Tutorials

Save a PDF file as a Word document, HTML file, or image

by Donna Baker

Adobe® PDF isn’t necessarily the end of the road for your documents. You can use a PDF document for a variety of purposes, and then pass it through various programs. For example, you can create a document in Microsoft® Word, convert it to a PDF using PDFMaker, and then export it from Adobe Acrobat® as an HMTL Web page that includes JPEG images.

To save a PDF document in another file format:

1. Choose File > Save As to open the Save As dialog and click the arrow to open the Save as Type pull-down list (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Acrobat offers many file formats you can use for exporting a document.

2. Select a format. The file format extension is appended to the file’s name and the Settings button becomes active.
3. Click Settings to open a Settings dialog. The available options are specific to the file format you chose.
4. Adjust the settings in the dialog and click OK to return to the Save As dialog.
5. Click Save. Acrobat exports your file in your chosen format and the Save As dialog closes.

Tip: Do you find yourself continually exporting the same types of files from Acrobat and making the same settings changes? If so, change the preferences to save yourself precious time. Choose Edit > Preferences (in Mac, Acrobat > Preferences) to open the Preferences dialog. Click Convert from PDF in the left pane. Select the format you want to modify from the list in the right pane. When you select an option, its settings appear in the dialog. Click Edit Settings to open the same settings dialog you use to export an individual file. Adjust the settings as desired and click OK. Click OK again to close the Preferences dialog. Now your file exports use your modified settings, saving you processing time for each file.

Save a PDF file as a Word or RTF file

Acrobat lets you save a PDF file in two formats that you can then use in Word or other document-processing programs. When the document is open in Acrobat, choose File > Save As to open the Save As dialog, and choose from Rich Text Format (RTF) or Word document (DOC) format based on how you plan to use the content. Once you choose a format, click Settings to access the options for your desired format (Figure 2). A Save As dialog appears; the options vary depending on the format.

Figure 2: Choose export settings for documents, including layout and image options.

Here are some pointers:

• Include Comments is selected by default; deselect it if you don’t need comments in the exported document.
• Don’t export the images if you don’t need them. They add to file size and processing time.
• If you want to export images and your PDF file contains both color and grayscale images, choose Determine Automatically from the Use Colorspace pull-down list. If you don’t absolutely need the images to be in color, it’s a good idea to select the Grayscale option since the files are processed faster and are smaller in size.
• The option for generating tags is selected by default. These tags are not maintained in the exported document; they are used only in the conversion process and then discarded. Leave the option selected.

Note: Image resolution for export defaults to 150 dpi. You can change the resolution depending on the file format chosen; options range from 72 to 300 dpi.

Tip: Check your document carefully when you export a PDF document to Word format, as some text may be interpreted as images. If you review a DOC file exported from Acrobat and notice some text looks different, try clicking it in Word. If it selects as an image, you have to process the content manually. To do this, select the text in Acrobat and copy and paste it into Word, or rekey the text in Word.

Export as HTML, XML, or text

What if you have a PDF document and need a Web page in a hurry? Or want to use just the text from a document? Easy. You can export the content and images from Acrobat in HTML or XML format. XML describes data and focuses on what the data contains, while HTML displays data and focuses on how data looks. If you want to use a PDF document as a Web page, use one of two HTML formats. But if you want to your document’s contents to be used for data exchange in a corporate environment, choose XML format. Choose the accessible or plain text option for output when you don’t want any applied styles or formatting.

Choose File > Save As and select a file format option from the Save As pull-down list. Click Settings to open the Settings dialog specific to that format type (Figure 3). If you choose the accessible text option, there aren’t any settings you can modify manually.

Figure 3: Choose export settings in this dialog for several text-based export options.

• If you’re using a specific format, choose it from the pull-down list, or leave the default (Use mapping table default).
• Bookmarks and tags are generated automatically. Bookmarks, converted to links, are placed at the start of the document.
• Choose options in the Image File Settings pane. Acrobat creates a new subfolder named “images”; you can edit this field to suit your purposes.
• Click OK to close the Settings dialog and return to the Save As dialog, and then click OK to convert the file. In the Explorer window, you can see that the file’s images are numbered and use the assigned prefix (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Assign a prefix to exported images to keep track of your efforts.

HTML or XML?

HTML and XML function differently and are used for different purposes:

• If you are saving a PDF document for use on a Web site, use an HTML format. Acrobat does a good job of converting a page and creating styles for the page.
• Computer systems and databases contain data in incompatible formats. Converting your document’s data to XML reduces the complexity and creates data that can be read by many types of applications. XML defines the structure of the document and doesn’t organize it in the same fashion as HTML will—that is, interpreting the code and displaying images and text in a browser window. Use XML format when you want to export a document for data exchange, such as for use in spreadsheets or databases.

Tip:If you are building a large site, you’ll find it more efficient over time to write the code by hand or to use an HTML or WYSIWYG editor. Either approach gives you control over the page’s structure as well as style sheet design.

Save a PDF file as an image

Often you save a PDF document in a text and image format—as HTML or as a Word document, for example. However, you can also save a PDF document as an image. You might want to do this when:

• You want to use the content as part of another project or process.
• You want to create thumbnail images of pages for use in other documents.
• You need to protect the content in a page. Exporting as an image with security prevents text and other content changes.
• To save a PDF as an image, choose File > Save As and select an image export option from the Save As pull-down list. Next click Settings to open the Settings dialog; the Save As JPEG Settings dialog is shown in Figure 5. Modify these options according to your requirements, which vary depending on the file format you selected.

Figure 5: Configure settings for exporting a PDF document as an image.

Click OK to close the Settings dialog box and to return to the Save As dialog; click OK to convert the file. Acrobat converts each page of your document to an image. The image will be the same size as the document page.

An image of a document makes a very nice link from another document. When you are building a large project incorporating several types of material, you typically link the documents together. You can use text links, but you can also use an image of the linked document, as in Figure 6. I have a document that is linked to a slideshow. Instead of using text to link, I used a thumbnail-sized image of the first page of the slideshow. Be sure the outcome is worth the effort—don’t use an image of an all-text page, for example.

Figure 6: You can use an exported image as a visual link.

Tip: You can export images to applications, such as Adobe® Illustrator®, that use EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) files. Take care with the settings, however. If the file is formatted using RGB color space you won’t be able to create an EPS file. Instead, you’ll see a message telling you that an image uses a color format that won’t separate. In this case, you can’t export the images as EPS files. The only way to rectify the situation is to use a source image that uses a CMYK color space.