I need to change a pdf to word to make it editable.
I've spent two early morning sessions on this problem now and feel I am being incredibly thick!
I have downloaded a number of free programmes to do this and all give me the same result.
I get a word doc but as soon as I click on where I want to type, all I get is a black bordered box around the whole area.
I'm happy to pay for a programme to allow me to do it as long as it's not too expensive but I'm sure that the end result will just be the same.
What am I doing wrong?
Pat
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Have you tried one of the Foxit products (freeware in this case):
www.foxitsoftware.com/Secure_PDF_Reader/
Also:
www.foxitsoftware.com/downloads/
download.cnet.com/Foxit-PDF-Editor/3000-20411_4-75696595.html (free to try)
Last edited by: Stuartli on Tue 14 Aug 12 at 08:55
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If the pdf is just words, cut and pasting the pdf text into a word document may work.
There's another method here using gmail:
www.simpopdf.com/guide/how-to-edit-pdf-in-word.html
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You may find it difficult to C and P text in/from a .pdf file.
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...You may find it difficult to C and P text in/from a .pdf file...
Particularly if the maker of the document used the paid-for version of Acrobat to create it.
Some pdf versions are password protected to prevent any tinkering.
Such pdfs are used in business - contracts and the like - because the sender knows they cannot be altered.
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I use this website for Word to PDF, it's free and instant, but you have to wait 30 minutes between each conversion. It also does PDF to Word, as in this link.
www.freepdfconvert.com/convert_pdf_to_source.asp
To be honest, I only tried a PDF to Word conversion once, and that was some time ago and not on the above website, but there was more work in reformatting it than there would have been in retyping it! Whether they have got cleverer, or whether it depends on the tool, I don't know.
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>> I have downloaded a number of free programmes to do this and all give me
>> the same result.
>>
Does that list include this one?
www.hellopdf.com/tutorial.php
>> What am I doing wrong?
>>
>> Pat
>>
As others have said, it may the original document that is the problem. Black bordered box around each area suggests that the boxes are images rather than text.
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I made the original document and added something to it by hand and scanning it and it will only save as a pdf or img file.
I always choose pdf, but it has logo's on it which are jpegs, I think.
I'm totally confused now and will go and try a couple of others mentioned above.
I hate Polish names that have dozens of consonants altogether!
Pat
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JohnH
I've just downloaded the programme in your link and converted the file and set it to open in word for editing.
It tells me it's complete...and opens a blank word document.
A couple of others did this yesterday too.
Pat
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>> It tells me it's complete...and opens a blank word document.
>>
Sorry about that.
I can only guess that your document is possible being seen as an image devoid of text.
Some other free methods reviewed here:
www.freewaregenius.com/how-to-convert-pdf-to-word-doc-for-free-a-comparative-test-2/
(includes suggestion to use the MS Office equivalent open-source software OpenOffice/LibreOffice, which has free pdf-editing tools for directly editing the PDF file itself).
I have the foxit-pdf-editor but on the rare occasions I use it, I find it quite a time consuming struggle to get the edits right.
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Thanks for all the help anyway, it looks like I have to get in the car after all and leave the gardening for another day!
Pat
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If its not too late, and if the document is not confidential, you can e-mail it to me and I'll send you back a word doc if it is at all possible - it usually is.
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By the way, document conversion is only one approach. The other which is almost always successful and pretty close to 100% accurate is scanning with character recognition software.
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Thanks FM2R, I do appreciate the offer but I have already sent it to a knowledgable friend:)
I think it's actually scanned as an image and not text.
I gave up when downloading programmes gave me bugs!
Pat
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pdf to word doc? - Stuartli
