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How to Fix PDF to Text Conversion Creating Tables and Uneven Spacing
Question details
Users experience formatting issues, such as unwanted tables and irregular spacing, when converting PDF lyric and chord charts into editable text.
- Product
- PDF Converter
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Converting visually structured PDFs, specifically documents with lyrics and guitar chords, into editable text documents.
- Observed behavior
- The resulting text file contains complex tables, erratic spacing, and a layout that is difficult to edit, as the conversion process attempts to rigidly preserve the visual structure of the original PDF.
Check if your PDF converter allows you to choose 'Plain Text' (.txt) as an output format instead of Word (.docx), as this inherently bypasses complex table creation.
Use a Plain Text Editor to Strip Formatting
Copying the messy converted text into a plain text editor removes hidden tables, columns, and layout containers, leaving only the raw text.
PDF conversion tools often create invisible tables to lock text into the exact physical coordinates found in the original PDF document. This is especially common with lyric and chord charts where spacing is crucial. A plain text editor will aggressively remove this structure.
Open your poorly formatted converted document, press Ctrl+A to select all the text, and press Ctrl+C to copy it.
Open Notepad (on Windows) or TextEdit (on Mac, ensuring it is set to 'Make Plain Text' under the Format menu).
Press Ctrl+V to paste the text. All tables and visual formatting will be instantly stripped away.
Copy the newly cleaned text and paste it into a blank Word document to begin reformatting easily.
Convert PDF Directly to a Text File (.TXT)
Changing your conversion output format from Word document to Plain Text prevents the PDF converter from attempting to recreate complex layouts.
Extract Clean Text from PDFs with WPS Office
WPS Office offers a robust set of PDF tools, including a highly accurate PDF to Text converter. It allows you to extract raw text from complex documents without trapping your lyrics and chords inside frustrating, uneditable tables.
- 1. Open the PDF in WPS Office: Launch WPS Office, click on 'Open', and select the PDF file containing your lyric and chord charts.
- 2. Select the conversion tool: Navigate to the 'Tools' tab on the top ribbon and click on 'PDF to Text' or 'PDF to Word' depending on your needs.
- 3. Configure conversion settings: If converting to Word, look for layout settings and select options that prioritize text flow over exact layout matching.
- 4. Convert and edit: Click 'Start'. Once finished, WPS Writer will automatically open your newly converted, easy-to-edit text document.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my PDF converter create tables when the original document didn't have any?
PDFs do not inherently understand paragraphs or document flow; they place individual words using fixed X and Y coordinates. To force the converted text into the exact physical layout of the PDF, conversion software often builds hidden tables. This happens frequently with documents that have wide, irregular spacing, like chord charts.
Will changing the font fix the uneven spacing in my converted document?
No, changing the font alone will not correct structural issues like invisible tables, hard line breaks, or margin locks created during conversion. You must first strip the underlying formatting (e.g., by pasting into Notepad) before adjusting the font.
How do I keep chords aligned exactly over lyrics in a text document?
The best way to align chords over lyrics is to select all the text and apply a monospaced font, such as Courier New or Consolas. In a monospaced font, a space character takes up the exact same width as a letter, ensuring your chords won't shift out of place when viewed on different devices.
