[blindlaw] PDF files

Tue Feb 1 16:24:09 UTC 2011

I found the instructions to convert image to readable files in office 2003. Here it is below.

First make sure you have Microsoft Office 2003 installed along with the Microsoft Office Document Imaging feature (which, I believe, is installed by default,
at least with the Professional Edition of Microsoft Office 2003). Next, make sure you have either Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat installed, which you would
need anyway to read non-protected PDF files. Finally, you'll need the PDF file that you can't read through normal Adobe means.

Here's the step by step:

list of 11 items
1. Open the restricted PDF file. 
2. Press CTRL-P to print. 
3. Select the Microsoft Office Document Image Writer from the printer name combo box, and press ENTER. 
4. Enter a file name to print to. The extension should be .MDI (for Microsoft Document Imaging Format). Once the document has printed, close the PDF file.

5. Open the Microsoft Office Document Imaging utility (usually located in the Start Menu, under Programs, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Office Tools). 
6. Press CTRL-O to bring up the Open dialog. 
7. Type in the path and file name of the MDI you saved in step 5, and press ENTER. 
8. Press ALT-T for Tools. 
9. Arrow down to Send Text to Word, and press ENTER. 
10. Press ENTER to begin the conversion with the default options. If you're presented with a dialog stating, "You must re-run OCR before performing this
operation," simply confirm by selecting the OK button.
The conversion process will begin. You can use the Window-Eyes progress hot key (CTRL-INS-B by default) to interrogate the progress. 
11. Once the conversion is complete, Microsoft Word will be open (for me, it opened in the background) with the text of the PDF file available for your
perusal. Once you locate the Microsoft Word window, you can close the Microsoft Office Document Imaging utility.
list end

There are a few things to note about this process.

list of 4 items
* The results of an OCR are only as good as the OCR engine. OCR is never a complete replacement for the original text. In other words, don't expect perfect
text accuracy. 
* This process does not remove password protection. If you have a password protected PDF, you will still need to know the password to perform this task.

* If a PDF author has restricted copying text, this method will enable the OCR'd text to be copied. Acrobat itself warns about this when you enable the
copying restriction: "All Adobe products enforce the restrictions set by the Permissions Password. However, not all third-party products fully support
and respect these settings. Recipients using such third-party products might be able to bypass some of the restrictions you have set." 
* If the printing security restriction has been enabled, you cannot print the PDF, meaning you can't use this method to do what you want.
list end

Although I've been discussing this method for use with restricted PDFs, it will also work fairly well with PDFs that contain nothing but images. If you
don't have access to another utility that boasts PDF OCR capabilities, this may be a good solution for you.

For example, I took a screen shot of a web page, and created a PDF out of it; the PDF contained nothing but an image of what was on my screen. I ran it
through this process, and for the most part, the text on the web page was readable. 

PDF files, in general, are very accessible despite their enigmatic stigma. Adobe even provides their own methods of tweaking accessibility settings (i.e.
changing reading order, overriding tagged order, etc.). There's even an Accessibility Quick Check in the Acrobat Reader (even more detailed Accessibility
tools in the full Adobe Acrobat) for examining documents, and reporting problems to the PDF author.

-----Original Message-----
From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Bryan Schulz
Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2011 9:33 AM
To: NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] PDF files

open book 9 is great for turning useless pdf files into something readable.

Bryan Schulz

----- Original Message -----
From: "Hyde, David W. (ESC)" <david.hyde at wcbvi.k12.wi.us>
To: "'Brian Langlois'" <langlois2 at verizon.net>; "'NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List'" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2011 7:35 AM
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] PDF files

>I use them all the time with JAWS. Since sometimes people will send you 
>PDF files that are just the images, it is good to have some kind of 
>conversion software. Under earlier versions of Office, I was able to 
>use it's conversion program. I am not sure whether the Office 10 has such or not.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] 
> On Behalf Of Brian Langlois
> Sent: Monday, January 31, 2011 9:38 PM
> To: blindlaw at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [blindlaw] PDF files
>
> Hello, listers,
> For years I have regarded PDF  files as generally inaccessible to 
> blind computer users.
> I'm wondering if this is still true in the blind community.
> Thanks!
> Brian Langlois
>
>
>
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