# TensorFlow dataset pipeline not reading some downloaded PPT/PDF files correctly

**URL:** <https://discuss.ai.google.dev/t/tensorflow-dataset-pipeline-not-reading-some-downloaded-ppt-pdf-files-correctly/187112>\
**Category:** General Discussion\
**Tags:** docs\
**Created:** [October 6, 2026, 4:28am UTC](https://discuss.ai.google.dev/t/tensorflow-dataset-pipeline-not-reading-some-downloaded-ppt-pdf-files-correctly/187112 "2026-10-06T04:28:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![JohnJennifer](https://d1dlmcr85iqnpo.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/discuss.ai.google.dev/johnjennifer/32/152469_2.png) [@JohnJennifer](https://discuss.ai.google.dev/u/JohnJennifer)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2026, 4:28am UTC](https://discuss.ai.google.dev/t/tensorflow-dataset-pipeline-not-reading-some-downloaded-ppt-pdf-files-correctly/187112/1 "2026-10-06T04:28:50Z")

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Hi everyone,

I am working on a small document dataset for a TensorFlow project. I have some presentation files in PPT/PDF format and I am trying to extract the text from them before putting the data into my TensorFlow pipeline.

Some of the presentations I downloaded from SlideShare using a SlideShare Downloader are working fine, but some files are giving me empty text or broken text after extraction.

I checked the files manually and they open normally in PowerPoint/PDF viewer. So I am not sure if this is a TensorFlow dataset issue or the way I am extracting the files before loading them.

My workflow is basically:

PPT/PDF → extract text → clean text → TensorFlow dataset → training

Has anyone worked with presentation documents in a TensorFlow dataset before? Is there any recommended way to preprocess these files so the extracted text is consistent?

I am mainly trying to understand where the problem is coming from, before changing my whole pipeline.

Any advice would be appreciated.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![JohnJennifer](https://d1dlmcr85iqnpo.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/discuss.ai.google.dev/johnjennifer/32/152469_2.png) [@JohnJennifer](https://discuss.ai.google.dev/u/JohnJennifer)\
**Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 8:54pm UTC](https://discuss.ai.google.dev/t/tensorflow-dataset-pipeline-not-reading-some-downloaded-ppt-pdf-files-correctly/187112/2 "2026-10-09T20:54:56Z")

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I am still looking into this issue and trying to figure out why some [PPT](slidesharedownloder. com/) and PDF files return broken text. I downloaded these presentations using SlideShare Downloader, and they open fine. I will keep testing the text extraction step in my TensorFlow dataset pipeline and share an update here if I find anything useful.
