RTF to PDF
RTF is the format many programs fall back on when they need to save formatted text: Mac TextEdit, dictation and transcription tools, legacy databases and report generators. Converting the file to PDF fixes its fonts and page breaks before it goes to a client, a court or a records system.
Convert to PDF
or drop DOC, DOCX, DOCM … files here ·
Max 95 MB per file· Up to 20 files· Deleted after 30 minutes
Files are processed on our servers and deleted after 30 minutes.
Convert the whole document or only some pages, slides or sheets.
Pages or slides to keep, e.g. 1-3, 5, 8-10. Numbers refer to the original document.
Source margins keep the document's own layout. Narrow is 12.7 mm, normal 25.4 mm, wide 50.8 mm left and right.
Excel, ODS and Numbers files: convert every sheet, or only the one that was open when the file was saved.
JPEG quality for photos inside the document. 90 looks identical to the source; lower it to make the PDF smaller.
Leave empty for no password. If set, the PDF asks for it before opening. Not available with PDF/A.
How to use this tool
- 1
Upload the .rtf documents
Drop one file or a whole folder export, up to 20 documents at 95 MB each. RTF files are often larger than you expect because pictures are stored as text.
- 2
Decide on metadata
Remove metadata is on, so the author and operator names in the RTF info block are not copied. Turn it off under Advanced settings if you need them, or add an Open password.
- 3
Get the PDF
Press Convert to PDF and download the results one by one or as a ZIP. We delete both the RTF and the PDF after 30 minutes.
How do I convert an RTF file to PDF without Word?
Upload the .rtf here and press Convert to PDF. Fonts, bold and italic, tables and pictures are kept, the fonts are embedded in the PDF, and you need no word processor on your computer or phone.
Rich Text Format: Microsoft's exchange format since 1987
Microsoft created the Rich Text Format in 1987 so that Word documents could move between programs and operating systems. Instead of a binary file, RTF is plain ASCII text with control words that start with a backslash: \b switches bold on, \par ends a paragraph, \fs24 sets 12-point type because sizes are counted in half points. Almost any editor can read it, which is why it outlived most of its contemporaries.
The specification stopped growing with version 1.9.1 in 2008, the version that matched Word 2007. Microsoft still reads and writes RTF in Word, but features Word gained after 2008 never made it into the specification. Today the format survives mostly as an output: TextEdit on the Mac saves RTF by default, speech-recognition and medical transcription systems export it, and many databases print reports to it.
{\rtf1\ansi\deff0 {\fonttbl {\f0 Times New Roman;}}
\f0\fs24 Dear Ms. Lee,\par
{\b Invoice 2041} is attached.\par
}RTF to PDF by the numbers
- First RTF version from Microsoft
- 1987
- Last published specification, 2008
- 1.9.1
- Hex characters stored per image byte in RTF
- 2
- Fonts an RTF usually carries inside the file
- 0
RTF
Rich Text Format
RTF is a plain-text markup format that Microsoft introduced in 1987 to move formatted text between word processors. It supports fonts, bold and italic, colours, tables and embedded images, and it can be opened by almost any word processor, including WordPad and TextEdit. It is more portable than DOC but lacks many modern layout features, and documents with images can become very large. Microsoft stopped developing the specification in 2008.
- Compression
- –
- Transparency
- –
- Animation
- –
- Introduced
- 1987 · Microsoft
Portable Document Format
PDF was created by Adobe in 1993 and became the open ISO 32000 standard in 2008. It fixes text, fonts, images and layout so a document looks the same on every screen and printer. PDFs can contain forms, signatures, links, attachments and searchable text, and the PDF/A variant is used for long-term archiving. The fixed layout makes PDFs hard to edit, and scanned PDFs contain only images unless OCR is applied. Every browser and operating system can open them.
- Compression
- –
- Transparency
- Yes
- Animation
- No
- Introduced
- 1993 · Adobe
RTF depends on the reader having the same fonts and a forgiving editor, so its layout drifts between programs; a PDF locks the formatted letter or report into fixed pages.
Preparing an RTF before converting it
| Do | Don't |
|---|---|
| Convert transcripts and dictated letters in one batch so every PDF gets the same embedded fonts | Rename .rtf to .doc and hope it opens; the contents are still RTF |
| Leave Remove metadata on for files from shared transcription systems | Send an RTF with embedded photos by email when a PDF is a fraction of its size |
| Use Page range to drop a cover page the exporting program adds | Expect form fields or macros: RTF does not carry either |
RTF to PDF questions
Why does an RTF letter look different on another computer?
An RTF file names its fonts in a font table but in practice does not include them. If the reader lacks one, their editor picks a substitute, and spacing, line breaks and the page count shift. A PDF carries the fonts with it, so the letter looks the same everywhere.
Is the PDF smaller than the RTF?
Usually much smaller when the document has pictures. RTF writes each image byte as two hexadecimal characters, while a PDF stores images in compressed binary form. A text-only RTF and its PDF end up roughly similar in size.
Does it work with TextEdit files from a Mac?
Yes, a .rtf saved by TextEdit converts directly. TextEdit's .rtfd format is a folder package used when a document contains pictures; save it from TextEdit as .rtf or as a Word file first.
Can I protect the PDF made from a confidential RTF report?
Yes. Type a password into Open password before converting and the PDF asks for it on opening. The guide on password-protecting a PDF covers how to share that password safely.
My RTF is just plain lines of text. Is there a better option?
If the file has no fonts, bold or tables worth keeping, a .txt export through TXT to PDF gives you control over paper size and margins for monospaced text. For anything formatted, stay on this page.
Can I edit the document after converting?
Not in the PDF itself. Keep the RTF as the editable copy, or move it into Word with RTF to DOCX if you plan to keep revising it.
