How to Count Words in a PDF Document: A Comprehensive Guide

Counting words in a PDF document can be a crucial task for various reasons, such as meeting word count requirements for academic papers, and professional reports, or ensuring compliance with submission guidelines. 

Despite the PDF format’s popularity, it doesn’t inherently provide a word count feature like word processors such as Microsoft Word or Google Docs. 

This guide will walk you through multiple methods to effectively count words in a PDF document, from using built-in features in software to third-party tools and programming solutions.

Understanding PDF Files and Word Count Challenges

PDF (Portable Document Format) is designed to preserve the formatting of documents across different platforms. 

While this is advantageous for maintaining consistent appearances, it can be a challenge when it comes to extracting text for word counts. Unlike text files or word-processing documents, PDFs do not directly support word counts as a standard feature. 

This means users need to rely on alternative methods to determine the number of words in a PDF.

Method 1: Using Online PDF Word Counters

Online PDF word counters offer a convenient solution for those who need to quickly count words in a PDF document without installing additional software. These web-based tools allow you to upload your PDF and get the word count with just a few clicks. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to use these online tools:

Steps to Use Online PDF Word Counters

  1. Choose an Online Tool: There are several online tools available for counting words in PDFs. Some popular options include:

    • PDF Word Counter: Offers a straightforward interface to upload PDFs and get word counts.

    • CountWordsFree: Provides word counts for various file formats, including PDFs.

    • Smallpdf: Known for its range of PDF tools, including word count functions.

    • Soda PDF Online: Features a word count tool as part of its suite of PDF services.

  2. Upload Your PDF: Navigate to the chosen online word counter tool. Look for an option to upload your file. This is typically marked with buttons like “Upload PDF,” “Choose File,” or “Drag and Drop.”

  3. Select Your PDF Document: Click the upload button and browse your computer to select the PDF file you want to analyze. Some tools may allow you to drag and drop the file directly into the web interface.

  4. Wait for Processing: Once uploaded, the tool will process the PDF. This step may take a few moments depending on the file size and the speed of the tool. The tool will extract the text and compute the word count.

  5. View and Save Results: After processing, the word count will be displayed on the screen. Some tools might offer additional features like saving the results or providing a downloadable report.

  6. Download or Copy Results: Depending on the tool, you may be able to download a report with the word count or simply copy the results to your clipboard.

Method 2: Using Adobe Acrobat Reader DC

Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is a widely used PDF reader with various features, but it does not have a direct word count function. However, you can use it to copy text into a word processor for counting:

  1. Open Your PDF: Launch Adobe Acrobat Reader DC and open the PDF document from which you want to count words.

  2. Select Text: Use the text selection tool (highlight text) to select the content you want to count. If your PDF is long, you may need to select sections at a time.

  3. Copy Text: Right-click on the selected text and choose “Copy” or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+C (Windows) or Cmd+C (Mac).

  4. Paste into Word Processor: Open a word processing application like Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or any other text editor. Paste the copied text using Ctrl+V (Windows) or Cmd+V (Mac).

  5. Count Words: Use the word count feature in the word processor. In Microsoft Word, you can find this under the “Review” tab and click on “Word Count”. In Google Docs, this is found under “Tools” > “Word Count”.

Pros: This method is simple and doesn’t require additional software.

Cons: It can be tedious for large documents and may not capture text from scanned PDFs accurately.

Method 3: Using Adobe Acrobat Pro DC

Adobe Acrobat Pro DC offers more advanced features than the free Reader version. Although it doesn’t provide a direct word count, you can convert the PDF to another format:

  1. Open Your PDF: Start Adobe Acrobat Pro DC and open the PDF.

  2. Export PDF: Go to “File” > “Export To” and choose a format like Microsoft Word or Excel. This conversion might not be perfect, but it’s usually adequate for extracting text.

  3. Check Word Count: After conversion, open the file in Microsoft Word or Google Docs and use their word count features.

Pros: Provides a more accurate conversion compared to copy-pasting.

Cons: Requires Adobe Acrobat Pro DC, which is a paid software.

Method 4: Using Online PDF to Word Converters

Several online tools can convert PDF documents to Word format, which you can then use to count words:

  1. Select a Tool: Choose an online PDF to Word converters, such as Smallpdf, PDF2DOC, or Adobe’s online converter.

  2. Upload PDF: Follow the instructions on the website to upload your PDF document.

  3. Convert and Download: Convert the document and download the resulting Word file.

  4. Count Words: Open the Word file in Microsoft Word or Google Docs and use their word count features.

Pros: Convenient and accessible from any device with internet access.

Cons: Potential security risks with sensitive documents and may require internet access.

Method 5: Using Specialized PDF Word Count Software

There are specialized tools designed to count words in PDF documents:

  1. Choose a Tool: Look for software like PDF Word Count & Frequency Statistics, Count Anything or other PDF-specific word count tools.

  2. Install and Open: Download and install the software. Open your PDF file within the application.

  3. Count Words: Follow the tool’s instructions to get the word count directly from the PDF.

Pros: Directly counts words within the PDF without conversion.

Cons: This may involve purchasing software or dealing with limited free versions.

Method 6: Using Programming Solutions

For tech-savvy users or developers, programming provides a flexible solution for counting words in PDFs:

Python with PyPDF2: PyPDF2 is a Python library that can extract text from PDFs.
Python
Copy code
import PyPDF2

 

def count_words_in_pdf(pdf_path):

    with open(pdf_path, ‘rb’) as file:

        reader = PyPDF2.PdfFileReader(file)

        text = ”

        for page_num in range(reader.numPages):

            page = reader.getPage(page_num)

            text += page.extract_text()

        word_count = len(text.split())

        return word_count

 

print(count_words_in_pdf(‘your_document.pdf’))

  1. Use Other Libraries: Libraries like pdfminer.six can also be used to extract text and count words.

Pros: Highly customizable and automatable for large-scale processing.

Cons: Requires programming knowledge and setup.

Method 7: Counting Words in Scanned PDFs

Scanned PDFs contain images of text rather than text data. To count words in such documents, Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is necessary:

  1. Use OCR Software: Tools like Adobe Acrobat Pro DC, ABBYY FineReader, or online OCR services can convert scanned images to text.

  2. Extract Text: After OCR processing, extract the text from the scanned PDF.

  3. Count Words: Use a word processor or specialized tool to count words in the extracted text.

Pros: Enables word counting for non-digital text documents.

Cons: OCR accuracy can vary, especially with poor-quality scans.

Tips for Accurate Word Counting

  1. Check Text Quality: Ensure that the text extraction is accurate. Manual verification may be necessary.

  2. Handle Non-Text Elements: Be aware that PDFs may contain non-text elements like headers, footers, and images which can affect word counts.

  3. Verify Results: Cross-check word counts with different methods or tools if precision is critical.

Conclusion

Counting words in a PDF document requires a bit of ingenuity due to the format’s limitations. Whether you opt for copy-pasting text, using conversion tools, or employing specialized software, the method you choose will depend on your specific needs and resources. 

For large volumes of PDFs or complex documents, automated solutions or programming might be the most efficient route. By understanding and utilizing these various methods, you can effectively manage word counts in your PDF documents and ensure your content meets all requirements.