How Do I Convert PDF to Word for Free?

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Ask Leo!

Күн бұрын

Пікірлер: 43

@askleonotenboom 10 ай бұрын

Possible, but often not pretty.

@bite-sizedshorts9635 9 ай бұрын

Yet I can do it with WordPerfect. And I can make it look exactly like the original. WP can import the PDF, I can edit the document to fix what I want and remove a few peculiarities, and then save it in any format I wish. WP, unlike Word, can save in almost every format that has ever existed. Even Word can't really save a document as an older version of Word. It says it does, but it's really RTF, not the same thing at all if you're sending a file to someone who happens to have a 10 or 20 year old copy of Word that they prefer. My method is free to me, because I will always have WordPerfect on my computer, even if it has to be in a virtual machine. A second method I use for actual paper is to scan and OCR. Again, the text goes into WP for exact formatting. BTW, Word cannot format as well as WP. That's an objective fact. I know, as I am an expert on both programs and had to use both at a large law firm.

@paulreader1777 9 ай бұрын

Hi Leo - just opened your InternetSafety-v6-Free pdf in LibreOffice Draw - if you ensure font compatibility between LibreOffice and MS Office (which is quite possible for most common fonts) then virtually everything is preserved including graphics and the text fields/boxes in the pdf are individually editable. This is not quite the same as editing directly in LibreOffice Writer (or Word) but generally manageable. Recently had someone trying to open an Apple .paper document in Word without success: LibreOffice was able to handle it and convert to .docx format happily. There's more to Open Source than meets the eye these days.

@devanathanm806 10 ай бұрын

That is what i do. I keep the original word document. make changes whenever I need do , make a new PDF and delete the old PDF . thanks for the nice video reinforcing the right way to do things.

@davidmartin8211 9 ай бұрын

Calibre ebook reader will cvt Pdf to Text or Docx. Same issue with bad formatting.

@askleonotenboom 9 ай бұрын

Good point. I suspect it might make some more assumptions, though, thinking that what you're converting is a book or book-like.

@myidisinhim559 10 ай бұрын

Leo, nice explanation. I always believed the intent of the pdf format was to create a non-editable document. So it still doesn't make sense to me why Adobe (the presumed "king" of pdf software) created ways to defeat that purpose. An example is their Acrobat product.

@nancystaycer4415 3 ай бұрын

Thanks Leo!!

@verdedoodleduck 10 ай бұрын

The fonts can get substituted as well in the document conversion. And doesn't the pdf contain only necessary portions of the fonts used (for portability and size respectively) causing other editing issues?

@Soupie62 10 ай бұрын

If you already have Word, there has been a built-in PDF import since at least version 2016 (the version I use).

@askleonotenboom 10 ай бұрын

Yup, but this is a free alternative for people that don't pay for Office.

@rlcpd 5 ай бұрын

Where or what is it?

@essyreuben8079 3 күн бұрын

Thank you Leo.

@rlcpd 5 ай бұрын

Each week I receive a pdf document which must be edited. It is difficult to do that conversion. Adobe offers big...but charges big. Question: There is music in this pdf document and it does not convert. Is there a process for converting the music to html or Word?

@askleonotenboom 5 ай бұрын

Not that I'm aware of. As I outline in the video PDFs were never meant to be edited. The correct solution would be to get the original in an editable format to begin with.

@acreguy3156 10 ай бұрын

One company I deal with always sent me PDFs. I asked them to send me their document as a Word .doc or .docx file. Virtually everyone has access to a basic version of Word or an open source word processing program so they can edit the document in its raw form. The only reason for using PDFs is to keep Adobe rolling in the cash. One other person in this section wrote that you can edit PDFs in LibreOffice. This is true but why do we need two large programs when one will do? PDFs are archaic and need to be scrapped.

@bite-sizedshorts9635 9 ай бұрын

I wouldn't have Word. WP is a much more powerful program. PDF is not archaic, as you need exact formatting in the final document for a number of purposes. PDF guarantees that the pagination won't change, the fonts won't change, etc. This is absolutely necessary in legal documents and in flyers and ads where placement of elements and type is important. BTW, I have never spent a dime on anything Adobe, so my use of PDFs doesn't contribute to them.

@MarkJT1000 10 ай бұрын

This is why I still keep an old PC running Vista. It is the only PC I have that will still run my copy of Acrobat Professional, which makes editing PDFs a doddle.

@chipcurry 9 ай бұрын

Thanks!

@acreguy3156 10 ай бұрын

Great video, Leo. For a document that was never meant to be edited, it's amazing how many companies use this pain in the drain format when they want you to physically sign and date their PDF!

@Dienes 10 ай бұрын

PDF has good support for things like filling out forms and adding signatures. Those are additive changes that don't change the overall layout.

@acreguy3156 10 ай бұрын

@@Dienes Agreed but there are still thousands of companies that send out forms expecting us to alter them and send them back. Our Canadian passport online application is as you describe them. They're very good. Sadly, not all PDFs are like that. By design, they are self-limiting. All the same - great observation. Thanks 👍.

@bite-sizedshorts9635 9 ай бұрын

You sign a hard copy, then scan that signed copy to send back. I suppose younger people can't figure all that out.

@kersi-sandiego6036 10 ай бұрын

I convert PDF to LibreOffice Writer. No problem. Easy peasy.

@wimhey 10 ай бұрын

LibreOffice Draw and Inkscape is a better option.

@wimhey 10 ай бұрын

LibreOffice Draw and Inkscape are a better option.

@rlcpd 5 ай бұрын

What is the cost of that?

@dennisd5776 10 ай бұрын

I thought the new Edge has a PDF editor built in, so that you can edit PDF's without having to convert.

@askleonotenboom 10 ай бұрын

It's a PDF viewer, and a fairly annoying one at that.

@ThomasThornhill 10 ай бұрын

As has been alluded to, the purpose of PDF documents often includes the desire that others do not have the right to edit the document (especially paid for material). If you're dealing with your own document, or one that you are free to edit, do what you want. But it could be that you are pirating someone's material. That is not ok.

@NoEgg4u 10 ай бұрын

There are other (than Google) on-line services that convert documents from one format to another -- and they include the pdf option. I have never used them, so I cannot vouch for their quality.

@askleonotenboom 10 ай бұрын

Most are ultimately not free, and I trust Google more. :-)