Tabula

How to quickly export tables from pdf to Excel or csv

Government agencies in many countries around the world like to publish their data in pdf format. And we, journalists, often have to analyze this data. Sometimes the process of exporting tables from pdf to Excel or csv can be very labor-intensive and time-consuming. Just imagine how many hours and efforts you would have to spend to calculate the data, for example, in this table of waste removal from Moscow to other regions.

But thanks to tools like Tabula, exporting tables from pdf to formats convenient for analysis (for example, csv) turns into a very simple and fast task. Here are the step-by-step instructions (for macOS users; the process is not much different for Windows users).

Step 1: download and install the application

Go to the official Tabula website . On the left are download options: Windows, Mac, GitHub). Next we follow the instructions:

select Mac;

a window appears with loading the archive;

Click “OK” and wait for the program to download;

go to the “Downloads” folder on your computer, find the desired archive (it will be called something like this: “tabula-mac-1.2.1.zip”) and double-click on it;

after this, the archive should be unpacked and the Tabula folder will appear in the same “Downloads” folder;

go to the Tabula folder and you will see the green Tabula app icon

double-click on this icon (here the computer may ask whether to trust this application - click “Open”);

A new window should open in your browser.

Step 2: upload the file

Don't try to immediately load some huge pdf file into the application. Practice with easier examples. For example, on this one . These are the first two pages of that huge scheme for removing garbage from Moscow, which we talked about at the beginning. To start analyzing your data, follow these instructions:

click the Browse button on the left, you will see a window with a file selection (if you downloaded our example, then it is located in your “Downloads” folder);

after you have selected the file, click the Import button on the right;

the application will begin the analysis process, and then the following window will appear.

Step 3: select tables

We have several options for highlighting tables in a file. The simplest one is the Autodetect tables button. Let's check how it works:

Click Autodetect tables, the application should highlight all the tables in the file with a translucent pink color;

Next, click on the button on the right Preview and Export Extracted Data, after which the Preview of Extracted Tabular Data window with the exported data should appear.

If you used our file as an example, you may notice that some column names have been moved to new lines. This happened because in the original pdf file some cells with column names are separated. For example, a column called “Name of infrastructure facility” is divided into 4 more parts: “Overloading”, “Sorting”, “Landfill”, “Disposal and disposal”.
To avoid this error, let's try to select the tables in the file manually:

click on the Revise selection(s) button on the left, the program returns us to the previous stage;

Click on the button at the top Clear All Selections, all selected tables should be cleared;

Next, using the mouse, select the entire table, but without the column names (if you were unable to select the table exactly, then you can correct it along the edges);

A Repeat this Selection button will appear in the lower right corner: you can choose whether to apply your selection to all pages below or just to the next one;

click Repeat this Selection and our selection should apply to all subsequent pages;

Next, click on the button on the right Preview and Export Extracted Data, after which the Preview of Extracted Tabular Data window with the exported data should appear.

If your spreadsheet looks “clean” at this point, then congratulations!
If something was exported incorrectly, try changing the export method. On the left there are two options - Stream and Lattice. Try changing the option.

Step 4: export to Excel or csv

And now all we have to do is export the data into a format convenient for analysis. At the top there is a window with possible export formats, called Export Format.

select the default option csv and click the Export button;

You should see a file download window, click “OK” and wait for the file to download.

go to the “Downloads” folder and open it using any spreadsheet program (for example, Excel or Numbers).

As a result, you should have gotten something like this file, which is much more convenient to analyze.