Convert PDF to CSV Online Free: Extract Structured Data in Seconds
A few months ago, a client of mine, owner of a small online store, asked for help automating data import from his supplier. The supplier provided a PDF-file every month that listed all products they sold along with their inventory and price. The file contained a table with around 400 rows of data. My client’s stock management software allowed them to import CSV-data, so every month several employees retyped all data from the PDF file into CSV, saving it and importing into the software. This procedure took them around 3 hours every month.
Converting this PDF-file to CSV reduces this procedure to 10 minutes, including verification of results. This is the kind of procedure when using a “PDF to CSV” tool can be beneficial.
PDF to CSV Conversion Tool vs PDF to Excel
Some people mistake CSV for Excel files and vice versa. While in many cases those formats are interchangeable, there are particular reasons why someone may prefer one over another.
CSV stands for Comma-Separated Values. It is a file type that stores data as plain text. Each row of data is placed on a new line, and different columns within a row are separated by commas. CSV files do not support styling, formulas, or other advanced features Excel offers. In essence, CSV is a much simpler version of an Excel file.
This may be precisely the reason why CSV format is useful. Most databases, CRMs, inventory managers, accounting systems, marketing tools, and other systems for processing data have an option to import CSV. Excel files, on the other hand, only work in Excel and other spreadsheet apps that can open them.
These are the cases when you may want to convert PDF to CSV instead of using Excel
Importing the information into a CRM, ERP system, or inventory manager.
Using the data for a database, data warehouse, or some other programming purpose.
Processing the information with Python, R, or another programming language.
Importing contact lists, catalogs, and other data into a website or other tool.
Working with data in another language, such as Excel or another language.
Passing data to a software developer for processing.
Processing structured data in statistical, data mining, or business intelligence software.
In cases when you want to perform calculations, visualizations, and other analysis steps before importing into another tool or system, Excel may prove more useful. It is generally much easier to create complex Excel calculations than similar operations in CSV. That being said, most systems that require databases accept CSV.
How I Convert PDF Tables to CSV
Before discovering a browser-based platform that converts PDF to CSV directly, my standard procedure involved converting the file to Excel and then to CSV, which added extra work, especially with complicated tables. Here is the standard procedure I follow now
Open a browser-based converter.
Upload a PDF file with tables or other data you want to extract.
The tool will extract the tabular data from PDF.
Download the converted CSV file.
The PDF to CSV tool at ConvertersOnline does the above-described steps directly, extracting data from tables within the PDF-file and converting to CSV without needing Excel or other steps in between.
One handy feature the tool taught me was that it correctly processes tables that have commas within cells. For instance, if a particular cell had text ‘available from $10, $20, $50.’, the converted CSV file will put quotation marks around the cell to denote commas within a row.
Understanding What Converts Well and What Does Not
When working with CSV files, there are specific cases when tables convert better than others. Here are the most common cases when tables are fit for CSV conversion
Well-formatted tables with headers.
PDF documents with contact lists, catalogues, financial spreadsheets, and other structured data tend to produce the best results. The most essential step within this procedure is to make sure that the table has clearly defined column headers.
Multiple tables within the same PDF document.
Sometimes a PDF document can contain several tables within the same file. In cases like these, the converter can extract each table as a separate CSV-file or put them all in one file, depending on the tool. Either way, always double-check that all tables were extracted correctly.
Scanned PDF files should be converted to Excel first.
When working with scanned PDF documents, regular PDF-to-CSV converters will not work. In order to extract data from scanned PDF files one would need to use OCR (optical character recognition) software first. This extra step is required whenever the source PDF was created by scanning a physical document as opposed to being created digitally.
Tables with merged cells or different amount of columns produce messy CSV.
If a table has merged cells within it or simply inconsistent structure, chances are that CSV will reflect this inconsistency. Such irregularities may interfere with importing CSV into another system, which may require additional formatting and editing.
The Most Common PDF to CSV Conversion Mistakes
Here are the most common mistakes I see people making when converting PDF to CSV
Not double-checking CSV file before importing into another system.
An incorrectly formatted CSV file can cause importing errors. Depending on the software, these errors can range from minor inconsistencies to outright refusal to import or importing incorrect data. Always double-check CSV before importing into another system or database. It is usually enough to simply open the CSV-file in any text editor and double-check a few columns for integrity.
Assuming that number of columns in CSV equals number of columns in the original table.
Sometimes a complex table will produce CSV with a different number of columns due to merged cells within the original table. Counting columns is a good idea before importing CSV into another system because a difference in number of columns may indicate an issue with CSV encoding.
Trying to convert a scanned PDF document to CSV.
If your CSV conversion tool fails to extract any data from your PDF-file, a likely reason is that the file is scanned. In such cases, you need to use OCR software to first extract text from the scanned document. This is one reason why it is always a good idea to ask the supplier to provide digital versions of their PDF documents rather than scanned versions.
Not unlocking the PDF-file before attempting to convert.
If the PDF is locked, any PDF-to-CSV conversion tool will fail. Unlock PDF-file before converting if the file is secured with a password.
