How to convert PDF to Word DOC for free: a comparative test

Update: Mar 6th 2010. I finally updated this comparative analysis of free PDF to Word conversion software, re-writing it from the ground up, and in the process doubling the size of the article since the last iteration    

Can you perform good PDF to Word/Doc/RTF conversions for free? Absolutely. This posting will present and compare a number of different ways to convert PDF files into Word .DOC or .RTF formats, for free and without any watermarks or restrictions. Options discussed include both free programs and free online conversion services.    

If you’ve seen this article before you will notice that some new conversion options have been added while a few that were previously mentioned are gone. This is because since I first wrote this a number of excellent conversion options have become available, and I wanted to focus on the services that offer the highest quality. Ten different programs/services are presented here; 5 desktop-based apps and 5 online conversion services. Of the six options presented in the original article only two remain.    

Desktop-based apps: (1) Free PDF to Word Converter from SmartSoft; (2) gDOC Creator; (5) AnyBizSoft PDF to Word Free; (4) OpenOffice with PDF import extension; and (5) Some PDF to Word Converter.    

Online Conversion services: (6) NuancePDF (7) PDF to Word Free from NitroPDF; (8) Koolwire; (9) Zamzar, and (10) PDFOnline.com.Before I move on to the comparison section, a few issues to address:    

Will the document be editable once it is converted?: typically, yes; however the real answer is it depends on your original document and how it was created. Generally speaking you will be able to edit any converted PDF that was created electronically and published using software, which comprises the overwhelming majority of forms and documents that are on the internet. The exception is if your PDF was scanned from a paper document; in this case most converters will consider this to be no different from a photograph, and when converting will produce images inside a .DOC file rather than text. What you need in this case is “Optical Character Recognition” (OCR) software, or a converter than can do OCR (the only option mentioned in this article that can do OCR is NuancePDF); otherwise what you can use free OCR software such as InstantOCR or TopOCR. These programs can “read” documents based on images and convert them to text, but in most cases it will be somewhat labor intensive to get a good conversion, especially if you have a large number of pages.    

Online vs. desktop conversions: there are two categories of tools for PDF to Word file conversions. The first is a program that you would install on your PC that would convert the PDF file for you and save the output on your hard drive, which is what you would typically expect. The second category are online conversion websites. With these, you would need to email or upload your file that you want to convert remotely to a website. The actual conversion would occur remotely on their server, and subsequently the converted document is either emailed back to you to a valid email address that you provide or a link is produced that you can click to download the resulting file.    

Typically, online conversion services offer a higher quality conversion, although depending on your document that may or may not be the case. Two issues that have to be considered with online conversions are reliability and security. With respect to the former issue (reliability), while most online services will send your converted document within a matter of minutes, it is sometimes the case that your file will arrive hours or even days afterwards. As for the latter issue (security), virtually all of the online services mentioned here promise that your files will be transferred via a secure connection, that your document will not be looked at by a human, and that your email will not be used or shared with any other party. Still, it is up to you to decide whether you are comfortable sending certain private or business documents remotely for conversion.    

Converting to images: if you are interested in converting your PDF to images then you’re in the wrong place. For this try the freeware program aptly entitled JPEG to PDF or use the excellent free PDF reader called PDF X-Change Viewer which has an export to images option.    

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Documents used in the conversion tests:    

To perform this test I converted five documents. The first is a PDF document I created using Open Office’s export to PDF function that had the following elements (1) a two-column table with special formatting, which contained (2) three thumbnail-sized jpeg images. My PDF document also contained (3) working hyperlinks; and (4) it featured text that was bolded; (5) contained bulleted points, as well as (6) a numbered list. For the sake of simplicity my PDF was only a single page. To see what the document looked like click on the screenshot to the right.    

The second document was a simple scanned image that was converted to PDF, to test whether any of the services would perform OCR (optical character recognition) and render an editable document. (only one did). The third document was a trade brochure that contained text, images, charts, and tables, and was 21 pages long, which I imagined would be typical of what most people would need to convert. The fourth document: a single-page PDF I created of a Russian website, for the sole purpose of testing whether any of these services support special characters (none did). Lastly, the fifth document consisted of a bunch of tables full of data, to see how these programs dealt with this.    

