What is the easiest way to insert a PDF page in a Word file?

Question

Let me explain; I have a PDF document (some legal stuff), not made by me. The author of the document has no objections, and I need to insert a few pages of that document in a Word file I'm writing (in an Appendix).

What would be the easiest way to do that ?

(Export to HTML and then insert a whole image is the only way I could think of. Anyone got any better ideas ?)

Answer 1

While you can create an image and then insert it, it will likely look of poor quality (pixelation). I don't know if you have a requirement that the document you're working on be completed in a Word-compatible format, but if you have a PDF editor I would complete the document (possibly using blank spacer pages if you need accurate page numbering), use a PDF printer to turn it into a PDF, and then splice in the extra pages afterwards. Not sure about easiest, but it'll probably have the highest quality. Easiest would probably be to open the PDF, hit PrntScrn, paste into Paint, crop borders, then copy+paste from paint to Word.

Answer 2

I don't know about the easiest but the highest fidelity would probably be to load the PDF file into Adobe Illustrator, save the page as an EPS file, and insert that ("Insert" -> "Picture" -> "From file...") onto a blank Word page.

Answer 3

I do this frequently.

1. Open the pdf in Adobe Acrobat.
2. Select "Document", "OCR Text Recognition", "Recognize Text Using OCR"
3. Wait for Adobe to scan and format the pdf into text.
4. Highlight the desired text and cut/paste it into the word document.
5. Review and correct spelling and formatting that may have been lost in the OCR conversion.

This only works with text. You will still want to insert graphic pdf's as pictures.

YZ1

Answer 4

Since the author has no objections,Why not this:

1. Open the pdf in Adobe Reader.
2. Open the document in full screen (Ctrl+L)
3. Use Ctrl+1 or Ctrl+2 to get a preferred view. The page may not be completely displayed.
4. Use PrntScrn to copy to clipboard, paste it in MS Powerpoint
5. Back to Adobe Reader, scroll to the "second half"
6. Use PrntScrn again to copy to clipboard, paste it in MS Powerpoint
7. Crop and join (place one after another) as required
8. Select both the pictures, Right Click -> Group
9. Right Click -> Save as picture
10. Insert this picture in your Word doc.

Advantage: You dont need need "new" tools or software (Since you have MS Word, I assume you have Powerpoint also)

I always use Powerpoint in these situations because it has this "Save as picture" feature.

You may also use Paint.NET for the "crop and merge"

I donot recommend MS Paint, the pictures can turn out to be low fidelity or of vary large size. (I have not used the Windows 7 version of paint)

Answer 5

If you want to retain formatting, the route of splicing the PDF file is probably easiest, as in the other answers. Note that you do not necessarily need Adobe Acrobat to do this, there are other PDF slicing programs out there (see other SU questions).

If you just want the text, there are various tools to extract text from a PDF. That would allow (and force) you to reformat the text as you like. Again, there are various programs available.