<p>You question reminded me of a tool I first encountered in the 80’s (I know right!) called “data thief”. Back when Mac applications had a four letter “creator code” this one had the code “DIEF” (which is the Dutch word for “thief”).</p>
<p>I appears to be around still - and as it doesn’t rely on a browser it may well still work (I haven’t tried in years though).</p>
<p>Take a look <a href="https://datathief.org" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-23T00:09:19.400Z
2020-12-23T00:09:19.400Z
Floris
<p>Dexter was a tool from the German Astrophysical Virtual Observatory, made by the Center for Astronomy of Heidelberg University (ZAH). It was able to reconstruct data from a graph if you provided a pdf or an image of that graph. It relied on Java, and since browsers have stopped support for Java it no longer works.</p>
<p>Website for reference: <a href="https://dc.zah.uni-heidelberg.de/dexter/ui/ui/custom" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://dc.zah.uni-heidelberg.de/dexter/ui/ui/custom</a></p>
<p>Does anyone know of another tool that does the same thing?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-21T01:29:22.803Z
Did you see the discussion https://www.astrobetter.com/blog/2011/11/17/digitize-that-figure-fast/
James K
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-22T02:09:25.723Z
Thanks James, I'll give it a read!
Capp
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-22T16:14:52.373Z
I used Dexter too.
Kornpob Bhirombhakdi
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-01T17:33:45.893Z
I wonder whether you could use the [applet viewer](https://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/technotes/tools/windows/appletviewer.html) solution that Oracle provides...
Floris
<data-analysis><raw-data><modeling>
Does a replacement exist for Dexter? (A tool that reconstructs data from a pdf of a graph)
Capp
# Does a replacement exist for Dexter? (A tool that reconstructs data from a pdf of a graph)

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-12-21)

Dexter was a tool from the German Astrophysical Virtual Observatory, made by the Center for Astronomy of Heidelberg University (ZAH). It was able to reconstruct data from a graph if you provided a pdf or an image of that graph. It relied on Java, and since browsers have stopped support for Java it no longer works.

Website for reference: <https://dc.zah.uni-heidelberg.de/dexter/ui/ui/custom>

Does anyone know of another tool that does the same thing?

Thanks

**Tags:** data-analysis, raw-data, modeling

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Did you see the discussion https://www.astrobetter.com/blog/2011/11/17/digitize-that-figure-fast/  
> **username_0**: Thanks username_1, I'll give it a read!  
> **username_2**: I used Dexter too.  
> **username_3**: I wonder whether you could use the [applet viewer](https://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/technotes/tools/windows/appletviewer.html) solution that Oracle provides...  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2020-12-23. Score: 2

You question reminded me of a tool I first encountered in the 80’s (I know right!) called “data thief”. Back when Mac applications had a four letter “creator code” this one had the code “DIEF” (which is the Dutch word for “thief”).

I appears to be around still - and as it doesn’t rely on a browser it may well still work (I haven’t tried in years though).

Take a look [here](https://datathief.org)


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