PDF to Word - A Primer

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Why PDF to Word?

It is a highly desired and popular PDF Conversion online. PDF to Word users are familiar with using Microsoft Word and so are looking to get their PDF into the format they are familiar with.  In generally thought that PDFs are not editable although that is not the case and PDF Editors do exist online and can do a very good job (read our primer on PDF Editing here).  In a best case scenario, the PDF was created in Word and so converting back to what it was originally created in will yield the best results.  Often that is not the case and so in come limitations and considerations.

Limitations and Considerations

Scanned v. Native PDF:  For converting PDF to Word, this is a consideration. A native PDF is created electronically, often from Word itself.  PDF converters can take that PDF back to Word very easily.  The more difficult situation is the image or scanned PDF. This document is a PDF in name but actually just one big image.   This kind of PDF is often created from a picture taken or a desktop scanner.  OCR is needed to lift this data.

Images:  Images included in a PDF can be problematic when on a PDF and being converted to Word.  Think of a professionally prepared annual report or a pamphlet.  In this instance, does the converter know what is an image and what is text? Where does it place the image? on the background. Can the image be moved or resized? Different PDF Converters do it differently.

Textual Reflow:  Most often, a PDF is converted into Word in order to make edits within Word.  But does the PDF to Word converter actually create editable Word output or is it just a block of text or worse, an image?  Word output is useless if the text lifted from the PDF is rendered unusable.

Formatting: How does the word output look? Is it close to the PDF? Is the pagination still intact? In other words, does the Word doc still have the same text on the same page as the PDF. Or, have new pages appeared?

Fonts: