Why PDF text extraction produces empty output

Why this happens

An image-only scan can look like a text document while containing no actual text layer. Plain-text extraction cannot read the pixels as words.

What to try first

Use an OCR workflow to create a text layer first. If the PDF already has text, compare its selection order with the extracted TXT.

Try it on a fresh copy

1. Open the PDF and check that its words can be selected, rather than only the whole page image.
2. Extract the text and download the TXT file.
3. Open the file in a text editor. Read across column breaks and check repeated headers or broken words.

How to tell whether it worked

Inspect reading order in columns and look for broken words or repeated headers.