PDF to Word Converter Recommendation

Hi Carlton,

For PDF to Word, I've had good (not perfect) results with this free online tool:
http://www.pdftoword.com/

If you prefer a local install, I've also had good (also not perfect) results with this free tool:
http://www.boxoft.com/pdf-to-word/

You may get better results with non-free products. I've gotten better (but still not perfect) results with Nuance's Power PDF (comes in both Standard and Advanced editions):
http://www.nuance.com/for-business/document-imaging-and-scanning/power-pdf-converter/index.htm

There's a free trial for the Advanced edition (but not Standard) so you can see how well it works for you before buying it:
http://www.nuance.com/for-business/document-imaging-and-scanning/power-pdf-converter/index.htm#resources

Another good (non-free) product is Able2Extract PDF Converter:
http://www.investintech.com/prod_downloadsa2e.htm

It also offers a free trial.

The first link in this post is to the (free) Nitro cloud. Nitro is a well-known name in PDF tools and their Nitro Pro has a PDF to Word feature:
http://www.nitropdf.com/pro/features/convert-export

There's also a free trial for this, but I've never used it, so can't vouch for its performance. However, it uses the same engine as the online tool, which I have used and is very good, so I would expect the same of Nitro Pro.

One more non-free product (but reasonably priced at $39) is CAD-KAS's PDF to Word:
http://www.cadkas.com/downengpdf9.php

I haven't used this product, but I have used their PDF Editor Objects, which is excellent. Based on the quality of PDF Editor Objects, I think that their PDF to Word is worth a try, and there's a free trial:
http://www.cadkas.com/pdf2word!.exe

It probably goes without saying, but Adobe Acrobat can do it — both Standard and Professional (but not Reader). As with everything, results aren't prefect.

I've been on previous threads here at EE where other experts have recommended these three (free) online tools:

http://www.convertpdftoword.org
http://www.pdfonline.com/pdf-to-word-converter
http://www.wondershare.net/pdf-converter/pdf-to-word-converter.html

I can't personally vouch for these, but based on the positive comments from other members, I'm passing them along for your consideration.

No matter which way you go, keep in mind that PDF-to-Word conversion is tricky business – maintaining the formatting/layout is tough stuff! I haven't found anything that is perfect, and results vary from one document to the next. So my suggestion is to put some, or all, of these products on your short list for evaluation. Define a few test docs – your docs! Compare the resulting Word files to see which, if any, of the tools produces Word files that are satisfactory. Regards, Joe

Wow!

Thanks Joe

I have a lot of PDFs to convert. Therefore, I'm looking for s local install.

I have Nuance, but it doesn't do PDF to Word.

Regards

What Nuance product do you have? Btw, do your PDFs already have text in them (such as PDF Normal files or PDF Searchable Image files) or are they image-only PDFs that need to have OCR performed on them in order to create text?

Hi cpatte7372,

These are the few desktop software from PDF to word conversion.

Aiseesoft        PDF to Word Converter from aiseesoft.com
Tipard           PDF to Word Converter from tipard.com
4Easysoft      PDF to Word Converter from 4easysoft.com
4Videosoft    PDF to Word Converter from 4videosoft.com

Experts,

Please see an example of what I'm trying to convert to Word.

Thanks again for your assistance.
ELAB-EXERCISES--page-Lab-46-.pdf

Experts,

The converters you have suggested won't work with the document I have uploaded. :-(

> The converters you have suggested won't work with the document I have uploaded. :-(

I'm guessing you mean that they don't work to your satisfaction. They probably "work" in the sense that they do create a Word file from the PDF. But going back to my initial post, I said, "No matter which way you go, keep in mind that PDF-to-Word conversion is tricky business – maintaining the formatting/layout is tough stuff! I haven't found anything that is perfect, and results vary from one document to the next."

I tried your PDF with four products. The results are attached. They all "worked" in that they created a DOCX. But it's certainly possible that none of them created one that is to your satisfaction. Hence, the caveat that I always provide to everyone asking about PDF to Word conversion. Regards, Joe
ELAB-EXERCISES--page-Lab-46-via-OmniPage
ELAB-EXERCISES--page-Lab-46-via-ABBYY-Fi
ELAB-EXERCISES--page-Lab-46-via-PaperPor
ELAB-EXERCISES--page-Lab-46-via-Power-PD

Hi Joe,

Sorry if it sounds like I'm being a numbty, but are you saying for each of the conversions I need to open the file with the the appropriate software? I say this because I don't see a DOCX.

Cheers

This appears to be a bug in the EE website uploads. The four files are all DOCX files, but apparently the EE file uploader kills the file name (and file type) after a certain number of characters. Do a right-click/Save Link As on all four files and give them a DOCX file type when you download them. The four file names are supposed to be:

ELAB-EXERCISES--page-Lab-46-via Power PDF Advanced.docx
ELAB-EXERCISES--page-Lab-46-via PaperPort14.docx
ELAB-EXERCISES--page-Lab-46-via ABBYY FineReader11.docx
ELAB-EXERCISES--page-Lab-46-via OmniPage19.docx

Regards, Joe

Hi Joe,

OK, it looks like the best of the bunch is Power PDF Advanced. Is that Nuance?

Cheers

Joe,

The Advanced is working like a dream - I'm sold.

Cheers mate

Brilliant

Carlton,
I'm very glad to hear that! Cheers, Joe