The objective was to get a converted document that could be loaded into MS Word where the text/contents could be edited and subsequently saved as .DOC format, which is to say any of the following formats would be satisfactory: .DOC, .HTML, and .RTF.    

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Overview of programs/online services:     

#1: Free PDF to Word Converter from SmartSoft: a free, fully functional desktop-based PDF to Word program that produces excellent results. (See my full review of this program here). More info as follows:    

• Interface: very simple interface and straightforward; single-click conversions; drag and drop files in batch.
• Commercial use: allowed; the issue is not addressed on their FAQ or anywhere on their site, therefore it is safe to assume that commercial use is ok.
• Download size: a mere 3.82 megs
• OCR support: none
• Strengths: excellent general PDF to DOC conversion for a desktop app.
• Weaknesses: text is handled via floating windows, no continuous editable stream makes editing large documents cumbersome.
• The results: I give this one 8/10, if just for being a well rounded free converter. Your converted document will generally look like the original. See the results sections below for a detailed discussion and head-to-head comparison against the other software mentioned in this article.

#2: gDoc Creator: a huge 148 meg download that installs a number of things, including gDoc Creator, which is the conversion engine that you want (and which is free). Also installs virtual printers that can convert to PDF and XPS from any application, and optionally MS Office add-ons that allow you to export your documents to PDF or XPS from office apps (also free, and can be quite useful). It also installs gDoc Fusion, a trialware PDF reader with a few bells and whistles which you do not necessarily want or need. When installing, I suggest you do NOT check the boxes to allow associating of PDF and XPS extensions with this app, or integrate it with your browser as the default reader. See my full review of this program here. More info as follows:    

• Download size: a whopping 148 megs
• Commercial use: free for commercial use.
• How to use: run gDoc creator from the start menu, use the dropdown to select the conversion settings you want, then drag and drop your PDFs onto the interface.
• OCR support: none
• Bundled trialware: installs gDoc Fusion, a bundled trialware which you don’t really need. The software will by default launch this program at the conclusion of each conversion process,  which can be somewhat annoying. However, there is a preference (button next to Open…) to turn automatic viewing off.
• Strengths: excellent handling/extraction of continuous editable text if that is what you’re after, fast; drag and drop interface, virtual printers to create PDFs and XPS from any printable document.
• Weaknesses: handling of images and tables is rudimentary (lumps these elements together into a single image for each page). Huge download size. Installs virtual printers to create PDFs and XPS from any printable document (a weakness if you don’t want or need them, that is, but could also be a strength).
• The results: I give this one 8/10. Your converted document will generally look like the original. See the results sections below for a detailed discussion and head-to-head comparison against the other software mentioned in this article.

#3: AnyBizSoft PDF to Word free: this program requires a registration code that you can get for free by providing a valid email address. Note that once you enter the registration code you will be able to perform conversions without restrictions, which is somewhat unclear from the website (but which I can confirm). The only caveat is that you are NOT allowed to use the free version for commercial use.   

This program is very competent and performed an excellent job. More info as follows:   

• Interface: simple, easy, drag-and-drop. Adds a right click “convert PDF to Word” context menu entry, which can potentially be useful.
• Download size: 6.3 megs 
•  OCR support: none
• Commercial use: NOT allowed. If you are using this software for a business/commercial use you will need to purchase a license.
• Strengths: excellent handling of images, and formatting, can convert in batch.
• Weaknesses: text handling could have been better. Restricted to non-commercial use.
• The results: I give this one 8/10. This is a good general PDF to Word converted, and your converted document will look very much like the original. See the results sections below for a detailed discussion and head-to-head comparison against the other software mentioned in this article.

