Convert PDF to RTF File

So, you want to convert PDF to RTF and don’t know how? This page is going to share with you all the methods.

PDF was designed by Adobe Systems to support Adobe Acrobat software package. Those files generally contain text, images and mostly used for printing and sharing scanned documents on the Internet. PDF files don’t take a lot of space while they hold humongous amount of data. Most scientific researches preferred to be saved as PDF.

RTF stands for “rich text format” which basically means that this text format allows creative editing of the text (adding shapes, colors, styles and sizes) and to embed various graphics. This format was created as a result of Microsoft and Adobe Systems actions. This text format is widely supported in numerous text editors and is default for Microsoft WordPad utility. RTF format is even supported by Mac.

Both PDF and RTF formats are good to store text in. Why convert one to another then? The answer lies in the next section.

Why Convert PDF to RTF

The first reason to convert PDF to RTF is convenience of editing. PDF files are very difficult to edit, and the software that PDF files originally come from is expensive and user unfriendly, therefore you will need to convert PDF file to RTF to have unlimited freedom of editing.

The other reason is printing issues. PDF represent text more like a picture other that a text itself which causes minor tweaks and errors when printing. RTF format recognizes text as text and maintains high quality of printed text – which can be very important when printing booklets and brochures.

The last reason is reading issues. To open PDF file you will either need help of the Internet browser or a special PDF reader. While there are a lot of PDF readers on the web, you don’t want to be bothered installing one if you don’t work with PDFs on a regular basis. RTF files are recognized by almost every text editor so it will be better to convert PDF into RTF to ensure that your computer will read it. Bonus point: RTF files are supported by Linux and Mac without installing special software.

Hope this section helped you to decide whether or not you need to convert PDF to RTF.

How to Convert PDF to RTF

You’ve decided to convert PDF to RTF. Good. What to do now?

1. Convert PDF to RTF using software

   PDF format’s proprietary software, Adobe Acrobat, allows saving PDF as RTF. But you need to buy Adobe Acrobat to do this. How to convert PDF to RTF for free?

   There is free software called Batch converter that supports conversion of PDF into RTF for free. All you need to do is download this program and make some clicks. Batch Converter is easy to use and supports conversions to and from other formats as well.

2. Convert PDF to RTF online for free

   If you don’t want to install anything from the Internet, the solution for you is to use PDF to RTF converters online. There are plenty of websites offering this option so it wouldn’t be hard to find one. For example, Zamzar and Pdfcandy are suitable for the task, but, of course, there are more websites to check online.

If you're not happy with the results, you can always convert RTF to PDF back.