Acrobat to Word

[silver-eagle]

Anyone have something to convert an acrobat "pdf" to ms/word?

 

[KennyFlys]

If the PDF file lets you highlight text and copy it, you could simply paste it to a word document. I've not entirely figured out Acrobat. Sometimes, files only let you capture text as an image.

To do the real thing, I think you need Acrobat Professional. I can't bring myself to spend a few hundred bucks for it.

 

[silver-eagle]

Ooof! What a dope! All done.
Thanks.
I was sure there'd be a complicated solution. It couldn't POSSIBLY be that easy.

 

[Ken Ibold]

I've not entirely figured out Acrobat. Sometimes, files only let you capture text as an image.

This happens when the person who created the PDF simply scanned a page into a PDF document, as with a desktop scanner. The PDF knows what's text and what's images if it's been "distilled" into a PDF document directly from the originating document or through Acrobat Distiller, in the case of a Postscript file.

 

[SCCutler]

PDF Converter Pro from Nuance does it; it costs money, about $100.00, I think.

If you need a few done, I can do 'em for you, no problem. Let me know.

 

[KennyFlys]

Thanks Ken. I had never thought about a document being scanned in as opposed to simply a text document original. It didn't make sense why it would be a graphic.

 

[alaskaflyer]

If the PDF file lets you highlight text and copy it, you could simply paste it to a word document. I've not entirely figured out Acrobat. Sometimes, files only let you capture text as an image.

To do the real thing, I think you need Acrobat Professional. I can't bring myself to spend a few hundred bucks for it.

Yeah, this works sometimes but when you create a document in Acrobat you have the preference to protect it from copying for copyright or privacy reasons i.e. sometimes you can't copy things to your computer's clipboard. Which is one of the main advantages of using Acrobat v. Word (among others.)

 

[SCCutler]

Yeah, this works sometimes but when you create a document in Acrobat you have the preference to protect it from copying for copyright or privacy reasons i.e. sometimes you can't copy things to your computer's clipboard. Which is one of the main advantages of using Acrobat v. Word (among others.)

This protection is illusory.

 

[alaskaflyer]

This protection is illusory.

Not when you are frustratingly trying to cut and paste for a last minute project!

 

[ScottM]

Not when you are frustratingly trying to cut and paste for a last minute project!

Use TIFF formated insert and then on MS Word you add text boxes. Short, sweet, and dirty.

But I just use the text import button for a lot of that stuff.

 

[silver-eagle]

PDF Converter Pro from Nuance does it; it costs money, about $100.00, I think.

If you need a few done, I can do 'em for you, no problem. Let me know.

Thanks for the offer but I've found what I needed.

 

[jesse]

I use PDF Creator Pro (like Spike suggests) quite a bit. We've got several licenses. Most of the time it'll get you in the right direction.

Adobe Acrobat Professional is good for nothing IMO. Lots of money for a fancy Reader with crappy editing abilities. Yeah--You can create PDFs but you can do that with PDFCreator (open source) for free.

 

[mikea]

This protection is illusory.

Yep. Thare are semi-underground and open source utilities to crack protected PDFs.

(Warning. Foggy memory no google-foo yet)There was a Russian citizen, Segey something, who did a presentation in the U.S. on how to crack PDF. The feds waited until he entered the U.S. again and arrested him under the DCMA. He was enventually exonerated but he spent some time in jail awaiting trial.

I would imagine if you can print the doc, you can print to a file and have at it.