# Hi all Has anyone had experience extracting data from PDFs or from PDF forms

**URL:** <https://ehealthforum.nz/t/hi-all-has-anyone-had-experience-extracting-data-from-pdfs-or-from-pdf-forms/23916>\
**Category:** Open Forum\
**Tags:** health-intelligence, emerging-tech\
**Created:** [February 11, 2020, 2:13am UTC](https://ehealthforum.nz/t/hi-all-has-anyone-had-experience-extracting-data-from-pdfs-or-from-pdf-forms/23916 "2020-02-11T02:13:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Melete](https://ehealthforum.nz/user_avatar/ehealthforum.nz/melete/32/5032_2.png) [@Melete](https://ehealthforum.nz/u/Melete)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 2:13am UTC](https://ehealthforum.nz/t/hi-all-has-anyone-had-experience-extracting-data-from-pdfs-or-from-pdf-forms/23916/1 "2020-02-11T02:13:41Z")

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Hi all. Has anyone had experience extracting data from PDFs, or from PDF forms?

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**Author:** ![parag](https://ehealthforum.nz/user_avatar/ehealthforum.nz/parag/32/3697_2.png) [@parag](https://ehealthforum.nz/u/parag)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 2:17am UTC](https://ehealthforum.nz/t/hi-all-has-anyone-had-experience-extracting-data-from-pdfs-or-from-pdf-forms/23916/2 "2020-02-11T02:17:25Z")

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Yes, this is standard functionality within Adobe Acrobat Pro DC. There are tools like ABBY, KoFax, etc if this is routine, or part of process. What is your use-case or process out of interest?

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**Author:** ![Melete](https://ehealthforum.nz/user_avatar/ehealthforum.nz/melete/32/5032_2.png) [@Melete](https://ehealthforum.nz/u/Melete)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 2:55am UTC](https://ehealthforum.nz/t/hi-all-has-anyone-had-experience-extracting-data-from-pdfs-or-from-pdf-forms/23916/3 "2020-02-11T02:55:28Z")

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This came up in relation to the directive to phase out faxes. An easy solution is to scan or save docs to PDF, but that doesn’t yield useful data. I’d be keen to know about any experience you or your colleagues have had? Happy to chat by phone/Zoom or email.

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**Author:** ![jon\_herries](https://ehealthforum.nz/user_avatar/ehealthforum.nz/jon_herries/32/6584_2.png) [@jon\_herries](https://ehealthforum.nz/u/jon_herries)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2020, 11:08pm UTC](https://ehealthforum.nz/t/hi-all-has-anyone-had-experience-extracting-data-from-pdfs-or-from-pdf-forms/23916/4 "2020-02-11T23:08:59Z")

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Depending on how you want to use it, it can be connected to a system like Blue Prism ( [https://www.blueprism.com/](https://www.blueprism.com/) ) that takes the text, and adds it to a database.  
opengraphobject:[360520241545216 : [https://www.blueprism.com/](https://www.blueprism.com/) : title=“Blue Prism | Robotic Process Automation” : description=“Blue Prism® develops leading Robotic Process Automation software to provide businesses like yours with a more agile virtual workforce.”]

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**Author:** ![parag](https://ehealthforum.nz/user_avatar/ehealthforum.nz/parag/32/3697_2.png) [@parag](https://ehealthforum.nz/u/parag)\
**Post date:** [February 12, 2020, 12:42am UTC](https://ehealthforum.nz/t/hi-all-has-anyone-had-experience-extracting-data-from-pdfs-or-from-pdf-forms/23916/5 "2020-02-12T00:42:51Z")

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Exactly as @jon_herries mentioned, you can use BluePrism to automate the process of scanning/retrieving the PDF and passing it on to an OCR tool (i.e. ABBY) that will extract the right data needed. Under the context of automation, we are exploring a variety of use-cases that involve reading PDF’s to analysing lab images. Happy for you to reach out, my email is [paragb@adhb.govt.nz](mailto:paragb@adhb.govt.nz).