How do text coding and region coding work in PDFs?
Overview
Use text coding when the PDF contains a reliable machine-readable text layer. Select the exact words you need and assign codes or memos. Use Draw Region for photographs, charts, handwriting, scanned passages, complex layouts, or any visual area that should be analyzed as an image. Both forms of evidence remain part of the same project and can appear in Analysis and Results Builder.
What to do
- Try selecting and copying a short sentence to check the text layer.
- Use text selection for quotations that must remain searchable.
- Use Draw Region for visual meaning or when text selection is unavailable or unreliable.
- Review the highlighted area before finalizing the code.