The Complete Cheat Sheet for Document Conversions (PDF, DOCX, TXT, PPTX)

Introduction

Document conversions are a daily reality for professionals, students, and anyone who works with digital files. Whether you're converting a contract to PDF for signing, extracting text from a PDF for editing, or turning a presentation into a shareable document, understanding the nuances of document conversion can save you hours of frustration.

This comprehensive cheat sheet covers everything you need to know about converting between the most common document formats.

Understanding Document Formats

PDF (Portable Document Format)

Purpose: Universal viewing and printing Created by: Adobe (1993)

Characteristics:

Looks identical on every device

Can contain text, images, forms, signatures

Difficult to edit without special software

Industry standard for official documents

Best for:

Contracts and legal documents

Forms and applications

Finished documents for distribution

Printing materials

DOCX (Microsoft Word Document)

Purpose: Document creation and editing Created by: Microsoft (2007)

Characteristics:

Fully editable

Supports complex formatting

Track changes and comments

Collaborative editing features

Best for:

Writing and editing documents

Collaboration

Documents that need revision

Templates and mail merge

TXT (Plain Text)

Purpose: Simple, universal text Created by: Original computer standard

Characteristics:

No formatting whatsoever

Works on any system

Smallest file size

Human and machine readable

Best for:

Code and scripts

Configuration files

Data interchange

When formatting doesn't matter

PPTX (PowerPoint Presentation)

Purpose: Presentations and slideshows Created by: Microsoft (2007)

Characteristics:

Slide-based format

Supports animations and transitions

Speaker notes included

Embedded media support

Best for:

Business presentations

Educational materials

Pitch decks

Visual storytelling

ODT (Open Document Text)

Purpose: Open standard word processing Created by: OASIS (2005)

Characteristics:

Open source format

Similar capabilities to DOCX

LibreOffice native format

No vendor lock-in

Best for:

Open source workflows

Government documents (in some regions)

Long-term archiving

Cross-platform compatibility

PDF Conversions

PDF to Word (DOCX)

When to use:

Need to edit document content

Want to update an old PDF

Extracting text for repurposing

Filling in a form that's not fillable

Challenges:

Complex layouts may not convert perfectly

Tables can become misaligned

Headers/footers may cause issues

Fonts might substitute

Best practices:

Use high-quality source PDFs

Choose "Retain layout" option when available

Review and fix tables manually

Check font substitutions

Clean up extra spaces and line breaks

Quality expectations:

Simple documents: 90-95% accuracy

Complex layouts: 70-85% accuracy

Scanned documents: Requires OCR first

PDF to TXT

When to use:

Extracting raw text content

Preparing text for analysis

Removing all formatting

Processing with scripts

Challenges:

All formatting is lost

Images are not extracted

Tables become plain text

Reading order may vary

Best practices:

Review text flow after conversion

Clean up line breaks

Use for text-heavy documents only

Consider PDF to Word for better structure

PDF to PPTX

When to use:

Turning a document into slides

Repurposing PDF content for presentations

Extracting graphics from PDF

Challenges:

Each PDF page becomes one slide

Text extraction may vary

Graphics quality depends on source

Animations cannot be recreated

Best practices:

Works best with slide-like PDFs

Plan to redesign for presentation

Extract images separately if needed

Consider manual recreation for quality

PDF to Images (JPG/PNG)

When to use:

Sharing on social media

Embedding in websites

Creating thumbnails

Archiving visual content

Settings to consider:

Resolution: 150 DPI for screen, 300 DPI for print

Format: JPG for photos, PNG for graphics

Color mode: RGB for screen, CMYK for print

Word (DOCX) Conversions

Word to PDF

When to use:

Sharing finished documents

Preserving formatting

Creating printable files

Official document distribution

Why this works well:

PDF preserves Word formatting exactly

Fonts can be embedded

Layout remains consistent

Universal readability

Best practices:

Embed fonts before converting

Check page breaks

Verify hyperlinks work

Test on different PDF viewers

Word to TXT

When to use:

Extracting plain text

Preparing for data processing

Removing formatting completely

Creating universal text files

What you lose:

All text formatting

Images and graphics

Tables and columns

Headers and footers

Word to PDF Form

When to use:

Creating fillable PDF forms

Document workflows

Interactive documents

Process:

