

If a PDF document was obtained from an electronic source such as a Word document or an Excel spreadsheet, it contains text characters that can be read and interpreted by Microsoft Office applications as well as by various PDF converters.

Someone may think that all PDF files are essentially the same.

So, if your task implies re-arranging the data for further analysis, you will have to either bug the correspondent for another file, or convert the PDF document into some editable format. However, PDF files are purposed solely for viewing data and not for manipulating it. If you ask someone for some information, and if that someone is a well-meaning person, there's a good chance that you will get a neatly formatted PDF document with the requested data accompanied by tables, graphics and diagrams for your perusal. The PDF format that allows presenting documents independently of the user's software, hardware or operating system has already become a de facto standard for electronic file exchange. The article explains how to export different PDF files to Excel manually or using free online converters, and how to choose the conversion method best suited for a given file type.
