Count words in a PDF: word count and document statistics

Why word counting in PDF is tricky

PDF is a layout format, not a word processor. Words are not stored structurally but as separate text blocks at X/Y coordinates. Direct word counting is not a built-in PDF function like in Word. Nevertheless there are reliable methods.

Word count with the Word Count tool

Use the Word Count tool on PDFrust to count the number of words, characters (with and without spaces) and pages. Upload your PDF and view the statistics. This works for PDFs with selectable text (not scans). The word count is reliable for most text PDFs.

OCR for scanned PDFs

Is the PDF a scan? Then it contains no text that can be counted. Use the OCR tool to make the scan searchable. After OCR you can run the word count. Note: OCR is not 100% accurate — the word count may slightly differ from the actual words in the document.

Statistics for translations

Translation agencies calculate prices based on word counts. Always include a word count when requesting a translation quote. PDFrust gives the total number of words per document. If the document is in multiple languages, count words per language section separately by splitting the PDF per section and analyzing each section separately.

Page count and document info

In addition to words, the Info tool on PDFrust also shows: the total number of pages, file size, creation date, software used and paper size. This information is useful when assessing a received document or for archiving purposes.

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