible without using OCR. To determine if the text extraction is possible at all, it's recommended to try copying and pasting from Adobe Reader, as its text extraction methods are robust. If no sensible text can be extracted, finding a suitable text extraction solution will be even more challenging.

For future PDFs generated by the same software, it may still be possible to develop a custom solution based on the file's internal structure. However, for PDFs with varying table positions, this approach may not be practical.

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