Extract text using extractText in JavaScript PDF Viewer

27 Oct 20252 minutes to read

The extractText method extracts text from one or more pages and can return plain text or text with bounds for each element.

extractText method

Retrieves text data from one page or a range of pages based on the specified options.

Parameters:

startIndex: The starting page index for text extraction (0-based index).

endIndex or isOptions: Either the ending page index (for multiple pages) or an option specifying extraction criteria for a single page.

options (optional): Additional options, such as TextOnly for plain text or TextAndBounds for detailed text data with bounds.

• TextOnly: Extracts only plain text without bounds.
• TextAndBounds: Extracts text with bounds (coordinates).

Returns:

Returns a Promise with:

• textData: An array of TextDataSettingsModel with details including bounds and page text.
• pageText: A concatenated string of plain text from the specified page(s).

Usage of extractText in Syncfusion PDF Viewer Control

Here is an example that demonstrates how to use the extractText method along with event handling:

 <button id="extractText">Extract Text</button>
 <button id="extractTexts">Extract Texts</button>

// Initialize the PdfViewer

var viewer = new ej.pdfviewer.PdfViewer({
  documentPath: 'https://cdn.syncfusion.com/content/pdf/pdf-succinctly.pdf',
  resourceUrl: "https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/31.2.2/dist/ej2-pdfviewer-lib",
});
viewer.appendTo("#pdfViewer");

// Event Listener for Extract Text from Single Page
document.getElementById('extractText').addEventListener('click', function () {
    viewer.extractText(1, 'TextOnly').then((val) => {
        console.log('Extracted Text from Page 1:');
        console.log(val);  // Logs the extracted text from page 1
    });
});

// Event Listener for Extract Text from Multiple Pages
document.getElementById('extractTexts').addEventListener('click', function () {
    viewer.extractText(0, 2, 'TextOnly').then((val) => {
        console.log('Extracted Text from Pages 0 to 2:');
        console.log(val);  // Logs the extracted text from pages 0 to 2
    });
});

Explanation

• Single page: Extracts text from page 1 (startIndex = 1) using TextOnly.
• Multiple pages: Extracts text from pages 0–2 (startIndex = 0, endIndex = 2) using TextOnly.

View sample in GitHub