copying problem

I am attempting to copy script from a PDF document and when I paste into here or just a windows doc it is scrambling the text normal text to often illegible - any ideas??

Are you using Adobe Acrobat Reader to display the document or other software.

I use adobe - I can copy and paste from a pdf into word with no problems

ah now you've got me thinking - no I think I copied them from a printer/copier machine and they came out pdf??

Now you've got me confuddled.
How does a printer or copier image get back into a word programme .. or on here? The formatting 's gone hasn't it?
Did you scan them back into your computer?

yes I must have scanned them into my pc and they came out pdf - but I am still puzzled at the mess it makes when re-copying and pasting

Do the pages open OK on your computer monitor - if so - with which software?

There is a risk that the information won't be retrievable at all. PDF documents are essentially one document overlying another, one is simple text, the other is a picture. When you copy and paste from the document, you mark the text while looking at the picture, but what is copied to your clipboard is the corresponding piece of the text part.

Depending on the way the document is created, the quality and availability of the text part can differ greatly. If you save a word processor document in PDF format, using Acrobat, Word, or a PDF printer driver, the quality will usually be excellent, since the text file can be created from the text of the original. Some special characters may become distorted, but plain text is usually fine.

If the document is created from a scanned image, however, the text part is typically created by OCR processing of the image, which can produce rather sorry results, especially if the original is less than optimal for the purpose.

A bad program used to create the PDF, or the wrong settings, might also cause the text part to become completely garbled, as could, perceivably, some kinds of encryption run on the file after it has been created.

The bottom line is, if the text part of the document is really bad, there is no way to make it better. Scan the original again using a more reliable scanning engine

thanks

 ps: myrtle did you get all that then deal with it please and hurry with that damned coffee!

You didn't answer my question davo....

sorry too technical for me I'm a touch typist - everything I touch goes wrong but heh buddy thanks for trying I don't do pdf too well more like Phud!