The Select Text and Image command lets you select horizontal and vertical text or columns of text, and images in a PDF. Foxit PDF Editor sets each ribbon with the Hand command and Select commands for user’s convenience. To select, copy and paste text or images, click the Select Text and Image command and do the following:
Select text and images
To select an image, please click on the image in a PDF file directly. To select text, please do any of the following:
- Select a word: Double-click the word you want to select.
- Select a line of text: Drag the cursor
toward a line of text you want to select. - Select a column of text: Press the Alt key and the cursor changes to
. While holding the Alt key, click and drag the cursor over the desired column of text to select it. - Select text only in a rectangle box without images: Press Alt and drag a rectangle at the desired position you want to select.
- Select multiple paragraphs through pages: Click at the start of the selection, scroll to the end of the selection without releasing your mouse.
- Select all the text: Press Ctrl + A, or select some text, right-click it and then choose Select All.
- Deselect all the text: Click any area of the text.
Tip: If you right-click the selected word(s), options in the context menu allow you to perform more tasks like copying and exporting the selected text, adding text markup, looking up a word quickly on Dictionary.com online, and more.
Copy text and images
After selecting the text or image, do one of the following:
- Right-click the selected text, and choose Copy (or choose the Copy icon from the floating toolbar) to copy text in content stream order or choose Copy with Formatting to copy text in the order the text appears on the page.
- Right-click the selected image, and choose Copy.
- Press shortcut key Ctrl + C.
Tips:
- The style (including font, bold, color, etc.) of the text will be copied to the clipboard as well when you copy text in PDF.
- A content stream describes how a page will be rendered. “A content stream is a PDF stream object whose data consists of a sequence of instructions describing the graphical elements to be painted on a page.”, Section 3.7 in PDF References explains what a content stream is in a PDF.
Paste text and images
To paste the selected text on Clipboard to a PDF file, please select the Hand command in Foxit PDF Editor, use the shortcut key Ctrl + V, or right-click on the document where you want to paste the text and select Paste.
To paste the selected image on Clipboard to a PDF file, please select the Hand command in Foxit PDF Editor, use the shortcut key Ctrl + V or right-click on the document and select Paste. You will see the image preview as you hover your mouse over the document. Then click on the document where you want to add the image to add it in the PDF file.
To paste the selected text or image on Clipboard to another application, please follow the paste command of the specific application.