Tech tips -
Two weeks ago I told you how to create your own PDF files with PrimoPdf. Well, what if you wanted to go the other way. Say you had a PDF that you wanted to convert to a Word document so you can edit it. Can you do that for free?
If you have read any of my columns in the past, you would already know that I wouldn't be telling you about it unless there was a free way to do it. Actually, there are many free ways to do it. However, you should know that converting PDF to Word for free is not as reliable as converting Word to PDF. Often, some of the formatting and graphics are lost.
One way to do it is to upload your PDF to an online converter. Two web converters I like are www.pdfonline.com and www.pdftoword.com
Go to www.Pdfonline.com, under the free PDF Services, click the PDF2Word option then click the "upload your PDF" link. Now you can browse to the PDF you want to convert and after waiting a few minutes depending on the size of the PDF, the conversion happens, and then you can download the file by right clicking the link on the website. It is so simple to use.
The www.pdftoword.com site works quite similar however, instead of downloading your PDF, you have to provide an email address and the converted file is sent to that address as an attachment. Again, it is so simple to use.
I have found that these sites give me different results depending on the formatting in the PDF itself, so you might want to try both.
But now, you are saying to me, I have some files to convert that I don't wan to upload. They contain some private stuff that I don't want to get around. Is there another way I can do it? Sure is!
You can download and install a free piece of software from Smart Soft available at www.free-pdf-to-word-converter.com . The downloaded file pdf-to-word-converter.exe is just under 4 MBs in size and is a simple click next to install.
Using this software is very straight forward, just select the file you want to convert, select the location you want it to go, and then press convert. Please note that there are also more professional converters available to purchase on their website, but you are looking for the completely free version so be sure you click that option near the top center of the page.
Now, like I told you earlier, going from PDF to doc for free is not an exact science. I have found smaller simpler PDFs convert well, however, some of the more complex PDFs don't do so well. For example, I tried to convert the 2009-Hunter/Trapper Guide I had downloaded from the government website and although I got most of the text, I didn't get all the pretty pictures.
Try 'em; you will be surprised how well all three of these options work.
toddmusseau@gmail.com
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