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Extract text from PDF without external (non-Microsoft) connectors

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Posted on by MS2

Hi,

I need to extract the full text (no layout needed) from PDF files without using third party connectors (Plumsail, Parser et al) as this is a GDPR and security issue (besides being insanely priced if you need to do the operation on a large number of files). I have temporarily solved it with my own PowerShell Azure Function that pipes the incoming PDF through a commandline tool and return the text after -replacing away unwanted junk characters. However this is a little less maintainable than solving it all through flow.

Any creative suggestions on how to achieve it?

Cheers!

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Building flows

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v-zhos-msft on at

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Re: Extract text from PDF without external (non-Microsoft) connectors

Hi @MS2 ,

I am afraid that there is no way to achieve your needs in Microsoft Flow currently.

There is a similar idea with your issue, you can vote here:

https://powerusers.microsoft.com/t5/Flow-Ideas/Convert-PDF-to-Text-Table-Image/idi-p/176806?advanced=false&collapse_discussion=true&filter=location&location=category:FL_Comm_Ideas&q=convert%20pdf%20to%20text&search_type=thread

Best Regards,

Community Support Team _ Zhongys

If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

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MS2 8 on at

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Re: Extract text from PDF without external (non-Microsoft) connectors

As you can search for text in PDF's both in OneDrive and Sharepoint some part of those backends is able to reach the text in PDF's, there are no ways of using that through REST or other to "get the text out"?

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v-zhos-msft on at

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Re: Extract text from PDF without external (non-Microsoft) connectors

Hi @MS2 ,

I have made some tests with the OneDrive and Sharepoint.

I get the file content from a pdf, then create a .txt file with the content.

However, it will return a bunch of garbled in the .txt file.

If you want to achieve your needs, I am afraid you need to use the Plumsail connector.

Best Regards,

Community Support Team _ Zhongys

If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

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Community Power Pla... on at

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Re: Extract text from PDF without external (non-Microsoft) connectors

You can extract text or items from a PDF using the PowerApps AI Builder feature.
https://powerapps.microsoft.com/en-ca/ai-builder/

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takolota1 4,974 Moderator on at

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Re: Extract text from PDF without external (non-Microsoft) connectors

There is a part of this template that converts an image PDF to a text (txt) replica of the file:

https://powerusers.microsoft.com/t5/Power-Automate-Cookbook/Extract-Data-From-PDFs-and-Images-With-GPT/td-p/2201345

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