Adobe, the creators of Acrobat software and the .PDF file format have introduced a web-based tool that converts most .PDF files found on the Internet to a text format. The tool can be useful when it's necessary to copy and quote lengthy passages from documents found in the .PDF format into your own documents.

All you have to do is enter the URL of a .PDF document found on the Internet (into the site's "URL" box), click the "Get this Adobe PDF Document as HTML" button and the conversion engine automatically returns a text version of the document in your browser window. The converter works with most (but not all) .PDFs.

While any web links in the .PDF document are preserved in the conversion, all graphics and most formatting is lost. A number of conversion options are also available to better control the information you receive, including:

• First and Last Page - Define a range of pages to convert in a large document.
• Reflow Paragraphs - Adjusts document text to better fit browser window (choosing "reflow" can make a mess of any tables in the .PDF)
• Filter - Handles unprintable characters (e.g. "Euro" symbol, et al)
• Password: Some Acrobat® documents are protected with a password. If you know the password protecting a document, enter it in this space to convert these documents
• Reading Order - (from the site) The short explanation is that if you don't like the way the document reads, try the alternate reading order.

It's important to include the ENTIRE URL, including the "http://". A recent conversion attempt for "www.netforlawyers.com/research_manual_toc.pdf" returned only an error message, while entering "http://www.netforlawyers.com/research_manual_toc.pdf" returned the converted document.