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superPDF

PDF to Excel

Turn tables into spreadsheet rows.

Finds the tables in a PDF and saves them as an Excel workbook (.xlsx) for Excel, Numbers, LibreOffice and Google Sheets.

How to use it

  1. Choose a PDF with selectable text. For scanned PDFs, run OCR PDF first.
  2. Optionally enter the pages to read, such as 3-5.
  3. Choose one sheet per table, or one sheet per page to keep the text around each table (it goes in column A).
  4. Select Convert to Excel and download the .xlsx file.

Options

OptionValuesDefault
PagesPage numbers or ranges, for example 1, 3-5All pages
SheetsOne of one sheet per table, one sheet per pageone sheet per table

Output

An .xlsx file with numbers stored as numbers, ready to sort and add up: thousands separators are removed, and currency signs, percentages and negatives in brackets become the cell’s number format. Codes with leading zeros, such as 00123, stay as text.

How tables are found

superPDF reads the position of every piece of text on the page. Text on the same line is split into cells where there is a clear gap, and lines with two or more cells that sit close together become a table. Columns come from where the cells line up, so right-aligned numbers and centred headings land in the right column, and an empty cell stays empty. A table that carries on at the top of the next page, with the same columns, is joined to the first part, and a repeated header row is dropped. A first row of labels over rows of numbers is made bold, and on a table’s own sheet it stays in view when you scroll.

If no tables are found, you get one sheet per page with each line of text in its own row.

Limits

No file size or page limit. Everything runs on your device, so very large files are fastest on a computer.

  • Grid lines aren’t read, so columns need visible space between them. Columns that almost touch are joined into one.
  • A cell that wraps onto several lines becomes several rows.
  • A cell spanning several columns goes in the first of them.
  • Dates stay as text, and numbers written with a decimal comma (1.234,56) stay as text.
  • Scanned pages have no text to read; run OCR PDF first, or use high-accuracy reading when superPDF offers it. It reads tables from the page picture, grid lines and spanning cells included, and the workbook is rebuilt with them.

High-accuracy reading

When a PDF has scanned pages, tables or math, superPDF can offer high-accuracy reading beside the quick result. It reads each page as a picture with a small AI model made for documents (LightOnOCR-3 by LightOn), so it gets the words, tables and math of scans right far more often than the quick reader. It is offered on computers whose browser can run AI on the device (the latest Chrome, Edge or Safari) with 8 GB of memory or more; phones and tablets keep the quick reader. You see the quick result first, then each page is replaced as it is read, with the time left and a Stop button. Once you have chosen it, superPDF uses it by itself in this browser where it helps. It runs on this device: nothing leaves it, and it works offline once downloaded. Download: 871 MB, once, only when you choose it; delete it any time in On-device AI models. Speed: about 10 to 30 seconds a page on a recent computer (the offer shows the time for your pages); up to 20 pages are read at a time unless you choose more or pick pages. It reads English and other European languages best; check results in other scripts, and like any OCR it can misread faded or handwritten text. Running page headers, footers and page numbers are left out of the text. If anything goes wrong, the quick result stays, with a short note.

Privacy

Runs in your browser. Your files are processed on your device and never uploaded.

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