El PDF (Portable Document File) has become a worldwide standard: it is safe, secure, and compatible with any device. That's all well and good, except when the need arises to edit it, since it is not enough to write on it, as we would do with a Word document. Fortunately, there are numerous methods to convert a text or PDF image into an editable document.
In this article we are going to review some of them. For this task we have at our disposal some free tools interesting, as well as numerous online conversion services of formats.
In addition, of course, we always have the option of resorting to Adobe Acrobat Pro DC, specifically the paid version. After all, Adobe is the company that invented this widely used format and, logically, the one that best knows its secrets.
This software provides us, among many other things, with a powerful conversion tool. The downside is that to use it you have to pay a subscription, which is not exactly cheap. The price is 24,19 euros per month or 19,99 euros per month if you opt for an annual subscription. Is it worth paying this amount? If all we want to do is convert a PDF into an editable document, definitely not. For that there are other free options like the ones we present below:
Through Microsoft Word
An easy way to make a PDF document editable is to use the word processor in the Microsoft Office suite. If you have it, here's all you have to do:
- To start, we open the program Microsoft Word.
- Then we go to the tab "File".
- In it we click the option "Open" and we select the PDF we want to convert.
- Word will then notify us that it will convert the PDF file into an editable Word document. We click on OK.
- After that, The PDF will open as an editable document that we will be able to modify as we wish.
Important: once the process is finished, it is necessary Check the final format after conversion, as mismatches often occur, especially when the PDF includes more complicated graphics or layouts.
Using Google Docs
Another fairly effective way to convert a PDF into an editable document is through Google Docs. If you choose this option, here are the steps to follow:
- Firstly, we upload the PDF file to our Google Drive account.
- then we do right click on the PDF file. There we select first "To open with" and then we choose «Google Docs».
- With this, Google Docs will automatically convert the PDF into an editable text file, which we can then save as a Google document or export to Word.
If we use Google Docs for this type of tasks, we must take into account that Some final results may require manual adjustmentsThis is most likely to happen when the PDF contains tables or images.
online tools
For the specific task of converting a PDF into an editable document, the online converters They are always a very simple and practical alternative. In addition, most of them are free, although they usually have some limitations in terms of volume.
The way to use them doesn't have many secrets either. It's always the same: there are only You just have to upload the file to the web, choose the output format and press the button that starts the conversion process.. Once the process is complete, we can download the document in its new editable format. Some of the best ones are ILovePDF, PDF2DOC o smallpdf.
But it's not just about converting. There are also some online tools that allow us to directly edit the PDF through them and then download the duly edited document. This saves us the trouble of having to convert to editable format again, edit and convert again. A good example of this type of editor is PDF2GO, without a doubt a highly recommended option.
Situations in which we need to edit a PDF
All the methods and tools that we have presented in this article can be very useful when we are forced to convert a PDF into an editable document, something that we can find ourselves in for both personal and professional needs. Here they are. Some examples:
- Correction of typographical, formatting or content errors.
- Updating dates, names, addresses, amounts, etc. This is especially when it comes to contracts and other documents.
- Reorganization of the structure of a document to make it lighter or more complete and extensive.
- Personalization of the document using logos, watermarks, etc.
- Adding comments or annotations of any kind.
- Access to fillable forms and digital signatures.
- Adjustments to improve accessibility, such as adding labels or improving the structure to be read through screen readers.