How can I convert a PDF file to a Word document?

Factual Questions
1

I need to send several files in Microsoft Word Document (.doc) format and two of them are PDFs. I’ve just manage to thoroughly confuse myself by going through the Word help section, so I thought I’d turn to the experts here for clarity.

So, how can I convert my PDF files to .doc documents?

Thanks!

2

If the pdf files are simple text files, I have managed to convert them to text files (that can be copied to Word I imagine–I’ve never used Word) by simply marking them and copying them.

3

To convert pdf files to word you need some third party tool like Kernel for PDF to Word which can convert pdf file into word files and also maintains the original formatting of the document.

4

Adobe Acrobat can do this on a hit or miss level. If you can’t do a simple copy paste as Hari Seldon suggested, Adobe Acrobat has an OCR (optical character recognition) that can translate the data into text.

There are several issues with this:

  1. Adobe Acrobat is the step up version of Adobe Reader (so, it costs money)
  2. The OCR is iffy at best. I use this at work on a daily basis and its ability to discern a capital I from a lower case L or a 1 is not good. Even on a good copy. If it’s a generation or two scan away, then Ts can become 1s.
  3. If you were hoping to copy images as well, that won’t happen.
  4. Dumping to a word document really does not keep much, if any, of the formatting.
  5. Some documents are password protected to keep people from doing any of the above too.
5

If it needs OCR to do it (which may or may not be the case), the free version of PDF-XChange Viewer has OCR built in. OCR is inherently unreliable, and almost inevitably introduces errors, but, especially considering it is free, the version in PDF-XChange seems pretty good. But OCR is the last resort to try if other methods don’t work. (After the OCR is done, you should be able to copy and paste as Hari suggested, if you could not before.)

It is a difficult problem, because PDFs are not meant to converted to other document types. They are meant to be your final, unalterable version of a document for the world to see after you have created your content and edited it to your satisfaction in Word, or whatever. Whether and how you can get the content back will depend on how the PDF itself was created, and there are lots of ways that might be.

6

There are plenty of sites that will do a conversion by simply uploading a pdf to them. One is convertpdftoword.net

For a non-web-based solution, there’s a free converter at CNET.

7

The new Word 2013 can open PDF files, edit them there, and then save them as either DocX files or PDFs. When opened in Word, the file retains the structure of the PDF file, even for elements such as tables.

8

Thanks muchly! I knew that Dopers would come through for me again!

I think – I think there’s a possibility that I overlooked a critical detail. What I want to send is my resumé as part of a job application. My resumé and cover letter are normal Word documents, but I wanted to send along copies of various diplomas, certificates, and letters of recommendation as well. In rereading the instructions, the exact wording for this is: “Text files must be a Microsoft Word Document (.doc).” But the various PDFs that I have, the certificates et al, are not text files, right? So sending them along as PDFs would be fine, and show that they are authentic, right?

I think I’m so concerned about making a mistake on this that I’ve made it more complicated than it needed to be.

I think I need to take a deep breath. And a drink.

9

I suspect that pdfs would do well - and if not, you can print them, scan them, and send them as image files - or even include them in a .docx file, though that seems pointless.

10

Also, there’s academic pricing on Acrobat—an 80% discount off the $500 retail price. All they require is that you have an e-mail address on an academic server. If you’re not a student/instructor/other employee, you can just have a buddy or a family member register it for you.

11

There are some online pdf to word converters like pdftoword.com.:slight_smile:
I usually use a paid program on my working computer.
Seems you don’t have to convert files any more, it’s good enough to email your resume and cover letter in word format with other certificates in pdf format.

Good luck!

12

I assume this means you scanned them, and that means you can’t turn them into Word documents (other than through OCR, which will only preserve the plain text). But yes, they’re not text files, they’re images.

13

If the person advertising the job asked for scans of diplomas, etc., they almost certainly don’t require them to be in .doc format. So .pdf format should be fine.

If the person advertising the job didn’t ask for scans of diplomas, etc., then you probably shouldn’t bother sending them; if they want proof of what it says in your “Education” section (for instance), I’m sure they’ll let you know.