Comparing VeryPDF and Adobe Acrobat for PDF to Excel Conversion: My Real Take
Meta Description
I compared VeryPDF Table Extractor with Adobe Acrobat to convert PDF tables to Excelhere's what actually worked for me and why.
Why I Gave Up on Adobe Acrobat for Table Extraction
Every month, I get slammed with financial reports in PDF format.
And not the clean kindI'm talking messy tables, scanned invoices, and misaligned rows spread across 30 pages. Manually copying them into Excel? It sucked.
Adobe Acrobat was my first go-to. It's the "default," right?
But honestly, it didn't cut it. Conversions were slow, formatting got wrecked, and half the tables didn't extract right.
I needed a tool that just works. That's when I stumbled on VeryPDF Table Extractor, and I haven't looked back since.
What is VeryPDF Table Extractor?
It's a browser-based tool that lets you extract tables from PDF files and convert them to Excel, CSV, XML, or HTMLall without installing anything.
No bloatware. No Adobe. No BS.
It works on any deviceWindows, Mac, Linux, even your phone.
And the best part? It does what Adobe Acrobat should've done.
Who Should Use This Tool?
If your work involves data stuck in PDFs, this is for you. Think:
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Accountants dealing with scanned reports
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Researchers collecting structured data
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Legal teams extracting contract clauses
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Procurement managers processing vendor sheets
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Freelancers managing invoice backups
Basically, if you're manually copying tables out of PDFs, stop. You're wasting hours.
Why I Chose VeryPDF Over Adobe Acrobat
Let me break it downhere's what VeryPDF Table Extractor nailed that Adobe didn't.
1. It's Fast and Doesn't Break the Layout
I uploaded a 15-page report with 10+ tables.
With Adobe? Took 10 minutes and still messed up row alignments.
With VeryPDF? I was done in under 2 minutesand the output was clean. No broken columns. No weird formatting.
2. It's Fully OnlineZero Installs
This one hit home for me.
I work across three devicesPC, MacBook, and a tablet. Installing software on each? Nope.
VeryPDF works straight from the browser. Just go to https://table.verypdf.com/, upload your PDF, select the table, and boomdone.
3. More Export Options Than Adobe
Adobe locks you into .xlsx unless you pay.
VeryPDF? You get:
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XLSX
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CSV
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XML
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HTML
That CSV export saved me when I needed to push data into a database.
4. Smart Table Detection (It Just Knows)
With Adobe, I often had to manually tweak the area to detect tables. It's frustrating.
VeryPDF's automatic table recognition? Way smarter. 9 out of 10 times it gets the right zone immediately. For edge cases, you can still draw a box manually.
How I Use It (Real Workflow Example)
Here's what I do every month:
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Upload the vendor report PDF
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Select the pages with the tables
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Draw a box around the tables if needed
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Preview and hit Export
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Download the CSV, open in Excel, done
I used to spend 2-3 hours per report.
Now? It takes 1520 minutes tops.
What Adobe Acrobat Didn't Do for Me
Look, Adobe Acrobat is solid for general PDF stuffsignatures, highlights, text edits.
But when it comes to batch extracting tables or working with scanned data, it's a hassle:
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Limited format output
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No fine control over table areas
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Slow performance on big files
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Clunky UI (don't get me started)
Summary: VeryPDF Table Extractor Just Works
VeryPDF solved my biggest pain point: turning PDF reports into editable Excel data without friction.
It's simple, fast, and gets the job donewithout bloat.
I'd recommend this to anyone drowning in PDF tables every month.
Try it here: https://table.verypdf.com/
Need Something More Custom?
VeryPDF also offers custom development services tailored to your tech stack.
Whether you need:
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PDF conversion on Windows, Linux, or macOS
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Virtual printer drivers
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OCR, barcode recognition, or PDF security tools
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API-level integration with C++, .NET, Python, JavaScript, and more
They've got you covered.
Got a tricky use case? Reach out here: http://support.verypdf.com/
FAQs
1. Is VeryPDF Table Extractor free to use?
Yes, there's a free version with basic features. You only pay for premium options or bulk API access.
2. Can it handle scanned PDFs?
Yes. It works great with OCR layers and scanned documents, though results may vary depending on scan quality.
3. What file formats can I export to?
XLSX, CSV, XML, and HTMLmuch more flexible than Adobe Acrobat.
4. Do I need to install anything?
Nope. It's 100% browser-based. Works on Windows, macOS, Linuxeven Android.
5. Is there an API for automation?
Yes. Developers can use the VeryPDF Table Extractor API to automate large-scale conversions.
Tags / Keywords
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PDF table extraction
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Convert PDF to CSV
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VeryPDF Table Extractor
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Online PDF to Excel tool
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Extract tables from scanned PDFs
In short, VeryPDF Table Extractor crushes Adobe when it comes to PDF to Excel conversion.
Try it once, and you'll see what I mean: https://table.verypdf.com/