extract text from pdf in Javascript

Question

Hi, I wonder if is possible to get the text inside of a PDF file by using only Javascript? If yes, what libraries should I use?

I know there are some server-side java, c#, etc libraries but I would prefer not using a server. thanks

Answer 1

It is possible but:

• you would have to use the server anyway, there's no way you can get content of a file on user computer without transferring it to server and back
• I don't thing anyone has written such library yet

So if you have some free time you can learn pdf format and write such a library yourself, or you can just use server side library of course.

Answer 2

I don't know of a library for reading PDF files, but there is a library for creating them in JavaScript called jsPDF. You might get some ideas about how to read PDF files in JavaScript by looking at the source of that library.