#4: OpenOffice with PDF import extension: if you use OpenOffice you can install the newly release PDF import pluging that will allow you to open PDFs directly into OpenOffice Draw (note: not Writer, which is the word processing module equivalent to MS Word). This does not amount to converting the file to DOC or RTF but allows you to edit the PDF directly, after which you can export it to PDF once more. More info as follows:    

• Download size: a mere 220K for the add-in. OpenOffice itself is about 150 megs download or so. For instructions on how to install OpenOffice extensions go here.
• OCR support: none
• Commercial use: free for commercial use.
• Strengths: instantly open and edit PDFs, good handling of images and formatting, a good option for quick, on-the-fly edits of PDF documents.
• Weaknesses: text is handled via floating windows, not a continuous editable stream (which can make editing large documents cumbersome). Takes a long time (or flatly would not load) a couple of long, complicated documents that I threw at it.
• The results: I give this one 7.5/10 overall. Your converted document will generally look like the original. See the results sections below for a detailed discussion and head-to-head comparison against the other software mentioned in this article.  

#5: Some PDF to Word Converter: another free desktop-based PDF to Word conversions program. Some PDF to Word offers some control over how the PDF will be processed. Results are so-so and depend on your original PDF. See my full review of this program here. More info as follows:  

• Download size: a mere 690K installer.
• OCR support: none
• Commercial use: is not broached on their site, but the program is billed as “totally free” and it is safe to assume that this includes commercial use.
• Strengths: flexible handling of text, fast.
• Weaknesses: handling of images and formatting is considerably poor . Weak rendering of overall look and feel and layout.
• The results: I give this one 5/10 in terms of results. Your converted document is unlikely to look like the original if it contains images and formatting. See the results sections below for a detailed discussion and head-to-head comparison against the other software mentioned in this article.

#6: Nuance PDF: the interesting thing about this online conversion service is that it is integrated into their free NuancePDF Reader (see my full review here). To upload your documents for conversion you would have to install the reader, open your document, and click on the “convert” button, whereby your PDF will be uploaded to their servers for conversion. It is also the only service that offers Optical Character Recognition (OCR), where image-based text is rendered into editable text. It is also excellent in terms of quality. More info as follows    

• Download size: despite being an online service you will need to download the free PDF reader software, approx 19 megs.
• Reliability: good. At the time of this writing it was the most responsive of all online conversion services mentioned here, sending my files back within minutes. However, I previously had to wait for my files to arrive over an entire weekend.
• OCR support: Yes, and surprisingly high quality. This is the only conversion service mentioned in this article that offers OCR.
• Commercial use: allowed. I scoured their website and read their legal notices without finding any specific mention of this issue.
• Privacy: they will not sell or share your email (from their privacy policy, which doesn’t comment on files sent for conversion). Aside from that, their terms of use link was not clickable, which is a strange omission. This is not to say that your files will not be held in confidence and disposed of properly, but that I wasn’t able to read a clear policy that expressly stated this.
• Strengths: excellent handling of images and formatting, OCR support, integration with a desktop PDF reader, good handling of text and images, secure upload connection, can convert PDF to Excel as well.
• Weaknesses: no clear terms of service statement on their site. Response variability, which afflicts most popular online services, although I will say that at the moment this service is being quite reliable. Colors can at times be slightly off in the converted document.
• The results: I give this one 9/10 overall. Your converted document will generally look like the original. See the results section below for more detailed discussion and comparison against the other software mentioned in this article.

#7: PDF to Word Free from NitroPDF: another excellent online conversion service, and definitely one of the best conversion engines mentioned in this article. Results are generally excellent; see my full review of this service here. More info as follows:    

• Reliability: variable. At the time of this writing they were scheduled to update their servers within 2 weeks or so, at which point they promise better responsiveness. In my previous use of this service I generally received my files within minutes but also remember having to wait up to 12 hours for the files to appear.
• OCR support: None.
• Commercial use: is allowed. I scoured their website and read their legal notices without finding anything to the contrary.
• Privacy: they promise to not look at your documents, not share your email, and delete your files as soon as they send you the email response.
• Strengths: excellent handling of images and formatting, as well as text. A related service can also convert PDF to Excel format.
• Weaknesses: images can at times end up behind other elements, giving the impression that they did not make it into the converted document; variability in response time, which afflicts most popular online services.
• The results: I give this one 8.5/10 overall. Your converted document will generally look like the original. See the results section below for more detailed discussion and comparison against the other software mentioned in this article.

