How to convert PDF to ODT?

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#1

Hello,

Question: is there a way to convert multi-page PDF documents to ODT so they can be linked to from a Master Document. And, if so, is there a way to do this for many PDF documents, (in a batch?)?

Use Case:

I often draft legal documents which, and in their appendices, have attached PDF documents which are “Exhibits”.

Unfortunately, it does not seem that Master documents allow linking to PDF documents which would be composited into the final document.

When I go to export/print the “composite document,” I need all of the linked PDF documents to print in their place, and for the master document to maintain correct page numbering.

Thank you!

#2

Nice question! For me would be enough to find a way to insert automatic page jumps incrementing the page number the same as the pages the PDF to insert there has (of course, printing it in right order would be a hit! :wink:

#3

Nasty one I have done:

Open PDF in okular → export to text (KDE PDF Viewer)
Import text to libre-office.

IF PDF is only images: Master PDF Editor (unregistered) → ‘recognize document’, save, open in okular… etc.
It works, not perfectly, but very close to good enough.
You loose formatting though, so you must fix that manually.

OCRFeeder also ‘works’ for OCR, and it has an ODT export, but mine crashes every time I attempt to export.
Both OCRFeeder and Master PDF Editor employs ‘tesserac’ for OCR.

#14

Until the LibreWriter can open it directly as MS-Word does, and not considering buying Office, a good option is to use the Adobe online converter from PDF to DOC.

I lost an original file and recovered it from a PDF… It worked pretty well.

#4

Workaround: Use Microsoft Office to open PDF, then Save As .ODT … Then link new document from LibreOffice Writer Master Document. *cough.

#5

Sorry, but I’m afraid we are using Libreoffice to avoid use Microsoft Office… :wink:

#6

Is MS Office actually capable of opening and editing PDFs?

#7

M$ Word can open PDF files that have been previously saved by it in a special way: such PDF files are actually 2-in-1, both PDF and DOCX in one file.

#8

Libre Office Writer does not convert .pdf files to .odt. The feature is very much in demand in the form of a process that does not require programming skills. It is possible to use Microsoft Word to convert .pdf to .docx, then import .docx to .odt However, the point of using Libre Office is to avoid having to purchase MS Word.

#9

re: conversion from .pdf to .odt: MSWord does convert .pdf to ,docx quite well, especially for plain text .pdf
Please add my name to the list of those requesting the Libre Office team to consider creating and including a .pdf to .odt conversion option into Libre Office soon.

#10

Use WPS PDF Converter at: https://www.wps.com/pdf-to-word ($30.00 USA) I know… I am using Windows OS, but this is by far the best way to convert until I discover something else. I had loads of Graphics and pics along with the texts… The Graphics and pic transferred perfectly. The text had some font and sizing issues, but were easily editable in Libre Writer. (I opened the DOC after the PDF conversion using Libre). I have tried a lot of other ways and none did nearly as well as this for 200 to 300 page documents.

Good Luck!

#11

To open a PDF in LibreOffice Writer, you need to choose “PDF - Portable Document Format (Writer)” in the File Open dialog:

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#12

Thanks for the answer. This allows to open a PDF document in Writter, though the text is all in text boxes. If anyone knows how to “transfer” the text boxes to the main part of the document without copy&pasting each one, it would be very much appreciated.

#13

I don’t know if can be helpful, with 6.4 there is an option in draw, to consolidate the text in selected pdf boxes to one text box.
Menu/Shape//Consolidate text.
Mainly avoids the need to copy the text for every text box.

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#15

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