Convert PDF Files to Word Documents and Other Formats
Most of us know easy ways to turn a Word or other text document into a PDF, but what if we need to convert a PDF to Word? Today we will take a look at some methods to turn a PDF document into a Word or other text document.
Online Solutions
The first couple of solutions are web-based, so you don't even need to install any software to convert your files… keep in mind that with these web sites you are uploading your data to a third party, so consider the privacy implications if you are converting sensitive documents.
Zamzar
Arguably the most popular online file conversion site is Zamzar. This free service allows you to convert files up to 100MB for free. Just browse to the PDF, select the format to convert to, then enter your email address. When the document is ready Zamzar will send you an email with a link to the document to download. Zamzar will also convert a PDF to HTML, ODT, PCX, PNG, PS, RTF, and TXT.
Use Zamzar Free Online File Conversion
PDF Online
Another great online service is PDF Online. This service is powered by BCL Technologies Easy Converter software which you can download a 30 day trial of if you or your company wants to convert a large number of documents. Currently you can sign up for a BCL Premium Online account which allows you to convert 20 documents per day with a 10MB (per document) size limit.
After conversion you simply Right-Click on the link to “save link as” an RTF Word document on your PC.
Use PDF Online Free PDF Services
Free PDF Converter
The final online service we will check out is Free PDF Converter. This is similar to Zamzar but the free version is much more limited. I submitted the same 4 page PDF document for all tests and this service cut my document off after 2 pages. Also, they only let you convert one PDF every 30 minutes. The cheapest membership is $9/month where conversions are basically unlimited. In a pinch this site may come in handy.
Software Solutions
The next set of solutions are software-based, applications that can be installed on your local computer and used offline. These would be a better choice for converting sensitive documents.
BCL Easy Converter Desktop 1.0
Since PDF Online impressed me the most with their online conversion service I decided to take their desktop software for a spin. BCL Easy Converter Desktop 1.0 is a very simple yet powerful utility to convert PDF documents to Word. It works basically the same as the online service but on your desktop. It converts PDF documents to RTF only, but for twenty bucks it might be more useful than wasting time online. You can download a trial of Easy Converter Desktop or the purchase price is only $19.95.
Download A Free Trial of BCL Easy Converter Desktop 1.0
DocSmartz
Sometimes you might want to convert the PDF document to other file formats such as Excel, HTML, or Postscript. DocSmartz Pro is a great affordable desktop application to get the file format you want. Choose the PDF you want to convert and DocSmartz Pro walks you though different settings with an easy to follow wizard.
ABBYY PDF Transformer 2.0
Another software solution that converts PDF documents to multiple formats is ABBYY PDF Transformer 2.0 which is capable of converting PDF’s to Word, Excel, RTF, HTML, TXT, and a searchable PDF document. In my tests ABBYY did a fine job of converting PDF’s into each format. For a full license of ABBYY Transformer it will set you back $99.
Free PDF to Word Doc Converter
Finally we get to the good part, the (sort of) FREE version. Free PDF to Word Converter 1.1 is also basic and simple to use like BCL’s Easy Converter but actually has a few extra options such as choosing a font and selecting page numbers. Conversions were quick and easy even with large documents with a lot of images.
There is a catch however. After the first few conversions you are asked to download a registration code from the site every time you want to convert a document. To never have to enter in a registration code you will have to pay $15.
Download Free PDF to Word Converter 1.1
Conclusion
After testing the online services it seems that converting a PDF to RTF (Rich Text Format) seems to work the best. When converting to a Doc the format can get pretty messy. PDF Online was the fastest, easiest to use,and produced the best quality conversions over the other online services.
Out of the two multiple file format converters, DocSmartz Pro was much easier to use and was faster than ABBYY’s PDF Transformer 2.0. If you just need to convert a PDF to Word then Free PDF to Word Doc Converter will work a few times until the annoyance of getting a code for every document kicks in. If you want to be able to convert PDF to multiple formats DocSmartz Pro is the best and cheapest. If you only need to convert PDF to Word then BCL Easy Converter Desktop 1.0 is the best bet.
These are only a few of the services and software utilities available, what are some of your favorites? Let us know!
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We use PDFCreator, its simply a printer driver that gets installed under Windows. Its simple to use, take your word doc, power point, picture, notepad file (or any file!) and select to print to PDFCreator. It will create a PDF of whatever you were going to print. http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/
I have a hard time with the privacy of uploading our documents online to convert them to PDF. I like the security of printing them to pdf format.
RJ I think you may be missing the point here.
I beleive this excellent article is about converting pdf to other.
PDF Creator (where I agree is groovy) goes other to pdf.
Wow, I must be really stupid. I just copy all in a PDF document and then paste it into a Word or Open Office document. Voilla! PDF to word in two steps. This has worked for me since the 1980's.
