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Learn how to remove unwanted page numbers and merge lines from a copied PDF text using `sed`. This guide provides an easy solution for cleaning up your text.
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This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/62393310/ asked by the user 'Alex Grey' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/2505674/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/62402031/ provided by the user 'potong' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/967492/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.

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How to Remove Page Numbers from PDF Text Efficiently

If you’ve ever copied text from a PDF document, you've probably encountered the frustrating scenario where page numbers are inserted in between paragraphs. Not only do these numbers clutter your text, but they also disrupt the flow of your writing. This problem can be particularly annoying when you’re trying to compile a clean version of your content for a report or presentation.

In this guide, we will explore a practical solution using sed, a powerful stream editor commonly used in UNIX and Linux environments. We’ll guide you step-by-step on removing page numbers at the bottom of your text while merging lines for better readability.

Understanding the Problem

Let's take a look at the structure of the copied PDF text:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

What We Need to Do:

Remove page numbers: We want to get rid of the standalone numbers at the end of lines (e.g., 12, 13, 14).

Merge lines: If a line ends with a period, it should be combined with the next paragraph.

The end result should look like this:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

The Solution Using sed

Now, let's get to the solution. We will use the following sed command to process the file:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Breaking Down the Command:

-E: This flag allows us to use extended regular expressions in sed.

:a: This defines a label in the command, which we can use to loop back to.

N: This command reads the next line of input into the pattern space, allowing us to work with multiple lines at once.

s/\n[0-9]+ $//: This substitution command removes any line ending with a number, effectively stripping out page numbers.

ta: This tells sed to go back to label a if the substitution was made (i.e., if a page number was removed).

s/([^.])\n/\1 /: This substitution merges lines together if the previous line did not end with a period, replacing the newline with a space.

ba: This tells sed to always go back to label a, thereby creating a loop that processes the entire file.

Executing the Command

To apply this command:

Open Terminal: Navigate to your command line interface.

Run the Command: Replace file with the name of your text file containing the PDF content.

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

This command will process the file in place, and you will see the cleaned-up text output in your Terminal.

Conclusion

In just a few steps and with a simple command, you can efficiently clean up text copied from PDF files by removing unwanted page numbers and ensuring that your paragraphs flow smoothly together. With tools like sed, transforming your text has never been easier!

If you have any questions or need further assistance, feel free to reach out in the comments below. Happy editing!