How to Extract an Order ID from a PDF and Create a Barcode in Acrobat
Question details
The user wants to pull an order ID from a scanned PDF form and convert it into a functional, scannable barcode.
- Product
- Adobe Acrobat
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Processing scanned order forms and automating barcode generation for inventory tracking or document workflows.
- Observed behavior
- Static scanned text needs to be recognized and passed into a barcode field or external tool to become a scannable element.
Ensure your scanned PDF document has a high enough resolution (at least 300 DPI) for the Optical Character Recognition (OCR) engine to accurately identify the Order ID.
Use Adobe Acrobat OCR and Form Fields
Extract text using the built-in OCR tool, assign it to a text field, and link it to a barcode form field using Acrobat's form properties.
Adobe Acrobat cannot automatically turn scanned text into a barcode on its own. You must first use OCR to make the text editable, copy it into a designated text field, and then map that field to a barcode element.
Open the scanned PDF in Adobe Acrobat, navigate to the 'Scan & OCR' tool in the right pane, and click 'Recognize Text' > 'In This File'.
Go to 'Prepare Form' in the tools menu. Add a standard Text Field to the document and manually copy or type the extracted Order ID into this field.
While still in the 'Prepare Form' mode, select the Barcode icon from the top toolbar and place it on your document.
Right-click the barcode field and select 'Properties'. Go to the 'Value' tab, check 'Pick field amounts to encode', and select the text field containing your Order ID.
Print the page or use a digital barcode scanner app to verify that the generated barcode correctly outputs the Order ID.
Extract Text and Use an External Barcode Generator
Manually extract the Order ID using any PDF reader's OCR capability and use a free external service to generate the barcode image.
Extract PDF Data Easily with WPS Office
WPS PDF offers a highly accurate OCR tool that makes extracting order IDs from scanned documents quick and painless. You can easily copy the recognized data and use it in your barcode generators or tracking workflows.
- 1. Open your scanned PDF: Launch WPS Office and open the scanned order form in the WPS PDF editor.
- 2. Apply OCR: Navigate to the 'Tools' tab and click on the 'OCR' button to convert the image into selectable text.
- 3. Copy the Order ID: Select the newly recognized Order ID text, right-click, and choose 'Copy'.
- 4. Utilize the data: Paste the extracted ID into your preferred barcode generation tool, and use the 'Insert Image' feature in WPS PDF to paste the final barcode back into the document.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I batch-process multiple PDFs to extract Order IDs?
Yes, but standard PDF editors usually process files one by one. Batch extraction typically requires advanced PDF automation software or custom Python scripts using libraries like PyPDF2 along with an OCR engine like Tesseract.
Why is my generated barcode not scanning correctly?
Scanning issues usually happen if the barcode is scaled too small, the printed PDF resolution is too low, or if the chosen barcode symbology does not support the characters in your Order ID (for example, using a numeric-only barcode for an ID with letters).
Does Adobe Acrobat automatically generate barcodes directly from scanned text?
No, Acrobat cannot read an image and instantly convert it to a barcode. You must first extract the text via OCR, place it into a form text field, and then link that specific field to a barcode element using the form's properties.
