Unable to highlight text inside a PDF file

[tedl49]

Hi,

I have been trying to highlight text within a PDF file opened in preview, when I try to block the text the entire document turns blue as if it had all been selected.

Prior to Mojave the piece of text would be highlighted and when selecting the marker the text would turn whatever colour was selected.

Tedl49

MacBook Pro 15inch running macOS 10.14.3

 

[mikzn]

it depends on how the file was saved, sometimes the file is saved more as an image or is locked from making changes to text if proprietary.

If the file was saved in an open / editable configuration you would be able to "edit it" still - not all PDF files are editable

That said, Apple has not done much to make preview a better tool for PDF's

 

[tedl49]

I generate PDF's using a Brother scanner or I have a scanner app on my iPhone, neither seem to work, however I will print a document from pages and create a PDF and try that.

Is there a method to make a PDF editable?

Thanks for a quick reply

 

[mikzn]

a scanner will probably save as an image unless you have an OCR software / options to save it as text?

Try the OCR options if your scanner has them

 

[J.Gallardo]

If the PDF is an image, you can just work on it with the marker...
The image has to be changed to editable text (and there are different edit-capability levels).
Basically, you need some app to make the change. Some scanners provide it, and there are dedicated apps for that.
However, if you use Microsoft Office365 Word, you can open a scanned pdf with it, and some OCR is done, as text becomes editable. (I don't use Word. Just read on web. Seems to work, unexpected Word ability).