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Convert RTF to PDF

Convert RTF to PDF in seconds. Free, no signup, no watermark, no file-size limit. Your file is processed in your browser and never uploaded.

At a glance

Source
RTF
Target
PDF
Where it runs
Your browser
Cost
Free, unlimited
Account
Not needed
RTF

Converter

RTF to PDF

On device

Drop one or more rich text format files.

or select rich text format

Your file never leaves this browser

    The details

    What happens when you convert an office document to PDF

    Rich Text Format. Plain text with formatting codes, written so that any program can read it. A real layout engine — the same one that renders the document on screen — draws the document onto fixed-size pages and writes them out as a PDF. The result is a the portable document format. fixed layout, universal, and the reason everyone can open the file you send them, produced entirely inside your browser.

    What survives

    • The text, which stays selectable and searchable
    • The layout, including tables, columns, headers and footers
    • Images, charts and embedded fonts
    • Page breaks chosen by the author

    What changes

    • Editing features are gone: there are no tracked changes, comments or styles to change
    • Dynamic elements — a linked spreadsheet, a live chart — are frozen as they appeared
    • Interactive form fields usually become static text

    Where it goes wrong

    • A font installed on the author's machine but not yours will be substituted, and the line breaks will move
    • Long documents paginate slightly differently on different engines, so check the page count
    • A document with tracked changes shows the markup unless the changes are accepted first

    Why anyone would do this

    A PDF looks the same on every device, which is the difference between a document that is read and one that is retyped.

    About the format

    Rich Text Format.

    A stream of ASCII characters. Formatting is expressed as backslash-prefixed control words, and anything unknown is simply skipped.

    Where it is good
    • Almost any program that has ever existed can open it
    • Survives being opened and re-saved by ancient software
    • The formatting survives even when the fonts do not
    Where it falls short
    • Verbose — a two-page document can be hundreds of kilobytes
    • No images in the base standard
    • Modern features like tables and footnotes are awkward
    You will find it on
    Old Windows programs, legal and medical systems, email clients

    The thing people miss

    RTF is the rare format that is technically ASCII — you can open it in a text editor and read the text with the formatting still visible.

    About the target

    The portable document format.

    A tree of objects describing pages, fonts, images and scripts, with a cross-reference table and a file trailer. Text and vector graphics are stored separately from the page layout.

    • Looks identical on every operating system and every device
    • Holds text, images, vector art, forms, signatures and 3D
    • Can be locked, compressed, tagged for accessibility and archived as PDF/A

    Real jobs

    What people are actually doing with RTF

    Pasting formatted text between two programs that share nothing

    A legal notice that has to open in a 1990s word processor

    Recovering text from a corrupted document

    Specification

    The details, in one table

    Source formatRTF — Rich Text Format
    Target formatPDF — PDF document
    Typical source size10 KB – 2 MB
    RunsIn your browser
    Account neededNo
    WatermarkNone
    File extension.rtf → .pdf

    How to

    RTF to PDF, step by step

    1. 01

      Add your rich text format

      Drag the file onto the drop zone, or tap to browse. Only one file is needed.

    2. 02

      Choose the PDF settings

      Set the PDF-specific options — everything happens locally, so the speed is your device, not a queue.

    3. 03

      Download the result

      The finished PDF downloads to your device. Nothing is uploaded and nothing is retained.

    Also available

    RTF converts into

    TXTPlain textHTMLHTML documentMDMarkdownDOCXWord document

    Questions

    RTF conversion questions

    What actually happens to my RTF file when I convert it to PDF?

    A real layout engine — the same one that renders the document on screen — draws the document onto fixed-size pages and writes them out as a PDF. So the RTF file is unpacked, the content is laid out, and the result is written out as PDF. The text, which stays selectable and searchable survives unchanged.

    Will converting RTF to PDF reduce the quality?

    Partly. Some formatting is approximated because the two formats describe layout differently. The text itself is never re-typed, so no words are lost.

    Is my RTF file uploaded to a server?

    No. This RTF to PDF conversion runs as JavaScript inside your browser tab. The file is read from your device and the result is written back to your device, so there is no upload step, no file-size limit and no copy of your RTF file on any server.

    Do I need an account or will there be a watermark?

    Neither. There is no sign-up step, no email capture and no watermark on the output. The only limits are the ones your own device imposes.

    What is the most common mistake people make when converting RTF to PDF?

    A font installed on the author's machine but not yours will be substituted, and the line breaks will move

    Why would somebody convert RTF to PDF at all?

    A PDF looks the same on every device, which is the difference between a document that is read and one that is retyped. In short: pasting formatted text between two programs that share nothing

    Something most people do not know about RTF?

    RTF is the rare format that is technically ASCII — you can open it in a text editor and read the text with the formatting still visible.