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Adobe, the creators of Acrobat software and the .PDF file format have introduced a web-based tool that converts most .PDF files found on the Internet to a text format. The tool can be useful when it's necessary to copy and quote lengthy passages from documents found in the .PDF format into your own documents.
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All you have to do is enter the URL of a .PDF document found on the Internet (into the site's "URL" box), click the "Get this Adobe PDF Document as HTML" button and the conversion engine automatically returns a text version of the document in your browser window. The converter works with most (but not all) .PDFs.
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While any web links in the .PDF document are preserved in the conversion, all graphics and most formatting is lost. A number of conversion options are also available to better control the information you receive, including:
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First and Last Page - Define a range of pages to convert in a large document.
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Reflow Paragraphs - Adjusts document text to better fit browser window (choosing "reflow" can make a mess of any tables in the .PDF)
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Filter - Handles unprintable characters (e.g. "Euro" symbol, et al)
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Password: Some Acrobat® documents are protected with a password. If you know the password protecting a document, enter it in this space to convert these documents
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Reading Order - (from the site) The short explanation is that if you don't like the way the document reads, try the alternate reading order.
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It's important to include the ENTIRE URL, including the "http://". A recent conversion attempt for "www.netforlawyers.com/research_manual_toc.pdf" returned only an error message, while entering "http://www.netforlawyers.com/research_manual_toc.pdf" returned the converted document.
