# Select text in .pdf across multiple pages **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 23, 2003, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/select-text-in-pdf-across-multiple-pages/150519 "2003-01-23T19:50:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/select-text-in-pdf-across-multiple-pages/150519/1 "2003-01-23T19:50:39Z")
Using Adobe Acrobat Reader, I want to export text from .pdf files, but the text is on many pages. I can select all the text on one page and copy that to the clipboard, paste that into an editor, and repeat. Is there any more direct way? Can I select text over multiple pages? It doesn’t seem to work and I didn’t find anything in Reader’s help system. ---
**Author:** ![bilgerat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ce73a5/32.png) [@bilgerat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bilgerat)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/select-text-in-pdf-across-multiple-pages/150519/2 "2003-01-23T20:46:58Z")
I believe you’d need the full version of Acrobat 5 to do what you’re asking. The full version can export a PDF to RTF format. The reader treats every page as a singular object and so it doesn’t recognize that text flows from one page to another. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2003, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/select-text-in-pdf-across-multiple-pages/150519/3 "2003-01-25T03:03:00Z")
Open a document in the viewer. There is a little bar bottom left with page numbers and paper size. The three icons on the right of the bar choose whether you are in single page or continuous mode. Click continuous and you can highlight from beginning to end if you want.