#8: Koolwire: this is another web service that allows you to either upload your PDF or simply email it as an attachment (to doc[at]koolwire.com), whereby it will convert and send it back to you by return mail. When this article was first published Koolwire was amongst the best options, however it has since been superseded by some of the other programs and services mentioned above.    

Still, Koolwire does a great job. Here are more notes on this one.    

• How it works: you can email a file that is less than 10 megs in size. Files over 10 megs can be uploaded through the Koolwire website.
• Reliability: variable. One big negative is that it will flatly refuse to convert some complicated files (which the others incidentally had no problems with). Otherwise the files convert either within a few minutes. I previously had to wait up to 5 hours though.
• OCR support: None.
• Commercial use: allowed.
• Privacy policy: their legal blurb states that users will not receive any unsolicited emails at any point. They also maintain “the right (but not the obligation) to verify Content (i.e. view your documents) at their sole discretion”. Files (input and output) will be deleted upon being emailed and/or downloaded.
• Strengths: good handling of text, excellent handling of tables.
• Weaknesses: response variability; will fail to convert some files without explanation, handling of images and tables is rudimentary (lumps these elements together into a single image for each page).
• The results: I give this one 7.5/10 overall. Your converted document will generally look like the original. See the results section below for more detailed discussion and comparison against the other software mentioned in this article.

#9: Zamzar: this is a web-based file conversion service that I first reviewed in Feb, 2007. Zamzar will let you upload a file through its web interface, convert it, then email you a download link. It covers a very wide range of possible input and output formats. More notes as follows:    

• How it works: max uploadable file size is 100 megs in the free version. It will let you upload files in batch, which can be very useful. You will have to specify the desired output format (.DOC) in the dropdown.
• Reliability: good. I was always able to access my converted files within a matter of minutes.
• OCR support: None.
• Privacy policy: your files are deleted once the conversion happens and the converted files are deleted once the download link expires. Also, to quote “files stored for download are only accessible by Zamzar”. Another quote: “Zamzar does not rent, sell, or share your personal information or email address with any other companies.”
• Strengths: good handling of text.:
• Weaknesses: response variability, handling of images and tables is rudimentary (lumps these elements together into a single image for each page).
• Results: I give this one 7/10 overall. See the results section below for more detailed discussion and comparison against the other software mentioned in this article.

#10: PDFOnline.com: an online service that converts on the spot, no email address or waiting necessary. More info below:    

• Reliability: high, since you do not need to wait for a return email and your conversions will occur more or less on the spot.
• OCR support: None.
• Commercial use: seems to be allowed, since the issue is not broached on the site.
• Privacy policy: they will not send you unsolicited email and, to quote their site , “will not monitor, edit, or disclose any personal information about you or the documents you submit for conversion, including their contents, without your prior permission”.
• Strengths: good handling of both text and images, best handling of tables. An excellent overall converter.
• Weaknesses: none that I can think of. This one was surprisingly excellent.
• The results: I give this one 9/10 overall. Your converted document will generally look like the original. See the results section below for more detailed discussion and comparison against the other software mentioned in this article.

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Comparison of Results:   

Image handling: a common issue here is that many services blend all images and visual elements on the page into a single page-wide background image, as opposed to rendering distinct images and distinct formatting. This is obviously ok if you are merely interested in editing the text, but will make editing a document holistically somewhat difficult.   

