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Processing Information Pasted from a PDF File

Summary: When pasting information copied from a PDF file, you can end up with a paragraph for each line of the original document. It would be much better to process the information to remove the extra paragraph breaks prior to pasting. This tip provides a macro you can use to do just that. (This tip works with Microsoft Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, Word 2003, and Word 2007.)

Zach is constantly pasting quotes from PDF files into the body of his Word documents. He'd like to have a macro specifically for pasting from PDF that pastes without any formatting and automatically removes the paragraph breaks that are at the end of each line of the pasted text.

It is relatively easy to work with text in this manner in a macro. All you need to do is move the information from the Clipboard to a string variable. Once it is in the variable, there is no longer any formatting associated with the text and you can search for and replace the paragraph breaks. The following macro performs both steps:

Sub PastePDFClean()
    Dim MyData As DataObject
    Dim sTextIn As String
    Dim x As Integer
    Dim y As Integer

    Set MyData = New DataObject
    MyData.GetFromClipboard
    sTextIn = MyData.GetText

    x = InStr(sTextIn, vbCr)
    y = 1
    While x > 0
        sTextIn = Left(sTextIn, x - 1) & Mid(sTextIn, x + 1)
        y = x + 1
        x = InStr(y, sTextIn, vbCr)
    Wend

    Selection.TypeText sTextIn
    Set MyData = Nothing
End Sub

Remember; the macro works on whatever is in the Clipboard. So, in order to run the macro properly on a PDF selection, you need to copy the selection to the Clipboard and switch to your Word document before you run the macro.

Tip #583 applies to Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

More Power! For some people, the prospect of creating Word macros can be scary. WordTips: The Macros can help you conquer your fears and you'll discover you're much more confident and productive as you make Word do exactly what you want. This is an invaluable source for learning macros. You are introduced to the topic in bite-sized chunks, pulled from past issues of WordTips. Learn at your own pace, exactly the way you want.
 
Check out WordTips: The Macros today!