WaywardTools

Document conversion that stays on your machine

PDF RTF Swap

PDF to RTF

Your file never leaves this device. Conversion runs in your browser. The document itself is not uploaded.

1 · Choose a PDF file

…or drop a PDF file here

.pdf · stays in this tab

2 · Convert

3 · Download

Choose a file to convert. It is not uploaded.

FAQ and format details
Why convert PDF to RTF?

A portal that accepts RTF but you were sent a PDF. Or WordPad is the only editor on a locked PC. Prefer PDF→DOCX when you can.

How this conversion runs

pdf.js → HTML → RTF subset. Page labels may appear as paragraphs. No picts from the PDF.

Keep in mind for PDF → RTF

Double lossy. Column order and RTF's weak tables stack. Check the result in WordPad before sending anywhere official.

After you have a RTF file

If the importer also takes DOCX, reconvert as PDF→DOCX. Keep the PDF as the original.

Is RTF better than TXT for PDF extracts?

Only slightly — you might keep bold if the HTML hub inferred any, which it usually does not from pdf.js strings. TXT is simpler for ingest.

Are PDF fonts embedded in the RTF?

No. RTF gets a Times font table and body text.

This pair at a glance
Accepts
.pdf
Writes
.rtf · application/rtf
Read fidelity
medium (PDF → HTML)
Write fidelity
medium (HTML → RTF)
Source size
Plan for files under 38 MB

The file is read in this tab. It is not uploaded.

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About PDF and Rich Text Format

Source file

PDF

A page-description format that paints glyphs and graphics onto fixed pages. Universal for print, archival, and sharing.

PDF (Portable Document Format) describes pages, not a flowing document tree. Incoming PDFs are reconstructed as HTML: designed pages keep positioned text, fonts, images, and vectors; simpler reading documents become flowing articles. Export to PDF paints HTML onto pages via pdf-lib. Pixel-perfect Word/InDesign layout is not the goal.

Extensions
.pdf
MIME types
application/pdf
Kind
binary · binary
Category
page description
Standard
Open format · since 1993
Spec
ISO 32000
Comfortable size
Up to about 38 MB in this browser converter
Read into HTML
medium fidelity · implemented — pdf.js extracts text, fonts, images, and vectors. Designed or overlapping pages stay visually positioned; simpler reading documents become flowing HTML with inferred headings, lists, and a sidebar when one exists. Scanned PDFs without a text layer will be empty.

What this format can hold

  • page layout
  • paragraphs
  • images
  • links
  • embedded fonts

Usually dropped on the way in

  • form fields
  • javascript
  • scanned pages without ocr

Apps that consume PDF

  • Adobe Acrobat / Reader (Adobe) — creates and opens on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android
  • Chrome (Google) — opens on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android
  • Edge (Microsoft) — opens on Windows, macOS
  • Preview (Apple) — opens on macOS, iOS
  • Foxit — creates and opens on Windows, macOS
  • Okular (KDE) — opens on Linux

Catalog notes

  • Encrypted PDFs cannot be opened in-browser without the password (not collected).
  • OCR for image-only scans is out of scope for v1.

Destination file

Rich Text Format

A text-based interchange format from Microsoft for basic rich text: fonts, colors, bold/italic, and simple pictures.

RTF was designed so Word, WordPad, TextEdit, and mail clients could exchange formatted text without the full Word binary. It is verbose (control words like \b, \i, \par) but human-inspectable. Fidelity is lower than DOCX: no modern styles, limited tables, and vendor-specific extensions.

Extensions
.rtf
MIME types
application/rtf, text/rtf
Kind
text · mixed
Category
word processing
Standard
Open format · since 1987
Comfortable size
Up to about 7.6 MB in this browser converter
Written from HTML
medium fidelity · implemented — Emits RTF 1.x with ANSI/Unicode mixed encoding, nested list indents, Word-style tables, and PNG/JPEG picts.

What this format can hold

  • paragraphs
  • lists
  • inline formatting
  • images
  • tables

Usually dropped on the way out

  • css layout
  • semantic html5
  • responsive images

Apps that consume RTF

  • Microsoft Word (Microsoft) — creates and opens on Windows, macOS
  • WordPad (Microsoft) — creates and opens on Windows
  • TextEdit (Apple) — creates and opens on macOS
  • LibreOffice Writer (The Document Foundation) — creates and opens on Windows, macOS, Linux
  • Apple Notes (Apple) — creates and opens on macOS, iOS

Catalog notes

  • WordPad-era RTF is the target subset — not the full Word RTF dump.
  • WMF/EMF and OLE picts are skipped; PNG/JPEG picts are inlined as data URLs.
Other conversions

Other conversions from PDF: HTMLMarkdownWordOpenDocumentEPUB

Other ways to get RTF: HTMLMarkdownWordOpenDocumentEPUB