How to Extract Data from PDF for Analysis in Microsoft Excel?

Excel, which is one of the most widely used software solutions for data management could be considered as one of the statistical packages that every researcher needs to have in their toolbox. Although it has some limitations, when it comes to advanced scientific research (e.g. Multivariable regression), Excel is still a highly powerful instrument for basic statistical analysis and data collection. Here we will see how one can extract data from PDF to Excel.

Contrary to primary data, which are a product of your own research and classification, secondary data are often received in a hard-to-edit PDF format. If you want to proceed with your research assignment and undergo your statistical analysis, your first step would have to be to export received secondary data to Excel file format.

A software solution that can help every statistician in this tedious situation is Investintech’s Able2Extract 9. It offers multiple conversion, creation, and editing options to Word, Publisher, PowerPoint, HTML, OpenOffice, AutoCad, and Image, but the main reason for its popularity amongst data scientists is its customized PDF to Excel feature. This feature enables users to convert even the most complex tables accurately, in such a way that the row and column structure in the resulting Excel spreadsheet is the same as in the original PDF table. In the following 5 simple steps, we will show you how to extract data from PDF to Excel:

1. Run Able2Extract 9 on your computer, click Open and choose the PDF file you want to convert
2. Select the content in the file that you want to convert. You can choose whether you want to convert the entire document or just a part of it.
3. The next step is to choose the desired output format. In this case, we will choose Excel.
4. In the pop-up window, you can choose between Automatic or Custom conversion. If you want your conversion to be customized by your own preferences, click Define
5. The Customization options offer various adjustments to your Excel output. You can change the page range; add/erase tables and columns or edit the head and footer. Drag the lines which represent a row or a column to adjust its border. It is also possible to adjust column types or to experiment with a variety of row recognition settings. There is also an option to turn on the Show Preview, so you can see how the changes you have made will be represented in the new spreadsheet document.

When you are satisfied with your Spreadsheet output structure, just click on Convert and your document will be instantly saved as an Excel file to the folder of your choice. The output format is *.xlsx, which means that it will be editable in LibreOffice or OpenOffice as well

Conclusion

This easy 5 step guide shows that Able2Extract’s customized conversion function is not only quick and easy but also very useful to everyone who deals with large numbers of data on a daily basis. Whether you are a student writing a research paper or a scientist who wants to speed up the process of data collection and management, you will appreciate this valuable feature, which ensures that each table will be transferred to a spreadsheet with exact formatting.

To test this and other features that this software offers download the free trial version from their website.

for a list of more detailed features visit investintech