Able2Doc Professional Selection Options

Able2Doc Professional offers selection features that differ depending on the type of PDF that is being converted.  The selection option is automatically set by Able2Doc Professional depending on which type of PDF document is opened.  Essentially, there are two different options:

1. "Column by Column" and "All Columns At Once" Selection (For Formatted PDFs):  These selection options are enabled when formatted and computer generated PDFs are being converted (generally most PDFs will be in this format).  Users select data from their PDF documents by left clicking with their mouse and dragging their mouse over the area to be selected..
   
2. "Specific" Selection (For Image Based and Scanned PDFs). This selection option is enabled when imaged based and scanned PDFs are being converted.  It allows users to select data from their PDF documents by specifying the area to be converted by using mouse-based selection.

Selecting in “All Columns at Once” format

Select the following icon on the toolbar:   

By using this icon, you will automatically select the entire width of the page. You can still select row by row but not column by column.

Holding the left mouse button down, drag the mouse over the data you desire to select.

Selecting in “Column by Column” format

Select the following icon on the toolbar:  

Using this icon gives you maximum control over the selection in PDF format.  Using this selection feature, you are allowed to select row-by-row and column-by-column. This works best when you only want to select certain columns on the page, not all columns!       

Holding the left mouse button down, drag the mouse over the columns or portions of the document to be selected.

Additional Examples:

(1) Using "Column by Column" Selection:

• Documents with two tables side-by-side

For example, the following has 2 tables side-by-side on the same page. Selecting the whole page with "All Columns At Once" will produce the results that, although correct, will not be organizationally ideal - the two tables will be side-by-side in Word.

However, by selecting the table of interest with "Column by Column" selection, we can convert only that table:

• Documents with tables that are surrounded by paragraphs or other irrelevant information

For example, the table below (on right) is side-by-side with (assuming) irrelevant paragraphs. In such cases, "All Columns At Once" selection will, in general, give results that most users would regard unsatisfactory.

But, with "Column by Column" selection we can eliminate the irrelevant parts of page and get accurate conversion of the data we are interested in:

(2) Note on "Specific" Selection:

"Specific Selection" is more akin to "Column by Column" selection - as it enables the user to select portions of a document versus the entire width of the document.  The difference is that "Specific Selection" will only be activated when Able2Doc recognizes a scanned PDF document.  When this is the case, the selection will be area-based and allow the user to specify which portion of the page they wish to convert.