1. Free PDF to Word Converter from SmartSoft: does not create a single background image that lumps all images within it, which is a good thing. Instead it will render distinct, individual images, which can be easily moved around or manipulated. **Excellent**
2. gDOC Creator: blends all images and formatting within a page into a single background image. This makes it difficult and/or labor intensive to edit images or change image placement, but can make life simpler if you just want to edit the text.
3. AnyBizSoft PDF to Word Free: image handling seems to vary but is generally excellent; at times it will combine all images and formatting on a page into a single background image, while other times the images are extracted individually and in the correct placement. It seems to depends on the source. **Excellent**
4. OpenOffice with PDF import extension: images are rendered correctly where they should be, and are generally easy to work with. **Excellent**
5. Some PDF to Word Converter: unpredictable. Will extract individual images at times, while other times it simply will not extract any images at all. In general image placement and layout will most certainly be incorrect.
6. NuancePDF: does not create a single background image that lumps all images into it; rather, it seems to merge adjoining clusters of images together, which actually kind of works well and generally speaking is not a bad way to handle images. **Excellent**
7. PDF to Word Free from NitroPDF: image handling seems to vary but is generally excellent; at times it will combine all images and formatting on a page into a single background image, while other times the images are extracted individually and in the correct placement. It seems to depends on the source. **Excellent**
8. Koolwire: blends all images and formatting within a page into a single background image
9. Zamzar: blends all images and formatting within a page into a single background image
10. PDFOnline.com: image handling seems to vary but is generally excellent; at times it will combine all images and formatting on a page into a single background image, while other times the images are extracted individually and in the correct placement. It seems to depends on the source. **Excellent**

Handling of text and/or text boxes: this is probably the most important element, since it is probably safe to assume that the point of converting a PDF to Doc is to allow for editing the text. A number of issues here; does the text render accurately? To what extent does the converter produce a continuous editable stream? Sometimes the text is interrupted by carriage returns on every line or (worse) each line of the text is placed in its own individual text box, which may requires copying and pasting into a new consolidated text box (and makes editing quite difficult).    

1. Free PDF to Word Converter from SmartSoft: each line of text was its own text box, filling the page with dozens of separate text boxes and potentially making the editing process labor intensive. In some complex documents case can be handled incorrectly (e.g. “PuBlishing firMs” instead of “Publishing Firms”.
2. gDOC Creator: excellent text handling; a continuous editable stream of text uninterrupted by carriage returns where they shouldn’t be. Text always rendered correctly. **Excellent**
3. AnyBizSoft PDF to Word Free: continuous text in a single text box, but with carriage returns at the end of each line, interrupting flow. Text was always rendered correctly.
4. OpenOffice with PDF import extension: each line of text was its own text box, filling the page with dozens of separate text boxes and potentially making the editing process labor intensive.
5. Some PDF to Word Converter: this one allows the user to change the settings for text extraction in order to get exactly what you want (using text boxes, auto merge, deleting line breaks). If you just want to extract the text quickly from a PDF it might be a good option.
6. NuancePDF: a continuous editable stream of text uninterrupted by carriage returns where they shouldn’t be. However, the text case sometimes did not render correctly (e.g. “IncrEasInG portalIzatIon” instead of “Increasing Portalization”).
7. PDF to Word Free from NitroPDF: a continuous editable stream of text uninterrupted by carriage returns where they shouldn’t be. However, the text case sometimes did not render correctly (e.g. “IncrEasInG portalIzatIon” instead of “Increasing Portalization”).
8. Koolwire: seems to handle text well, producing a continuous editable stream of text uninterrupted by carriage returns where they shouldn’t be. However, I couldn’t tell if it had any of the case rendering problems mentioned above because it flatly refused to convert the complicated document where they occured (without explanation).
9. Zamzar: continuous text in a single text box, but with carriage returns at the end of each line, interrupting flow. Also, the text case sometimes did not render correctly (e.g. “IncrEasInG portalIzatIon” instead of “Increasing Portalization”).
10. PDFOnline.com: a continuous editable stream of text uninterrupted by carriage returns where they shouldn’t. Moreover the text case always rendered correctly. **Excellent**

Handling of Tables: most converters simply recreate tables using a combination of text boxes and formatting elements, so you’re editing rows but not columns (i.e. you cannot right-click ’delete column’ or something like in Word that because there are no columns).    

