Converting PDF's to word files

[Smike]

Is there a free program that does this? Or even a free trial that isn't crippled (i.e. limited time, but works during that time)?

Alternatively, I need a program that will allow to decrease the margin size on a pdf file.

Thanks

[Soapy Sam]

If you weren't messing about on here, you could have typed it by now.

Did you try scanning and using OCR software?

[Smike]

If you weren't messing about on here, you could have typed it by now.

Did you try scanning and using OCR software?

I don't have a scanner...

[Underemployed]

OpenOffice (www.openoffice.org) is free and can read and edit PDFs. If you desparately need it to be a Microsoft Word document, you might be able to save it as a rtf (from Open Office) which Word can use.

[TobiasTheViking]

OpenOffice (www.openoffice.org) is free and can read and edit PDFs. If you desparately need it to be a Microsoft Word document, you might be able to save it as a rtf (from Open Office) which Word can use.
OOo can save in word as well.. :D

[Paul C. Anagnostopoulos]

If all else fails, just copy the text from the pdf and paste it into---Pasta forbid---Word.

~~ Paul

[Kopji]

I'd be skeptical.
A pdf is essentially a print file and does not contain enough data to precisely recreate the original. As long as the document is simple it might work well enough.

[Paul C. Anagnostopoulos]

Indeed, PDF is a final-format file, just like a PostScript file. People are constantly asking me to edit them in ways that are just not possible.

~~ Paul

[Smike]

OpenOffice (www.openoffice.org) is free and can read and edit PDFs. If you desparately need it to be a Microsoft Word document, you might be able to save it as a rtf (from Open Office) which Word can use.

How can you get it to open a pdf? Which bit do you use?

[moopet]

You need acrobat to edit PDFs. Tragically, it's crippled by its licensing issues.
OOo only exports to PDF. The filters you can buy for Word also only export.

[HeyLeroy]

Try searching at pcworld.com, they're my first stop.

[Marker]

ScanSoft do a PDF->Word converter. It even installs a button in acrobat reader that allows you to do it in one-click. ScanSoft does cost money but its not much and there may be a free trial version. There are other PDF->Word conversion programs (you can find then with Google). I tried a few of them when I was in the same position as you and found the quality varies enormously. Some produced output that was totally unusable and had real problems with images, tables, headers, footers etc.

In the end I paid for ScanSoft and found it worthwhile - it depends really on how often you are likely to be doing this.

[Jekyll]

In the current version of acrobat reader, click on file then save as text.

You'll lose most of the formatting but them's the breaks.

[xenxabar]

The OCR method may be the only viable one if any of these conditions are true

The document is protected so that text may not be selected/exported.
The document is a scan of text i.e. the text is an image not actual text.Otherwise you could use Adobe Acrobat reader 7.x and some other program like OOo to recreate the document as a pdf file.

Step 1. Open document in latest version of Adobe Acrobat reader.
Step 2. Click on the Select Tool
Step 3. Select all the text that you want to go into the document (probably the entire document).
Step 4. Right-click on the selected text and select Copy with formatting from the context menu
Step 5. Paste the text into the program of your choice that will allow you to save as pdf and make your changes and safe the document as a pdf.

[Dcdrac]

unless the PDF is an image only file and protected you can use the Text copy tool to pick up the text and copy it into a new Word doc.

[Kopji]

I'd try the free version of any pdf converter before buying it.

I looked at several of these about a year ago and none did much better a job than the text export function.