Fix Adobe Acrobat Comparing PDFs as Scanned Images Instead of Text
Question details
The user needs to resolve an issue where a PDF editor compares a document as a scanned image instead of selectable text.
- Product
- Adobe Acrobat Pro DC 2019
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Comparing PDF output files generated by OpenText Exstream.
- Observed behavior
- The software reads the document as a scanned image rather than recognizing the selectable text during the file comparison process.
Verify whether the text in your current PDF is actually selectable by opening the file and attempting to highlight a paragraph with your mouse cursor.
Recreate the PDF using the Virtual PDF Printer
Printing the file through the virtual PDF printer can rebuild the document's internal structure, often restoring text recognition capabilities.
Sometimes, PDF files generated by third-party systems like OpenText Exstream are formatted in a way that PDF editors struggle to parse as text. Forcing the document to re-render via a virtual printer writes a fresh PDF structure.
Launch your PDF editor and open the problematic PDF generated by OpenText Exstream.
Attempt to highlight text in the document. If you cannot highlight individual words, the software currently perceives the page as an image.
Click on 'File' in the top menu bar, then select 'Print' to open the print dialog box.
In the 'Printer' drop-down menu, select 'Adobe PDF' (or your software's equivalent virtual PDF printer) instead of a physical printer, and click 'Print'.
Save the newly generated PDF to your computer. Open this new file and run the Compare tool again to check if the text is correctly recognized.
Convert and Compare Documents Effortlessly with WPS Office
If your PDF editor struggles with text recognition during comparisons, WPS Office offers a seamless solution. Use its built-in OCR to extract text from difficult PDFs, convert them to Word documents, and accurately use the powerful Document Compare feature.
- 1. Open the PDF in WPS Office: Launch WPS Office and open your problematic PDF file in the native PDF viewer.
- 2. Convert PDF to Word: Navigate to the 'Tools' tab and click on 'PDF to Word' to automatically extract the text into an editable document format.
- 3. Use OCR if necessary: If the document is purely a scanned image, select the 'OCR' tool first to force the software to recognize the characters before converting.
- 4. Compare documents in Writer: Open both converted documents in WPS Writer, navigate to the 'Review' tab, and click 'Compare' to precisely review the text differences side-by-side.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my generated PDF act like a scanned image?
Software that generates PDFs may render fonts as outlines or flatten the document layers upon export. This removes the underlying text code, causing PDF editors to read the entire page as a flat graphic.
How do I convert a scanned PDF into selectable text?
You must use an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) tool. Premium PDF editors and comprehensive office suites like WPS Office have an OCR feature that scans the image, recognizes the shapes of letters, and overlays selectable text.
Will printing to a virtual PDF printer degrade document quality?
No, it typically maintains crisp visual quality for text and vectors. However, it will flatten interactive elements like forms, bookmarks, or hyperlinks while restructuring the core file data.
