Tabula

Tabula provides a graphical interface for extracting tabular data from PDF documents and saving it as CSV or Excel files. Users upload a PDF, draw a rectangle around the desired table, and Tabula parses the text‑based content, presenting a preview before export. The tool runs locally via a web browser and supports macOS, Windows, and Linux, with Java required on non‑macOS platforms.

The software is aimed at anyone who needs to convert tables embedded in PDFs into editable spreadsheet formats, including journalists, researchers, and grassroots organizations. It is used by news outlets such as ProPublica, The Times of London, and The New York Times, as well as by analysts who turn PDF reports into data for further processing.

Tabula focuses on simplicity and reliability for text‑based PDFs, offering a free, open‑source solution that avoids manual copy‑and‑paste. The latest stable release (1.2.1) includes bug fixes to the user interface and processing backend.