How can you edit PDF files? Converting PDF to TXT is probably one of the easiest methods to allow you to edit the PDF files. If you are in desperate need for editing your PDFs, you might want to find the most efficient tool to help you convert pdf to txt. Luckily, we spent a lot of time testing and compiled a list of the top 6 pdf to txt converters for you.
Advantages and Disadvantages of PDF and TXT Format
1What is PDF?
PDF, short for portable document format, is developed by Adobe to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. PDFs are typically used to distribute read-only documents that preserve the layout of a page.
Pros:
• Secure -- PDF can be locked and password protected, so you can rest assured that no-one will be able to alter your file.
• Compact -- PDF takes little space on your hard drive for its ability to compress large amounts of data into a smaller document size which makes it easy to email.
• Platform Independent -- PDF can be opened on any device with any operating system in exactly the same form in which it was created.
Cons:
• Difficult to edit -- PDF can‘t be edited by anyone other than the author once the file is processed and rendered.
• Difficult to read -- PDFs are difficult to read on a computer screen because they are laid out in standard A4 or A3 format pages, but most computer screens fall somewhere between a 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratio, so you need to spend a lot of time viewing PDFs on the screen.
2What is TXT?
Plain text documents saved in the TXT format can be created, opened and edited by any text editing or word processing program and most other software programs. The content of these .txt files is unformatted text that can be saved in small file sizes.
Pros:
• Simple and Convenient -- Text files are commonly used for note taking and storage of information because of their simplicity.
• Portable -- A large amount of information and detail can be conveyed with text and take little space on disk.
• Platform Independent -- TXT format remains popular due to its support across all platforms and Operating Systems.
Cons:
• Lack of security -- TXT files can be viewed and modified by anyone.
• Lack of standards -- If the wrong encoding is applied to the bytes in memory, the text content will be garbled.
Best PDF to TXT Freeware
1Epubor Ultimate
Epubor Ultimate is not only a powerful eBook DRM Removal, it’s also a professional eBook Format Converter which supports epub/pdf/azw3/mobi/txt output formats. As long as you ever look for any DRM Removal Tool for ebooks or Audible books, you must have heard of Epubor software – the best of the best DRM Removal ever. Because there’s no Audible/Kindle/Google Play/Kobo/Nook DRM can’t be decrypted by Epubor software. After installing the software to your computer, launch it and drag & drop your pdf files to the main interface of the software, choose txt as the output format and click Convert to TXT to start the conversion.
Once the conversion complete, you can click Succeeded or the folder icon in the lower right corner of the software to locate the converted txt file.
2Calibre
No eBooks enthusiastic doesn’t know Calibre software. It’s a cross-platform open-source suite of e-book software which supports organizing existing e-books into virtual libraries, displaying, editing, creating and converting e-books. It’ll allow you to do nearly everything and it takes things a step beyond normal e-book software. And it’s also completely free. It’s not exaggerate to say that calibre is the most full-featured ebook freeware by far.
Tips
If you want to convert pdf to txt, you need to make sure that the pdf files are DRM free. If your pdf files are DRM-encrypted, you should to remove DRM first. Good news is that Epubor Ultimate can help you remove DRM from Kindle/Nook/Google Play/Kobo books as well. For detailed instructions, you can read this step by step guide on how to convert Kindle/Nook/Google Play/Kobo books freely.
4 Best Online PDF to TXT Converter
1Online Converter
OnlineConverter.com offers free online conversion services for a wide range of file formats. This is a versatile and multipurpose converter, a handy tool for your work and personal life.
2Zamzar
Zamzar is an online file converter which supports over 1,200 different conversion types. Users can upload one or more files from their computer; Zamzar will then convert the file to another specified format, such as pdf to txt. Once conversion is completed, you can immediately download the file from their web browser.
3pdftotext
pdftotext is an open source, free and easy to use online PDF to text converter to extract text data from PDF files without having to install any software. You can upload up to 20 PDF files you wish to convert and get them all at once in a ZIP archive by clicking the Download all button when conversion process is finished.
4Online document converter
Free online document converter lets you convert media easy and fast from one format to another. They support a lot of different source formats, like convert pdf to txt, etc. Just upload a PDF file and click on Start Conversion. If the PDF file has scans or images with text, you need to select the OCR functionality first to enable character recognition, then start the conversion.
Freeware vs Online Converter
Though free online converters allow users to convert files without downloading a software tool, there comes with many restrictions, such as size limitation, not support batch conversion, etc. However, freeware are way powerful than online converters for their ability of supporting large size files and batch conversion, etc.
Conclusion
All the above PDF to TXT Converters can help you convert pdf to txt efficiently. Which tool you'd like to pick up with depending on your demands. If you want a professional pdf to txt converter which supports batch conversion and has no size limitation, Epubor Ultimate and Calibre can better serve your purpose.
Hillary Lopez works for Epubor and writes articles about eBooks and eReaders. She explores the best method to help you read eBooks more freely and wants to share all she has got with you.
