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Converting PDF files |
 Does
this look familiar? |
Free Conversion
Service!  et's
say you're creating a Web page or a word processing document and you've
found a wonderful resource on the World Wide Web. You'd like to quote
some text from this great resource. The catch is that it's in a read-only
PDF format. In other words, you're looking at it with the Adobe Acrobat
Reader.
If you try to select some text to copy, you'll find that your cursor has turned into a little hand and all you can do is move the page around. Viewing the source code is no help, either, as it just looks like gobbledygook. Are you destined to retype the entire thing? The good news is ... no. You can request to have the PDF format converted to either a text file or an HTML file for free. Of course, you may not take credit for the work of the originator of the PDF file and must cite your source as you would with any quotation. Here's all you need to do. |
 -mail the page location (URL)
of the PDF file you want to have
converted to pdf2html@adobe.com to have the file converted
to HTML, or to pdf2txt@adobe.com to have the file converted
to text. In your message to Adobe, leave the subject line
blank and put the URL in the body of the message.
By the way, if you have created or have been sent a PDF file that you would like to have in a text or HTML form, you can have that converted as well. Simply attach the file to your message leaving both the subject and body of the message blank. |
 t is an automated process
and usually it will take only a few
minutes to receive the converted file via e-mail.
When writing this article, my converted files were sent back
to my e-mail box in less than five minutes. I am sure that
response times depend on the number of requests being
processed, however.
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 ou will
receive the entire file and cannot request to have only a portion converted. This
means that you will need to search through the text to find what you needed and
probably reformat it, but the conversion can still save you some typing time.
If you only need to print the PDF text, it is probably much better for you to
go ahead and print it directly from the Adobe Acrobat Reader. If, however, you
are unable to do this or you are not able to download the Reader, you can request
the conversion to HTML and view it through your browser as a local file. The file
will retain some of its formatting, but not all.
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Relax!
 o the next time
you find a great PDF resource that you want to quote from, don't despair - convert it!
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