What is conversion? Convert to PDF

Today, the notion of converting, or converting files from one format to another quite often, occurs. True, not everyone imagines what conversion is, by what principles it is produced. Let's try to consider this issue using the example of the universal PDF format, which today is one of the most common for documents of different types.

Basics of the concept: what is conversion

Starting from technical terms, so to speak, one can say that conversion is really a translation, or a transformation of one format into another. True, many people mislead the concept of "format translation". Some inexperienced believe that the conversion of files is done simply by renaming, changing its extension (letters after the separating point) to another.

Absolutely wrong! Not only that such a renaming to the conversion has nothing to do, so again the resulting file can not be opened either in the program associated with such an extension, or in the "native" application.

If we are to discuss the topic of conversion, we need to clearly understand that this is a process in which the so-called logically-structured content of data (information) is completely or partially preserved.

In addition, there are two types of conversion: conversion from file to file and changing the format "on the fly." The second option is most often found in data export or import operations.

Frequently occurring programs for converting

For the correct transformation of the structure of any document or file, special utilities called "converters" are used. They can also be divided into types: narrowly focused and universal. It is clear that in the first case such programs are focused exclusively on several similar formats.

In the second, the functional set includes a larger list of significantly different types of data that do not belong to the same class, but this universality often casts doubt on the quality of the file obtained during the conversion.

Now we will start from the PDF format as the most universal for office documents, which can contain textual part, graphics or other structures from the field of multimedia.

Convert to PDF text files

The most simple processes can be called text-to-PDF conversion. Standard text files created, say, in "Notepad", we do not consider. Let's take the most common DOC format, which corresponds to the Microsoft Word application. Data can be converted here in several ways.

The first and easiest way is to use normal save. When you select "Save as ...", a window appears in which the type of data to be saved is shown below. Just click on the unfolding list and select from it a field indicating the type of PDF document indicated in the brackets with the .pdf extension.

This function, however, is only present in office packages of 2010 and above. Otherwise, converting a Word document into a PDF document involves the use of additional plug-ins that are embedded in the Word shell.

One of these is the Save as PDF or XPS utility, the developer of which is the same Microsoft corporation. After it is installed in the format menu when saving, the corresponding field will appear.

These two options, by the way, refer to what is called conversion on the fly. For direct conversion, you can use many converter programs, for example, Solid Converter PDF or Word to PDF Converter. The first program is more preferable, since it can perform a transformation in both forward and backward directions. In other words, this is a direct conversion into a PDF of the Word document and an inverse conversion from the PDF format to the DOC format.

Convert PDF to Word document

As just mentioned, the above utility will do. You can also use PDF2Word Converter, there is not much difference.

Conversion of PDF to Word is made using the same algorithms. By and large this is especially not important, because the main thing is the result.

However, it is believed that the best way to convert is to use Adobe Reader. In it, similarly to Word, there is also a command "Save as ..." and a list of supported extensions and document types. It's enough just to select a Word document, after which the conversion will be made "on the fly."

Here you can use another simple method. It is enough to select the desired fragment or structure in the PDF document, copy it to the clipboard, and then paste it into the text editor Word for saving. However, the drawback of this method is sometimes a violation of the structure or formatting of the document. But all the same, both methods are good, although the second one is not even the conversion of PDF to Word, but the usual copying of data. It is because of this that problems can arise.

Convert pictures and images to PDF and back

In general, all information that we perceive visually, by and large, can be translated into a PDF-format. And the schedule is not an exception.

For such transformations, as a rule, specialized utilities are used that have the names of the type JPEG to PDF Converter, Image to PDF Converter, etc. The processing process is identical to that used in the case of office documents. By analogy, any program for converting in terms of inverse transformation works.

Again, in many cases, you can use your own capabilities of Adobe Reader, only from the format menu in this case you select a graphic file type.

Possibilities of online services

Finally, if someone is too lazy to deal with such conversions manually, please - on the Internet today there are quite a lot of online converters. Using them will not be difficult. Upload your file to a specific resource, determine the direction of conversion with the choice of the final format and activate the conversion process. The file received in a few minutes is saved on the hard disk of the computer.

Conclusion

That's actually all on the "what is conversion", and what the simplest methods it is produced. If you recommend something, it's worth saying that it's better to spend a couple of minutes installing appropriate utilities or finding portable versions that do not require installation than using online services, because the result may not be what you expected. But it's more about working with graphics, which needs to be translated into PDF format.

As for text documents, here it is perfectly possible to do only using Word and Adobe Reader. As they say, why reinvent the wheel? Moreover, the result is known here in advance. As practice shows, it is often much better than even using converters for direct format conversion. Actually, even in work such a technique looks much simpler. The only thing you'll need is installing Adobe Reader, if there is not one on your computer, or a plug-in for Microsoft Word (again, if the version of the text editor was released earlier in 2010).