Design form in Word with content controls

Convert to PDF with form support

Test form fields

Add signature fields if needed

PowerPoint (PPTX) Conversions

PowerPoint to PDF

When to use:

Sharing presentations as documents

Creating handouts

Archiving presentations

Sending to non-PowerPoint users

Options:

Full slides

Handout format (multiple slides per page)

Notes pages

Outline only

Best practices:

Check slide animations (they won't convert)

Verify embedded videos are not needed

Choose appropriate layout

Include notes if relevant

PowerPoint to Video

When to use:

Self-running presentations

Social media content

Training videos

Webinar recordings

Settings:

Resolution: 1080p recommended

Frame rate: Use slide timing

Format: MP4 for compatibility

PowerPoint to Images

When to use:

Social media slides

Web content

Thumbnail creation

Print materials

Recommendations:

Export as PNG for quality

Use high resolution

Export selected slides as needed

OCR: Converting Scanned Documents

What is OCR?

Optical Character Recognition (OCR) converts images of text into actual editable text.

When you need OCR:

Scanned paper documents

PDF images (not searchable PDFs)

Screenshots of text

Photos of documents

OCR Best Practices

For best results:

Use high-quality scans: 300 DPI minimum

Ensure good contrast: Black text on white background

Straighten images: Skewed text reduces accuracy

Clean sources: Remove stains, marks, shadows

Check the language: Set correct language for recognition

Accuracy expectations:

Clean, typed documents: 95-99%

Handwritten text: 70-90%

Poor quality scans: 60-80%

Mixed content: Varies

Post-OCR Cleanup

After OCR, always:

Proofread carefully

Check numbers and special characters

Fix formatting issues

Verify table structure

Correct recognition errors

Formatting Preservation Tips

Fonts

Problem: Converted documents show wrong fonts

Solutions:

Embed fonts in source document

Use common fonts (Arial, Times New Roman)

Convert fonts to outlines (for PDFs)

Accept substitution and reformat

Tables

Problem: Tables become misaligned after conversion

Solutions:

Keep tables simple

Avoid merged cells

Convert tables to images if necessary

Rebuild tables after conversion

Images

Problem: Image quality degrades

Solutions:

Use high-resolution source images

Convert to lossless format first

Check compression settings

Extract images separately if needed

Page Layouts

Problem: Multi-column layouts become scrambled

Solutions:

Convert columns to sections

Use simpler layouts when possible

Accept manual cleanup

Consider image export for exact preservation

Quick Reference Conversion Chart

From To Quality Difficulty Common Issues |------|-----|---------|------------|---------------| PDF DOCX Good Medium Table formatting PDF TXT Basic Easy Loses all formatting PDF PPTX Fair Medium Layout adaptation PDF JPG/PNG Excellent Easy Resolution choice DOCX PDF Excellent Easy Font embedding DOCX TXT Basic Easy Loses formatting DOCX ODT Good Easy Minor differences PPTX PDF Good Easy Loses animations PPTX Video Good Medium Timing setup Scanned Text Variable Medium OCR accuracy

Accessibility Considerations

Why Accessibility Matters

- Legal requirements (ADA, WCAG)

Wider audience reach

Better SEO

Ethical responsibility

Accessible Document Conversions

Checklist:

[ ] Ensure text is actual text (not images)

[ ] Add alt text to images

[ ] Use proper heading structure

[ ] Include table headers

[ ] Check color contrast

[ ] Test with screen readers

PDF Accessibility

When converting to PDF:

Use tagged PDF option

Set document language

Add bookmarks for navigation

Ensure reading order is logical

Workflow Automation

Batch Conversion

For large numbers of documents:

Organize files by conversion type

Use consistent naming conventions

Set up folder watching

Create quality control checkpoints

Integration Tips

Cloud storage:

Convert on upload

Sync converted files

Maintain folder structure

Document management:

Automate routine conversions

Index converted text

Track versions

Conclusion

Document conversion doesn't have to be frustrating. With the right understanding of formats, proper settings, and realistic expectations, you can convert documents efficiently while preserving what matters most.

Key takeaways:

Choose the right format for your purpose

Expect some cleanup after complex conversions

Use OCR for scanned documents

Always keep your source files

Test conversions before batch processing

FreeConvert.ai makes document conversion simple with automatic optimization and quality preservation. Try our free tools for all your PDF, Word, PowerPoint, and text conversion needs.