How to read PDF files in VB.net or convert PDF to word document in VB.net

Question

I need to read text in a PDF with an application written in VB.net. What is currently the best way of doing this. I am also open to first convert the PDF to a word document and read that instead

Answer 1

iTextPdf looks like a good starting point, open source and c# so any examples should be portable to vb.net The c# port http://sourceforge.net/projects/itextsharp/files/

The site http://itextpdf.com/

alternativly take a look at this article for a number of .net alternatives http://www.codeproject.com/KB/string/pdf2text.aspx