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TMO Quick Tip - PDF: Selective Copy Text from Columns

by , 7:30 AM EDT, August 6th, 2008

Copying text from a document is a no brainer, especially if the document is pretty basic. If the document is a PDF and includes columns, however, it's kind of a pain to copy text without getting lots of extra stuff that you don't really want. Of course, there's a trick that makes it easy to get just what you want, and it's not hard to do.


Dragging copies across columns.

Instead of simply clicking and dragging to select text in a column, Option-click and drag. Your cursor will change from an insert bar into a cross hair to let you know you are in block copy mode, and you can select just the text you want from a single column.


Option-dragging copies from the area you select.

I use this trick any time I need to copy text from a PDF in Preview or Adobe Acrobat, but don't want any of the text from surrounding columns. It's a real time saver since I don't have to delete the words I don't need.

Jeff Gamet is TMO's Morning Editor and Reviews Editor. He lectures, teaches and speaks on Mac OS X and design-related topics, and is the author of The Designer's Guide to Mac OS X from Peachpit Press.

if you have tips or tricks to share, or Mac-related questions you want answered.

Jeff Gamet is TMO's Managing Editor and Reviews Editor. He lectures, teaches and speaks on Mac OS X and design-related topics, and is the author of The Designer's Guide to Mac OS X from Peachpit Press.

Observer Comments

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Close Name:jbruni Posts: 105 Joined: 14 Jul 2006
Wed Aug 06, 2008 12:49 pm Subject: CutePDF

One of the worst PDF generators is CutePDF. Trying to select text in preview in a PDF generated from this product is a frustrating experience.


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