Do you know what PDF is and why it is so popular when businesses exchange documents?
PDF, representing Portable Document Format, is a widely exchanged online file type for multiple purposes, such as education, job application, business corporations, etc. Although PDF tools have improved a lot, allowing users to directly highlight, edit or copy words on PDF files, applying modifications or large-scale adjustments is still hard to achieve. In this case, converting PDF’s format to Word, Excel, PPT, etc., is needed. Then how could we achieve the conversion? A PDF converter could help. There’re numerous options in the market and hence, choosing the right one is not easy. In this post, we are going to share with you some easy and handy solutions of PDF conversion.
Why Convert to PDF File
Before we move on to introduce how to convert PDFs, let’s have a brief review of why PDF is so frequently used.
- Universal Compatibility
PDF files could be recognized by any operating system. That is to say, you can feel free to open the file whether using Windows, Linux or whatever else.
Although PDF is supported by Adobe Acrobat, it doesn’t require users to install Adobe Acrobat Reader to view, print out or forward it.
As PDF is featured with universal compatibility, it is accessible to a wide range of audiences, covering those who are using smartphones, tablets, computers, Kindle or other screen reading tools. PDF makes document sharing more convenient.
- Data Security
PDF files allow encryption. You can set passwords or electronic signatures to secure your personal or confidential information before sending out the files. Only those who are authorized can access the file, adding extra security to the content. More importantly, PDF can’t be edited as easily as Word files. Data tampering is hence effectively prevented.
Additionally, sometimes the layout of the document might be changed when it is sent out and opened on another device. Page layouts like margins, orientation or font size are fixed in PDF, providing a comfortable reading experience and making your files look more professional.
- Space-friendly
We might be annoyed with bursting disk space with mountainous files. Instead, by turning into a PDF file, even high-quality files are compressed into smaller file size. Compared with other document types with the same content, PDF takes up less space on your devices. With smaller file size, it takes less time to open, forward through emails or upload to the Cloud.
How to Convert PDFs
PDF files are easy to mark or annotate. However, editing data or formulas, CAD sheets or pictures inserted on PDFs is barely possible. The only way to make this come true is transforming PDFs to other file formats first, including Excel, DWG, Word, etc. The transforming process is various and some methods are easy. For example, desktop software, apps, as well as web-based platforms are all listed in the following post. All you need to do is pick the right one.
The “Save-as” Feature
Microsoft Office documents could be saved as PDFs directly. Click “Save as” and then choose “PDF” in the drop-down list of the text type. As a built-in feature of Microsoft Office, only Word, Excel, and Powerpoint to PDF conversion could be realized.
If you want to change PDF to Word, you can right-click the file and choose “Open with” option. Select “Word” or “Microsoft Word” and the file would be shifted into editable Word file, but the results of transformation might look different from the original PDF, especially when there are a large number of images or sheets included. Layout problems or messy codes after converting would add difficulty to understand what the file is about.
Use Apps to Convert PDFs
In order to preserve the original form of the file, a PDF converter is more favorable. By downloading a converting app on your cellphone, you can handle batches of format transformation tasks with one tool. For example, UPDF is one of the most popular apps. It supports both Android and IOS systems. Users can not only convert PDFs but also view, edit and annotate them. This app allows you to convert PDF to popular Office files (eg. Word, Excel, PPT, CSV), to image files (eg. png, jpeg, git, tiff), to text or Plain Text and Rich Text Format (RTF), to HTML/XML and to PDF/A. Another specialized feature to convert PDF into editable format is the built-in OCR technology which scans the PDF files and turns it into editable text. This app charges monthly fees ranging from $29.99 to $49.99. Annual or perpetual plan are available.
Converting PDFs Online
If installing a third-party app is not your first choice, there are also online PDF converters without any installation.
- Smallpdf
Smallpdf is a one-stop PDF tool where you could compress, convert, merge, split, e-sign, unlock encrypt and scan PDF files. There are online and app versions available currently, but the free version limits daily document downloads. If you have to deal with piles of files every day, that would not be friendly.
- ONEPDF
ONEPDF is a online free PDF converter, allowing you to shift file formats between PDF and Office documents, images, or even niche CAD files. Powered by a well-developed OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology, this PDF converter performs well in quickly scanning and identifying the content. No more worries about misreading, fuzzy and indistinct words and pictures or distorted layout!
ONEPDF is focusing on making a perfect PDF converter. Although ONEPDF has invested a lot in building a well-improved and user-friendly format converter, users can benefit a lot from it without any fee.
How to Convert PDFs on iPhone or iPad
If you are used to deal with PDF files on your iPhone or iPad, installing a converting app or using online PDF converter are both feasible. However, for mobile devices with limited storage, it would add burdens to run an extra app. ONEPDF is more recommended to convert PDFs on iPhone or iPad because it’s a web-based platform and doesn’t require any installation. Transforming between PDF and other file types on iPhone or iPad is as easy as that on a computer.
To convert PDFs on iPhone or iPad, just need to follow these steps:
- Visit ONEPDF’s website.
- Choose the desired converting function.
- Upload the file or drop the file in the box. ONEPDF will process your file by scanning with quality OCR and automatically convert it into targeted format.
- Download the file to yout device.
Currently, users need to sign up and log in to the platform to unlock the download limitation. Otherwise, they’ll have to wait for 60 minutes to process the second PDF conversion.
Wrap up
In this article, we have introduced different methods and tools to convert PDF files, including computers and portable devices, online and offline, paid and free tools. Each of them is featured with its own merits and demerits. Picking out the most suitable PDF converter is not difficult. It’s wise to relieve our workload by making things easier. We hope that dealing with piles of PDF files would never plague you anymore. Try these tools today and seek a more convenient way to enhance efficiency and fulfill your work!
