Someone sends you a PDF that needs changes: a contract clause, a letter, an old CV. The quickest route people take is an online converter. For private documents, that is the one route worth avoiding. Here is how to get an editable Word file without the PDF leaving your computer.
First, check what kind of PDF it is
Open the PDF and try to select a sentence. If you can, it is a digital PDF made from a document, and it converts straight to Word. If nothing selects, it is a scan: a picture of a page. Scans need one extra step, covered below.
Convert a digital PDF
- Open Kifuli and choose PDF to Word.
- Drop in the PDF.
- Leave Conversion on Best available and click Convert to Word.
- Open the .docx that appears next to the PDF and edit as usual.
On a Windows PC with Microsoft Word installed, Best available uses Word’s own PDF conversion, which keeps the layout closest to the original. On a Mac, on Linux, or without Word, Kifuli’s built-in engine rebuilds the paragraphs and headings as editable text.
Convert a scanned PDF
- Choose Make scans searchable and run the scan through it in the right language.
- Convert the searchable PDF with PDF to Word as above.
After editing
Save your changes in Word, then turn the document back into a PDF with Word to PDF. If it needs a signature, use Sign PDF on the new PDF instead of printing and scanning it.