PDFs are great, but sometimes you need to work with other file types. Click here to learn how to convert PDF files to other file formats.
The Portable Document Format, or PDF for short, is one of the most common means used to share documents.
Developed by Adobe in 1991, it didn’t take long for the PDF to become the standard format for a variety of industries.
A PDF is a replica of an electronic document, be it a text or word-processing file, a photo or other graphic, or even a video.
The file-type can also be password-protected so that features like editing and printing are restricted only to the people who are supposed to have access.
Despite PDF being a flexible filetype, it’s not always optimal for the task at hand. That’s why knowing how to convert PDF files into other formats can save you a lot of time and headaches.
There are a variety of ways that you can do this, depending on what filetype you need to convert to. Read on to learn more.
How to Convert PDF Files to Word Documents
The most common target filetype is the Word document. Simply copying and pasting the text into a Word Document is a basic way to do this conversion, but it’s tedious and time-consuming. There are quicker and easier methods.
If you have Abode Acrobat, the software used to generate PDFs, the process is pretty straightforward.
- Open your PDF in Acrobat
- Find and click the “Export PDF” tool in the right pane.
- Choose Microsoft Word as your export format, and then select “Word Document”
- Click Export. Don’t worry if your PDF has scanned text; Acrobat should automatically run text recognition and convert the scanned items.
- Now just name your resulting file, choose either the DOC or DOCX file formate, and save. And that’s it, you’ve converted your PDF to a Word Document.
If you don’t have Adobe Acrobat, and many of us don’t, don’t worry.
There are plenty of free, third-party pdf to Word converters available for you to use, both for Mac and Windows.
It is also possible to convert PDFs to Word using Microsoft Word itself, though this method does work best with PDFs that mostly text.
If your PDF contains lots of images or other non-text elements, you would probably be better served using a third-party converter.
The method is as follows:
- In Word, select File > Open.
- Find and open your PDF.
- Word will tell you that it’s going to create a copy of the file and convert its contents. The original PDF will be unchanged. Select Okay.
Converting to Non-Word Documents
We focused on how to convert PDF to Word because that is the most common conversion people need to perform.
However, the process for converting to other file types is largely the same.
Using Adobe Acrobat, you can follow the same steps and simply select a different target filetype like an image, Powerpoint slide, or HTML page.
And if you don’t have Acrobat, those third-party converters that we mentioned will also provide a variety of target formats. Like any task, it’s just a matter of equipping yourself with the right tool.
The Right Tools for the Job
Figuring out how to convert PDF files to other filetypes isn’t complicated or difficult. As with any task, it’s just a matter of equipping yourself with the right tools.
Whether using Acrobat, WOrd, or a third-party program, there are plenty of options available to meet your needs.
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