can you convert court pleading pdf document to ms or pages?

i'm trying to re-create my word processing document from my pdf document uploaded to the court in pleading paper. i can convert it but i cannot use the converted document as a regular word processing document because of all the formatting. i can't even cut and paste. did anyone figure this out or do i have to retype the whole thing?

MacBook Air 13″

Posted on Dec 9, 2024 07:20 AM

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8 replies

Dec 9, 2024 12:21 PM in response to metoo2016

If that pleading paper was scanned then it will be a PDF container composed of images of those scanned pages. This type of PDF cannot be searched, or converted to Word .docx until full Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is applied to it.


Acrobat Standard only supports the first two of the three OCR modes for scanned documents while Acrobat Pro supports all three:

  1. Searchable Image
  2. Searchable image and text
  3. Editable text and images


You will need Acrobat Pro to fully OCR a scanned PDF, as it requires the third OCR mode above to convert a PDF to Word .docx.


If that pleading paper PDF was not scanned, but generated by an application, then Adobe Acrobat Standard is supposed to be able to convert it to Word .docx that you can open in Word. Or you can try your luck and open the PDF in Word (v16.31 or later).

Dec 9, 2024 07:35 AM in response to metoo2016

A PDF is an end-stage document that is not intended to be reverse-engineered back to a traditional word-processing document.


Adobe Acrobat Pro and other paid PDF Editors can generate Word (.docx) documents from a PDF, but you should be prepared to perform additional cleanup in the document. Microsoft Word v16.31 or later can open and convert a PDF back to a Word .docx document with the same cleanup caveat.


Although MS Word supports line numbers, Apple's Pages does not since it is not a Word clone. Any features unique to Word that are not implemented in Pages will be dropped when Pages opens that Word document and translates its content into a .pages document. You cannot edit a native Word document in Pages.


I suggest that whatever approach mentioned above that you take to generate a Word .docx document from that PDF, you restrict yourself to MS Word for cleanup and editing. You can regenerate a PDF from that Word Save As… menu.

Dec 9, 2024 11:23 AM in response to metoo2016

metoo2016 wrote:

i have MS word. are you saying that with adobe acrobat pro the conversion will be an editable word document, so no problem with the reverse-engineered issue you mention earlier?

It depends on the format of the original document before it was turned into a pdf. If the document was scanned into the computer and saved as a PDF, it's basically a photo. The conversion to Word is going to be messy if it happens at all.


If the document was saved from something like Word to a PDF, the other direction should result in an editable document. But it will have lots of formatting issues that you'll need to correct.

Dec 9, 2024 02:53 PM in response to IdrisSeabright

the original document is a word-processing document, mac pages, exported or converted to pdf so it can be uploaded to the court's server because it only accepts pdf format. i'm able to convert the pdf to MS word and it looks exactly like the pdf document, except i cannot edit it like a word-processing document due to all the formatting commands. can't even cut or copy to paste to another word-processing document. the next thing i'm thinking of is how do i remove all the formatting commands? if i could just cut or copy and paste to another word-processing document, i don't have to retype the whole document.

Dec 9, 2024 02:57 PM in response to metoo2016

metoo2016 wrote:

the original document is a word-processing document, mac pages, exported or converted to pdf so it can be uploaded to the court's server because it only accepts pdf format.

Again, it matters how it was converted. Did they print or save it from Word? If so, that should work.


i'm able to convert the pdf to MS word and it looks exactly like the pdf document, except i cannot edit it like a word-processing document due to all the formatting commands. can't even cut or copy to paste to another word-processing document. the next thing i'm thinking of is how do i remove all the formatting commands? if i could just cut or copy and paste to another word-processing document, i don't have to retype the whole document.

If you can't copy anything from the document, I'm not convinced that it's actually in .docx format. Find the document in the Finder. Select it. Press Command- I. What kind of document does it say it is? Posting a screenshot of the Get Info box might be helpful.


Is there a banner at the top that says the document is read only? If so, there's usually a button that says "Enable Editing".


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can you convert court pleading pdf document to ms or pages?

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