Wondershare PDF Conversion

very good
key review info
application features
  • Support Microsoft Office 2010,2007,2003
  • (3 more, see all...)

Converting PDF to plain text is nothing out of the ordinary. You just select the paragraph, right-click it, choose “copy” function and then paste everything in the clipboard in a Notepad document. It is just a matter of copy-paste basic in all operating systems.

The only problem is the formatting of the text, which is no longer preserved, and the aligning of the paragraphs can also be an issue. Fortunately, the amount of utilities on the market ready to assist you in this endeavor is huge. The downside is that they do not come free.

Wondershare PDF Converter comes for the huge sum of $49.95 and the evaluation version restricts your conversion to only the first three pages of the document. It can transform the PDF file to Microsoft Word format, Microsoft PowerPoint, HTM or plain text with no hesitation at all.

$49.95 sure is a lot, for any sort of user, considering there are online services that do this for free. However, the developer released the software with a promotion that halves the price. So you'll be able to get it 50% off, for $24.95, a more decent figure.

The interface is as simple as can be, featuring nothing else but the conversion formats supported by the application. One thing you have to keep in mind, though: you can't convert to Word format if the application is not present on the computer. Once you put Microsoft Office on the system, Wondershare PDF Converter will be ready to transform PDF to both Word and PowerPoint formats.

You can select the type of conversion from the main screen of the software simply by clicking on the desired tab. After that, it is all about adding the soon to be converted PDF to the list of jobs in the app and define the storage path for the end result. The buttons to achieve this are located in the lower part of the screen (there's no way for you to miss them).

To make things easier for you, the developer added support for drag and drop, thus eliminating the occasionally time consuming task of browsing for the PDF file. After adding it to the task list, you will automatically be provided with a set of details that include the file name, its size, total number of pages in the document, and the pages you would like to convert.

By default, the app selects all the pages in the document for conversion, but you can choose only the ones most relevant to you. The app lets you select which individual pages should be picked up for conversion or define a range.

What is particular to Wondershare PDF Converter is that it can bypass the protection of the secured PDF files and copy the data into the new format with no difficulty. We tested the application against PDF documents with all security measures enabled, save printing and PDF Converter dealt with them with the same speed.

This should not be viewed as a remarkable feature because, after all, the creator of a PDF file imposes security for good purposes, such as preventing tampering with it. Mind that defying these security measures can attract legal repercussions.

As for the quality of the output result, Wondershare PDF Converter does an awesome job with all formats it converts to. Sure, in the case of plain text, a PDF document with multiple columns on the page is more difficult to read, but this is not at all the software’s fault, but of the file format itself.

Converting to HTML is the only job that supports a brief set of options. Nothing fancy is made available, just the possibility to select a background color and the choice to ignore images in the PDF document. If, on the contrary, images are to be preserved, you are given the opportunity to adjust the compression ratio by dragging a slider running from 1 to 100%.

The application is great for converting to Microsoft Word (versions 2010, 2007 and 2003 are supported), PowerPoint, HTML and plain text. Drag and drop support makes adding PDF files to the task list a cinch, while the process itself is quite speedy (you have a progress bar to monitor the advancement of the job).

But one aspect that should not be overlooked is that it can bypass security settings in PDF documents, which may be convenient for the one that starts the conversion, but a threat to the creator of the original file. Also, the price is not at all appealing, even with the 50% off available at the moment. Adding a function to turn to PDF a file in the supported formats would be more satisfying, as well as eliminating the need for installing Microsoft Office in order to convert to DOC or PPT (there are plenty of programs out there perfectly capable to open these file formats).


The Good

It is easy to use and efficient at converting from PDF to DOC, PPT, HTML and TXT. Drag and drop support eases up the procedure of adding a new file to the conversion list.

Wondershare PDF Converter allows you to select which pages of the PDF document should be converted.

The Bad

The price is not exactly affordable and a richer set of options would really justify it.

The Truth

Wondershare PDF Converter works great, is flexible enough to let you choose the pages you want to convert to Word, PowerPoint, HTML or plain text format, but the price is quite something.

It can defy any security measures the PDF may be protected by and make the conversion unhindered.

Check out the application in action:

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user interface 5
features 4
ease of use 5
pricing / value 2


final rating 4
Editor's review
very good