How to convert a PDF to DOC (word/abiword/openoffice compatible) ?

thank you

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...d.php?t=344569

Please search a bit first. There are some (mainly Windows, it seems) software tools that say they can convert pdf to pretty much anything you can think of, except for green apples. Not sure how good work they do, but in any case they tend to cost money (=no freeware, open source, ..) Haven't seen any open source or even Linux/UNIX-compatible proggies, but I haven't searched for, either, since generally people want to do that the other way around.

I don't also know if it's possible with good quality; creating a pdf that looks exactly like the original document is probably easier because it's common to send the document in a postscript format to the printer, and basically this is used when created pdfs (correct me if I'm wrong). Many "pdf-exports" are actually just "virtual printers" where the data is sent to the pdf printer that creates an Adobe PDF file out of the information. Done the other way around, the convert tool would have to know exactly how the formatting is expressed in a certain version of Word or some other program. And as you hopefully know, Word versions are not 100% compatible with each other, not to mention OpenOffice, AbiWord, Google's tools etc..they all probably make the same file look different even though they "can open it". So my guess is that when you turn a PDF into a DOC file, for example, the output will not look exactly like the pdf used to, anymore.

If you have pdfs, I hope you have the original files too, from which those pdfs were created (be they .tex, .doc, .xls or whatever), since it's easier to just use them or alter the oringinals and re-create PDFs, which are then easier to move around. If you don't have the originals around, then you have either done a stupid thing, or haven't created the files yourselves -- in this case contact the person(s) who have created the PDFs and ask for the originals from them.

tahnk you !

I just found that in windows, it exists:
pdf2doc Solid Converter
I run Windows for that

There's also this website that does file conversions for free, but I wouldn't upload anything confidential obviously:

http://www.zamzar.com/

Unlucky for my task, I would rather not use zamzar, we never know indeed...

hmmmm, we have the code sources of OPENOFFICE
this one can import PDF !!

we could also make a tiny:
pdf2doc file-orig.pdf file.doc

Export yes, but import, I don't think so.

Where did you get that information ?

I think his suggesting developing pdf import function for OpenOffice.

Openoffice only exports PDF. Importing it is quite another thing. A simple pdf2doc would not be that simple or tiny. Lots of format information is not preserved in the conversion to PDF, and all that can be reliably removed from it is the text.

Besides, .doc is now obsolete. Whatever MS's answer to ODT is now the new MS standard, so why bother working with a legacy format ...

--Ian

You know, still lot of companies are stuck with obsolete versions of Doc. You know, we are not as insane as Microsoft releasing totally new versions of format at each realeases.

That's why Mac is a security for companies.
And also, mac can import/export (as) PDF !!

;-)
that's it

What program do you use on Mac to import PDF?

AFAIK, there is only utilities such as pdf2text, which is also available on Linux.

Try Koffice, which can import PDF files for editing (one at a time). Don't save as .doc though - use ODT which is KOffice's native format. Also, this is not a perfect import.

--Ian