Why Convert Between PDF and Text?
Converting between PDF and text formats serves many practical needs. Extract text from PDFs to edit content, repurpose documents, or feed text into other applications. Convert text files to PDF to create professional, shareable documents with consistent formatting across all devices and platforms.
ToolsMatic performs all conversions entirely inside your browser using PDF.js and jsPDF. No file is ever uploaded to any server, making it ideal for confidential documents, private notes, or sensitive business content.
How to Use the TXT ↔ PDF Converter
- Step 1 — Choose direction: Toggle between "Text to PDF" to create a PDF document from your text, or "PDF to Text" to extract content from PDF pages.
- Step 2 — Upload or paste: Drag and drop your text or PDF file, click to browse, or paste text directly into the editor for Text→PDF mode.
- Step 3 — Select and configure: Choose page settings, fonts, margins (Text→PDF). Or click page thumbnails to select for extraction and choose output format (PDF→Text).
- Step 4 — Convert and download: Click Convert. Combined PDF downloads directly (Text→PDF). Single pages download as text files, multiple pages package into a ZIP (PDF→Text).
PDF to Text: Output Format Options
Plain Text (.txt)
Best for simple content extraction, plain text files contain only the raw characters from your PDF with no formatting. Ideal for copying into emails, code editors, or applications that don't support rich text.
Markdown (.md)
Best for documents with structure. Markdown preserves headers, lists, and basic formatting using simple syntax. Ideal for technical documentation, notes, or content destined for platforms that support Markdown rendering.
HTML (.html)
Best for web-ready content. HTML output includes semantic tags and basic styling for immediate use in web pages or email templates. Ideal when you need to publish extracted content online.
Text to PDF: Formatting Options
Page Layout
Choose A4 (210×297mm) for international documents, Letter (8.5×11in) for US standard, or enter custom dimensions. Toggle between Portrait and Landscape orientation to match your content.
Typography
Select from Inter (clean, modern), Roboto (versatile), Times New Roman (traditional), or Courier (monospace) fonts. Choose sizes from 10pt to 18pt and adjust line height for optimal readability.
Margins
Control whitespace with None (0mm), Small (10mm), Medium (20mm), or Large (30mm) margins. Larger margins improve readability for printed documents and provide space for annotations.
ToolsMatic vs Other PDF Text Tools
| Feature | ToolsMatic | ilovepdf | Smallpdf | Adobe Acrobat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bidirectional conversion | ✅ | ⚠ Separate tools | ⚠ Separate tools | ✅ |
| Multiple text formats | ✅ | ⚠ TXT only | ⚠ TXT/DOCX | ✅ |
| No file upload | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Select specific pages | ✅ | ⚠ Limited | ❌ | ✅ |
| Text preview before export | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ⚠ Paid |
| Rich text editor (Text→PDF) | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Custom page settings | ✅ | ⚠ Limited | ❌ | ✅ |
| Free with no limits | ✅ | ⚠ Daily limits | ⚠ 2 tasks/day | ❌ Paid |
| Privacy first | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
PDF ↔ Text: Frequently Asked Questions
This tool supports bidirectional conversion: PDF pages to plain text (.txt), Markdown (.md), or HTML (.html), and text files to PDF documents. Toggle between modes at the top of the tool interface.
Yes. Click any page thumbnail to select it for text extraction — selected pages show a green border and checkmark. Only selected pages will be exported. Use Select All to include every page.
Basic line breaks and spacing are preserved. For better formatting retention, choose Markdown or HTML output format and enable the 'Preserve line breaks' and 'Include page numbers' options. Complex layouts may require manual adjustment after extraction.
Yes. In Text→PDF mode, you can paste text directly into the editor area. The editor supports basic formatting via toolbar buttons and displays live word/character counts.
Never. All PDF text extraction and PDF generation happens entirely inside your browser using PDF.js and jsPDF. Your files never leave your device and are never transmitted to any server.
Choose from Inter (default, clean and modern), Roboto (versatile sans-serif), Times New Roman (traditional serif), or Courier (monospace for code). Font sizes range from 10pt to 18pt with three line height options.
Password-protected PDFs must be unlocked first. Use our free Unlock PDF tool to remove the password, then return here to extract the text content.
Text extraction is highly accurate for standard PDFs with selectable text. Scanned PDFs or images within PDFs require OCR (not currently supported). For best results, use PDFs created from digital documents rather than scanned images.