Xpdf-tools-win-4.04 Apr 2026

| Tool | Time to extract all text | Memory usage | |------|------------------------|--------------| | xpdf pdftotext | 0.47 seconds | 8 MB | | Python PyPDF2 | 1.8 seconds | 45 MB | | Adobe Acrobat (Save As Text) | 6.2 seconds | 210 MB | | Microsoft Edge “Save as Text” | 2.1 seconds | 190 MB |

Use -nopgbrk to avoid page break markers, and -enc UTF-8 for Unicode output. Convert to Images (pdftoppm) pdftoppm -png report.pdf page Creates page-1.png , page-2.png , etc. For JPEG, replace -png with -jpeg . Adjust DPI with -rx 300 -ry 300 . Extract All Images (pdfimages) pdfimages -j report.pdf images This dumps every raw image as images-000.jpg , images-001.ppm , etc. The -j flag saves JPEGs as JPEGs; otherwise, they become PPM/PBM.

For batch processing images at high DPI: xpdf-tools-win-4.04

The 4.04 release is stable, well-tested, and free (under the GPLv2). It doesn’t phone home, doesn’t display ads, and doesn’t mysteriously expire. It just works – even on Windows 11, Windows Server 2022, and Windows 10 LTSC.

Look for → “Windows” → “64-bit” (or 32-bit if needed). The filename is typically xpdf-tools-win-4.04.zip . One Last Tip Don’t confuse xpdf-tools with the older Xpdf viewer (which had a GUI). The tools are a separate download. And if you’re on Linux, you can install via apt install xpdf-utils or similar – but on Windows, this ZIP is your best bet. | Tool | Time to extract all text

When people think of PDF tools on Windows, Adobe Acrobat, Foxit Reader, or modern Electron-based apps come to mind. But beneath the glossy GUI surface lies a rugged, lightweight, and incredibly fast alternative: xpdf-tools-win-4.04 .

🔗 Official xpdfreader.com download page Adjust DPI with -rx 300 -ry 300

pdftotext -v You should see “xpdf-tools version 4.04”. No admin rights are required if you run from the extracted folder directly. Let’s explore real-world use cases. Assume you have a PDF called report.pdf . Text Extraction (pdftotext) pdftotext report.pdf output.txt Preserves layout roughly (use -layout for better column retention). For raw text without formatting, just omit the flag.

Get-ChildItem -Filter "*.pdf" | ForEach-Object $output = "$($_.BaseName).txt" pdftotext $_.FullName $output Write-Host "Processed $($_.Name)"