[nfbcs] "empty" pdf

Fri Apr 4 03:45:13 UTC 2014

One big problem with pdf files is that so many are created by people not 
qualified to do so.  Often one problem that exists when this happens is 
that people neglect to set the language attribute.  So if there's no 
language attribute set, how is that pdf file going to work with a screen 
reader?  This is largely Adobe's proper responsibility since this is 
something that could have been set at the factory to get a language 
attribute or not save the file but that wasn't done.  This and other 
problems with improper creation of pdf files has cost and continues to 
cost my former employer lots of money when those files get detected and 
have to be returned for correction.

On Wed, 15 Jan 2014, Steve Jacobson wrote:

> Nancy,
> 
> I've had some luck with this using programs like OmniPage's PDF Converter.  While that program handles empty 
> files, it is my understanding that it may take advantage of text that is already there, not necessarily performing 
> OCR when it doesn't have to, but I don't know that for certain.  I have had the no space problem as well as the 
> one word per line problem with Adobe Acrobat.  I imagine Kurzweil would work, too, and I would think the OCR would 
> be pretty good given that everything remains in a digital domain, no printers or scanners.
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Steve Jacobson
> 
> On Tue, 14 Jan 2014 22:16:18 -0600, Nancy Coffman wrote:
> 
> >The other problem I have had come up with PDF files is that many times they are rendered without spaces between 
> the words. Has anyone found a fix for that?
> 
> >Nancy Coffman
> >Sent from my iPhone
> 
> >> On Jan 13, 2014, at 9:01 AM, "Gary Wunder" <gwunder at earthlink.net> wrote:
> >> 
> >> K1000 at work would be a good idea and would not violate their very generous
> >> user policy.
> >> 
> >> 
> >> 
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: nfbcs [mailto:nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Tracy Carcione
> >> Sent: Friday, January 10, 2014 9:21 AM
> >> To: NFB in Computer Science Mailing List
> >> Subject: Re: [nfbcs] "empty" pdf
> >> 
> >> Thanks for all the ideas.  For this particular doc, since it was just an
> >> example of something, I called the user and had him explain it.  However,
> >> this "empty" document problem has cropped up a lot lately, so I'm saving all
> >> your suggestions for next time.
> >> Tracy
> >> 
> >>> If Insert-Z works with PDF files, you may be able to do this.  My 
> >>> experience with Window-Eyes (not doing OCR but pasting formatted text 
> >>> from a PDF into Word) showed that I needed to do Select All, Copy, 
> >>> Paste for each page individually.
> >>> 
> >>> In Word 2003 you print your PDF to the Microsoft Office Document Image 
> >>> Writer, which has an option to save to a file.  Then you use Microsoft 
> >>> Document Imaging to recognize the text.  I didn't find it to do a very 
> >>> good job.
> >>> 
> >>> My favorite way to deal with image-only PDF's at home is to use 
> >>> Omnipage, which is now at version 19.  It puts some PDF-processing 
> >>> options on the context menu for PDF files in Windows Explorer.  It is 
> >>> sometimes even useful on PDF's that have text, but it can also put a 
> >>> lot of I's or L's into your file as well.
> >>> 
> >>> Lloyd Rasmussen, Senior Project Engineer National Library Service for 
> >>> the Blind and Physically Handicapped
> >>> Library of Congress   202-707-0535
> >>> http://www.loc.gov/nls
> >>> The preceding opinions are my own and do not necessarily reflect those 
> >>> of the Library of Congress, NLS.
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >>> -----Original Message-----
> >>> From: nfbcs [mailto:nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Dr. Denise 
> >>> M Robinson
> >>> Sent: Friday, January 10, 2014 8:40 AM
> >>> To: NFB in Computer Science Mailing List
> >>> Subject: Re: [nfbcs] "empty" pdf
> >>> 
> >>> Yes, turn off jaws, do a ctrl a to select all, ctrl c to copy, alt tab 
> >>> to word and paste with ctrl v then hit the ctrl key and let go which 
> >>> takes you into paste options then hit t to keep text only which 
> >>> essentially turns that image into text---then turn jaws back on and 
> >>> read
> >>> 
> >>> Denise
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >>> On Fri, Jan 10, 2014 at 8:36 AM, Tracy Carcione <carcione at access.net>
> >>> wrote:
> >>> 
> >>>> I've received a pdf attachment with a file length of 35 KB, but when 
> >>>> I open it Adobe says it's an empty document.
> >>>> If I were at home, I'd feed it through Kurzweil, but I don't have 
> >>>> Kurzweil  on this PC.
> >>>> I tried Jaws convenient OCR, but it wouldn't start.
> >>>> Are there other ways to get at the data in this doc?
> >>>> Thanks.
> >>>> Tracy
> >>>> 
> >>>> 
> >>>> 
> >>>> _______________________________________________
> >>>> nfbcs mailing list
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> >>>> c
> >>>> om
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >>> --
> >>> *Dr Denise*
> >>> 
> >>> Denise M. Robinson, TVI, Ph.D.
> >>> CEO, TechVision, LLC
> >>> Specialist in Technology/Training/Teaching for blind/low vision 
> >>> Private training to your needs
> >>> 423-573-6413
> >>> 
> >>> Website with hundreds of informational articles & lessons on PC, 
> >>> Office products, Mac, iPad/iTools and more, all done with
> >>> keystrokes: www.yourtechvision.com
> >>> 
> >>> "The person who says it cannot be done, shouldn't interrupt the one 
> >>> who is doing it." --Chinese Proverb
> >>> 
> >>> Computers are incredibly fast, accurate, and stupid: humans are 
> >>> incredibly slow, inaccurate and brilliant; together they are powerful 
> >>> beyond imagination.
> >>> --Albert Einstein
> >>> 
> >>> It's kind of fun to do the impossible.
> >>> --Walt Disney
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> >>> et
> >> 
> >> 
> >> 
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> >> 
> >> 
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> 
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> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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> 

jude <jdashiel at shellworld.net>