If your document is table-intensive or if tables are your primary focus you would be better off with something that converts to Excel rather than to Word. Check out PDF to Excel Free, an online PDF to Excel service from the makers of PDF to Word Free, or try using”Excel” as the output format in NuancePDF.    

1. Free PDF to Word Converter from SmartSoft: no actual tables produced, but did an excellent job of “recreating” tables using text boxes, including the formatting. But no actual tables produced.
2. gDOC Creator: recreated tables using text boxe and formatting, with an end result that looked quite acceptable.
3. AnyBizSoft PDF to Word Free: recreated tables using text boxes and formatting, but the two elements were not quite in sync and the end result looked somewhat messy.
4. OpenOffice with PDF import extension: no tables, of course, since the editing takes place in the drawing program (OpenOffice Draw).
5. Some PDF to Word Converter: created a complete and total mess. Neither the content no’r the look of the table was preserved.
6. NuancePDF: recreated tables using text boxes and formatting, with an end result that looked quite acceptable.
7. PDF to Word Free from NitroPDF: recreated tables using text boxes and formatting, with an end result that looked quite acceptable.
8. Koolwire: was able to recreate actual tables, as well as recreate the formatting. Very impressive. **Excellent**
9. Zamzar: recreated tables using text boxes and formatting, but the two elements were not quite in sync and the end result looked somewhat messy.
10. PDFOnline.com: was able to recreate actual tables, as well as recreate the formatting. Very impressive. **Excellent**

Working Hyperlinks: i.e. whether clickable links in the PDF were also clickable in the resulting Word document.    

1. Free PDF to Word Converter from SmartSoft: no
2. gDOC Creator: yes
3. AnyBizSoft PDF to Word Free: yes
4. OpenOffice with PDF import extension: no (documents re-exported to PDF did not maintain working hyperlinks)
5. Some PDF to Word Converter: no
6. NuancePDF: no
7. PDF to Word Free from NitroPDF: yes
8. Koolwire: yes
9. Zamzar: yes
10. PDFOnline.com: yes

Optical Character Recognition (OCR): i.e. whether the converter is able to “read” PDF documents based on images and output an editable text.    

• NuancePDF: is the only converter that is able to do this. Check out the image on the right for an illustration.

Handling of special characters: I tested this by attempting to convert a single-page PDF created from a Russian website.    

• Not a single conversion option successfully dealt with this, I’m afraid.

The verdict/recommendation section: including overall score and summary.    

1. Free PDF to Word Converter from SmartSoft: 8/10. If you want a well-rounded desktop-based converter that you could also use commercially this is the one for you.
2. gDOC Creator: 8/10. gDOC Creator’s handling of text is among the best discussed in this article. If your primary concern is editing the text of PDF documents (and you want to use a desktop app rather than a web service) then this is the one I would recommend.
3. AnyBizSoft PDF to Word Free: 8/10. A good desktop converter, but cannot be used for commercial projects (which takes off a point in my scoring system)
4. OpenOffice with PDF import extension: 7.5/10. This one is recommended for quick, on the fly edits. If you use OpenOffice then installing the PDF Import plugin is a must. If you are planning to do extensive editing of large documents, however, you would be better served by some of the other options presented here.
5. Some PDF to Word Converter: 5/10. Use only to extract text from PDFs quickly.
6. NuancePDF: 9/10. Excellent quality conversions, as well as support for OCR. This is your destination of choice if your conversions with other software/services simply renders DOC or RTF files with images inside and no editable text.
7. PDF to Word Free from NitroPDF: 8/10. excellent quality conversions, but hampered by variable reliability. This may change, however, once their promised server upgrade is implemented.
8. Koolwire: 7.5. ok conversions, but not as advanced as some of the other online conversion options.
9. Zamzar: 7/10. ok conversions, but no reason to use this one given that other online services are better.
10. PDFOnline.com: 9/10. This was completely unexpecited. It provides the best quality PDF to Word conversion; will produce a download link instantly and will not keep you waiting. Highly reommended.