FW: An easy way to convert PDF's to images, so that RWGOLD 3 for MAC can convert to Doc.

Apologies for cross posting. Thought this might be of interest to some.

 

Thanks

 

 

 

 

Hello all,

 

I have recently had to do this for a student, so while its still fresh in the mind, I thought I’d share a few observations and tips.

 

As we all know, PDF’s are one of the most inaccessible forms of documentation for our students. Sometimes, if the PDF is a journal article for example, all a student can do is read the file on the screen due to copy protection. Can’t print, can’t copy and paste... well you know the drill.

 

TextHelp have tried to redress this by having PDFAloud. Unfortunately this adobe plugin is very poor, compared to RWGold itself – especially with scanned docs which have been converted into pdf.

 

Thankfully, with the PC version of RWGold, we can easily convert PDF to Doc by using ‘Scan To File’.

 

Unfortunately, the PDF option is not available in the MAC version, for some inexplicable reason. Only images can be converted. However, there is a solution!  

 

 

INSTRUCTIONS

 

YOU WILL NEED:

 

1.       Stuffit Expander  here: http://tc.versiontracker.com/product/redir/lid/1539358/StuffItExpander2009.dmgStuffIt%20Expander

2.       Firefox (Safari DOES NOT WORK FOR THIS – more on that later...) here: www.mozilla.com/firefox/

3.       An example PDF

 

Download and install Stuffit Expander

 

Download and install Firefox (personally, I think its MUCH better than Safari)

 

Drag Firefox from Applications into the Dock

 

Open Firefox and go here: http://www.convertpdftoimage.com/

 

Click browse to select your example pdf

 

Click Convert and Download

 

Wait a bit – big files take longer.

 

Your converted PDF will now be downloaded to your Mac in Zip format.

 

Find that Zip file – usually in Downloads

 

Right Click or Ctrl-Click that Zip file

 

Choose Open with...

 

Choose Stuffit Expander

 

Stuffit will now convert that Zip file into a folder of the same name

 

Now, Open RWGold.

 

Go to Tools > Scan Options

 

Select ‘To Word’

 

Select ‘Load Fom File’

 

Click the Scan Button

 

Browse for that Folder we unzipped

 

Open that folder, inside will be the images that made up the PDF as JPG files.

 

Choose the one you want, and click OK.

 

Wait a bit

 

Voila! Word should now open with a document containing the text (and any diagrams etc) from the image, which was from the PDF, except now we can copy and paste parts for direct quoting, and we can use the speech maker for revision, use the highlighters for revision....etc etc. Basically, use the entire functionality of RWGold.

 

 

NOTES

 

·       Safari does not work for this method. Safari downloads Zip files, and automatically decompresses them into a folder, but the images are corrupt for some reason. RWGold will not scan them, at all.

·       I have checked and rechecked the free web service used for conversion. It appears to be legit and kosha. No malware.

·       You can put the ‘Scan from...’ option on the actual toolbar. Go to Settings, and the last option is add/remove icons from toolbar, one of which is ‘Scan from...’

 

 

Cheers

 

 

Tim Symons

Trainer/Assessor

Access Summit

0161 275 0990

“...supporting students...”