A PDF-to-text job is only finished when the output is usable. A file can be technically extracted and still have words in the wrong reading order, collapsed lists, repeated headers, or missing Unicode characters.
Agree on the output first
Before writing a parser, choose two or three representative pages and decide what the plain-text file should look like. Specify whether headings need their own lines, how numbered and bulleted lists should appear, whether page headers and footers should be removed, and how tables should be represented. A two-column page needs an explicit reading order.
Check the PDF type
Selectable text and scanned images are different jobs. If a page has no usable text layer, it needs OCR and a separate accuracy check. Do not promise character-perfect output from an unseen scan.
Test the result
Compare the output with sample pages that include paragraphs, lists, tables, punctuation, and non-ASCII characters. Look for dropped lines, doubled text, broken line wraps, and text copied across columns in the wrong order. Save the agreed output as UTF-8 and include a short note explaining the extraction method and known limits.
If an existing Python or browser automation script is failing on a bounded PDF or file-processing task, I offer a $99, six-hour repair sprint: View the repair sprint
Send a sanitized sample, the expected text, the current output or error, and your deadline through the scope form linked on the service page. I will review the scope before payment; scans, large batches, and complex table reconstruction may need a separate estimate.