PDF to Word Converter

Convert PDF pages to editable Word documents while preserving layout structure.

Workflow

1. Extract PDF page as image - Use pdfplumber to render page at high resolution
2. Run OCR - Use tesseract to extract text from the image
3. Create Word document - Use python-docx to create document with matching layout
4. Verify result - Compare generated document with original PDF

Quick Start

Extract a single page:

python scripts/extract_pdf_page.py /path/to/document.pdf 1 -o /output/dir

Create two-column Word document:

python scripts/create_two_column_docx.py /output/dir/page1_text.txt output.docx \
  --title "Document Title" \
  --author "Author Name" \
  --page-number 1 \
  --total-pages 8

Manual Workflow (for custom layouts)

When scripts don't match the exact layout needed, follow this manual process:

Step 1: Extract page as image

import pdfplumber

with pdfplumber.open("document.pdf") as pdf:
    page = pdf.pages[0]  # 0-indexed
    pil_image = page.to_image(resolution=200).original
    pil_image.save("page1.png", "PNG")

Step 2: Run OCR

tesseract page1.png page1_text -l eng

Step 3: View original to understand layout

Read the extracted image to understand:

• Column structure (single, two-column, etc.)
• Header/footer content
• Section headers and formatting
• Image/diagram placements

Step 4: Create Word document with python-docx

from docx import Document
from docx.shared import Pt, Cm
from docx.enum.text import WD_ALIGN_PARAGRAPH
from docx.enum.table import WD_TABLE_ALIGNMENT
from docx.oxml.ns import qn
from docx.oxml import OxmlElement

doc = Document()

# Set margins
for section in doc.sections:
    section.top_margin = Cm(1.5)
    section.bottom_margin = Cm(1.5)
    section.left_margin = Cm(1.5)
    section.right_margin = Cm(1.5)

# Two-column layout using borderless table
table = doc.add_table(rows=1, cols=2)
# Remove borders from cells
def remove_borders(cell):
    tc = cell._tc
    tcPr = tc.get_or_add_tcPr()
    tcBorders = OxmlElement('w:tcBorders')
    for edge in ('left', 'top', 'right', 'bottom'):
        el = OxmlElement(f'w:{edge}')
        el.set(qn('w:val'), 'nil')
        tcBorders.append(el)
    tcPr.append(tcBorders)

for cell in table.rows[0].cells:
    remove_borders(cell)
    cell.width = Cm(8.5)

# Add content to left column
left_cell = table.rows[0].cells[0]
p = left_cell.add_paragraph()
p.alignment = WD_ALIGN_PARAGRAPH.JUSTIFY
run = p.add_run("Content here...")
run.font.size = Pt(9)

doc.save("output.docx")

Layout Patterns

Academic Paper (Two-Column)

• Use borderless table with 2 columns
• Column width: ~8.5 cm each
• Font size: 9-10pt for body, 10-12pt for headers
• Justified text alignment
• Section headers in bold

Single Column Document

• Standard paragraph formatting
• No table needed
• Wider margins acceptable

With Images/Diagrams

• Mark image positions with placeholder text: [Figure X - See original PDF]
• Images must be manually extracted and inserted

Dependencies

Required:

• pdfplumber: PDF parsing and image extraction
• pillow: Image processing
• python-docx: Word document creation
• tesseract: OCR (install via brew install tesseract)

Install Python packages:

pip install pdfplumber pillow python-docx
# Or use uvx:
uvx --with pdfplumber --with pillow --with python-docx python script.py

Tips

• Use resolution 200+ DPI for better OCR accuracy
• For scanned PDFs, OCR is required
• For text-based PDFs, pdfplumber can extract text directly
• Compare final document with original to verify layout accuracy
• Bold/italic formatting must be applied manually based on visual inspection