Gemfile

# normal Gem dependancy declarations
# ...

group :test, :cucumber do
  gem 'pdf-reader'
end

pdf_steps.rb

When /^I follow the PDF link "([^"]+)"$/ do |label|
  click_link(label)
  temp_pdf = Tempfile.new('pdf')
  temp_pdf << page.source.force_encoding('UTF-8')
  temp_pdf.close
  pdf_text = PDF::PdfToText.new(temp_pdf.path)
  page.driver.response.instance_variable_set('@body', pdf_text.get_text)
end

pdf_test.feature

  Scenario: Check printable PDF
    When I follow the PDF link "Print"
    Then I should see "My name"
      And I should see "Something else"

pdf_to_text.rb

module PDF
  class PdfToText
    def initialize(pdf_file)
      @receiver = PDF::SimplePageTextReceiver.new
      pdf = PDF::Reader.file(pdf_file, @receiver)
    end

    def get_text
      @receiver.content.inspect
    end
  end
end

simple_page_text_receiver.rb

module PDF
  class SimplePageTextReceiver
    attr_accessor :content

    def initialize
      @content = []
    end

    # Called when page parsing starts
    def begin_page(arg = nil)
      @content << ""
    end

    # record text that is drawn on the page
    def show_text(string, *params)
      @content.last << string.strip
    end

    # there's a few text callbacks, so make sure we process them all
    alias :super_show_text :show_text
    alias :move_to_next_line_and_show_text :show_text
    alias :set_spacing_next_line_show_text :show_text

    # this final text callback takes slightly different arguments
    def show_text_with_positioning(*params)
      params = params.first
      params.each { |str| show_text(str) if str.kind_of?(String)}
    end
  end
end