Oh yeah, sometimes I need to change the formatting a little, but it always works.
I love deskUNPDF from Docudesk.com. Its a client side application and I don't have to wait for some server to email me the file. I always seem to wait eternally for services like the ones mentioned and the email sometimes comes and sometimes does not. = not worth the wait.
Media-convert is another online service with which we can convert pdf to other formats very easliy unlike zamzar no entry of email address is required ,we can download converted files from the site it self ,saves some time too.
I use the free software at [ http://www.pdf995.com/download.html ]
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All downloads are free. Once on your computer, just click to install and you're ready to start creating professional-quality PDF files from any application the fast affordable way. Pdf995 is compatible with Adobe Acrobat v9.0, Adobe Reader v9.0 and previous versions.
Pdf995 2-Step Download
Pdf995 Printer Driver Version 9.0 / Download 2.1 MB
Free Converter • Version 1.1 / Download 5.0 MB
Consists of both the printer driver and a free Converter.
The free versions of pdf995 products will display a sponsor page in your web browser each time you run the software. If you would prefer not to see sponsor pages, you may upgrade by obtaining a key at any time for $9.95. A suite key for all three products is also available for $19.95. Group keys for 25 or more users are also available. Purchasing also entitles you to email support by software engineers (12-hour response time).
Read some of our testimonials, or what they're saying about us in the press!
We support Windows Vista (32 and 64 bit); Citrix/Terminal Server; configuration as a shared network printer; NT 4.0 and XP (32 bit and 64 bit); Windows 2003 (32 bit and 64 bit); Windows 95, 98, 2000 and ME; and Server 2008.
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Have used it for years without any issues.
The free version makes you wait a few seconds before it hands control back to the calling application whilst it displays some banner advertising, but apart from that it does the same job as the "paid for" version.
i'm curious… i have a NDS, and i have a ebook reader on it that only uses xhtml files… i can't find one that uses pdf's, but the xhtml ones look pretty decent (for the functionality)…
Exportation to xhtml seems to be pretty limited, but my goal is to find a converter for pdf's because i have a lot of training books in this most commonly used format… do you know of any converters that change a pdf into xhtml???
Freewaregenius.com did a similar comparison about a year ago and found a web site called Koolwire.com to be very good at maintaining format.
Is it true that these only work with PDFs made directly from text files? I often want to capture text from a PDF made from a scanned image of a page. I tried that using PDF Online and got one big image, no editable text. A converter with built-in OCR would be ideal.
Like ageek4u, I just use copy-and-paste. I use Okular as my PDF reader (on my Suse OS) and OpenOffice Write as my word processor. With that combination, it's easy to block-and-copy from a PDF file, paste it into a WP file. There, I can edit as needed then use OpenOffice Write's native PDF publisher to convert back to PDF.
Both Okular and OpenOffice are totally free.
you can also use Sun plugin for OpenOffice 3.0:
http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/project/pdfimport
for now it's beta version, but for me works in a apropriate way.
You can edit it, transform to whatever you want.
And it's free of charge.
Thanks for your tips
Bookmarked your site
As usual, your site is a gem
As a publisher who will soon be releasing some ebooks, this concerns me. I am not the most technologically proficient and have not gotten to the stage of turning my InDesign files into PDFs or preflighting them for the printer, but I thought that Adobe Acrobat offered security measures that would prevent viewers from printing, copying and pasting, saving or sending these files to other users. Am I wrong?
Also, if I may, can I ask if any of you technilogically-able individuals know of any software that allows you to convert your PDF documents into virtual books (ie. with page turning, bookmarks etc)?
All I can find are services, most of them in the UK, that require a fee for each file you create or alternatively Flash Plug-ins that don't work with PDFs but require image files, which for a 300 page book would be more than inconvenient.
i am using Tweak pdf to word. i thought it perform very well.
it is free to try.http://www.tweakpdf.com/
Thanks for sharing. AnyBizSoft PDF to Word is another desktop software. I am using it right now.
http://www.anypdftools.com/pdf-to-word.html
I can convert many files at the same time. It is free.
You can try and add to the list maybe.
This is great resource! But currently I'm using converter from morz project (http://morzproject.com) .So far is good.BTW thanks for sharing this list!
Why not add smithjames and linky's recommended to your review list.
Hope it helps!
Sabrina, Because they're not PDF to Word conversion utilities.
what we call converting one doc to other doc, like Pdf to word
Found a FREE Pdf to Word converter downloadable without trial or contract: SIMPO Technologies (Simpo Pdf to Word).
Works fairly well, but still need to adjust several of the graphics (pictues, text boxes, etc). I've found this program helped a lot for developing technical manuals.
Try it!
One, how do I start the page number of my automatically page numbered document from page 1 to page 3?
Two, how do I restart automatic footnotes to restart over again?
Three, what is doc.x , and do I need that to create a pdf file?