Not double-checking converted CSV against original PDF-file.
Even though CSV files are plain text and therefore seem simple, it is always a good idea to spot-check that data was converted correctly. Sometimes a special symbol may cause a particular column to show incorrectly in the CSV-file. Simply look at a few rows of text to make sure that they match the original PDF document.
Is it safe to convert business PDF documents online?
It is particularly important to make sure that it is safe to convert PDF to CSV when those PDF’s contain data that is important for day-to-day operations, such as inventory, pricing, contact lists, and so on.
When choosing a PDF-to-CSV conversion tool, make sure that they offer the following safety features
Do not permanently store any files after processing is complete.
Do not require signing up for a service in order to convert PDF to CSV.
Have a privacy policy that assures that no personal data would be kept or used in any way.
Do not keep or sell any data extracted from PDF documents.
For day-to-day operations that require regular CSV conversions, it may be worth investing time and effort into researching which conversion tool to use, rather than converting files on different services each month.
A Few Things I Learned from Doing PDF to CSV Conversions
After working on several projects that required regular PDF to CSV conversions, I discovered a few useful insights into working with those conversions
Always build in a simple verification step into your procedures. For instance, make sure that the number of rows in CSV-file matches the number of rows in the original table, as a simple mismatch suggests that something went wrong during CSV conversion. Another helpful step is to add calculations to Excel, comparing the total quantity of items in CSV to the manually verified total quantity in the PDF file.
In the case of monthly conversions of similar PDF documents, always keep the last verified CSV file as a reference for the next month. This ensures that no particular changes occurred in the structure of the PDF document. If changes did occur, it would be much easier to spot them right away. Another helpful tip I have learned is to remove unnecessary pages from the PDF file before converting using a ‘split pdf pages’ or ‘delete pdf pages’ tool.
If I plan to work further in Excel rather than in CSV-file, I can save the CSV-file in Excel and work with it as a regular spreadsheet document, taking advantage of Excel’s wide range of functions while still being able to save or open the file as CSV when I need to.
One of the most useful time-saved tips I developed was a simple Excel macro that I could use to verify CSV conversions. After opening the CSV-file in Excel, I could write a brief calculation that would compare the totals in the CSV-file to the totals I verified manually in the original PDF-file. If those totals matched, it suggested that the CSV-file was correctly converted. This took only a few extra seconds, yet it helped me save a significant amount of time.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CSV, and why is it better than Excel for importing into systems?
CSV stands for Comma-Separated Values. It is a simple plain-text format with data rows separated by line breaks and columns separated by commas. It is much better for importing data into external systems than Excel files, which only work in Excel and other spreadsheet apps.
Can I convert a scanned PDF file to CSV?
Unfortunately, regular PDF-to-CSV conversion tools will not work for scanned documents, as those files only hold image data. OCR software is needed to extract text data from scanned PDFs.
Do I need to install any software in order to convert PDF to CSV?
No, browser-based tools eliminate the need for any software by allowing to convert PDF to CSV straight in the browser.
What happens if my PDF-file contains multiple tables?
It depends on the tool, as some will extract all tables into one CSV-file while others would separate them. Always double-check that the tables were extracted correctly.
Will the CSV-file work directly with my CRM or inventory management system?
Most systems for storing databases, such as CRMs or ERP systems, accept CSV imports, which usually does not require any additional formatting. At the same time, each system usually has particular requirements regarding column widths, names, and other specifications.
Can I convert a password-protected PDF file to CSV?
Not with regular PDF-to-CSV tools, as those require the ability to open the PDF-file in order to extract data.
What should I do if the CSV-file has a different number of rows than the original table?
There are several reasons for that, such as merged cells within the original table or an OCR error when converting scanned documents. Always double-check that the number of rows in CSV matches the number of rows in the original table. If it does not, check if page breaks within the original PDF-file may have been incorrectly placed, causing the CSV-converter to misinterpret the data.
Final Thoughts
PDF to CSV conversions are the kind of tools that seem unimpressive at first but end up being critical for day-to-day operations. They allow to automate time-consuming procedures and free people from repetitive tasks, such as typing in CSV data directly from the PDF-file. Whether it is a monthly supplier report, quarterly financial statements, client contact information, or any other repeating task that requires data to be moved from one system to another, using CSV conversion tools is much more efficient than doing it manually.
This is why I think it is always a good idea to learn how to convert PDF to CSV or find the right tool for that, as well as understand the peculiarities of CSV conversions. After you set up a reliable PDF to CSV procedure and verify that it works for your particular files, it becomes a reliable method rather than an experiment.
Have you ever had to manually type in structured data from a PDF-file into a spreadsheet or another system? I would love to hear about your experience in the comment section below.
Internal links:
PDF to Excel tool → https://convertersonline.com/tool/pdf-to-excel
PDF to CSV tool → https://convertersonline.com/tool/pdf-to-csv
Unlock PDF tool → https://convertersonline.com/tool/unlock-pdf
Split PDF tool → https://convertersonline.com/tool/split-pdf
Delete PDF pages tool → https://convertersonline.com/tool/delete-pdf-pages