Convert PDF files to and from Word, Excel, Image, and other formats
npx skills add https://github.com/claude-office-skills/skills --skill PDF Converter
Convert PDF files to various formats and vice versa while preserving formatting.
This skill helps you:
| Target Format | Best For | Quality |
|---------------|----------|---------|
| Word (.docx) | Text-heavy documents | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Excel (.xlsx) | Tables and data | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| PowerPoint (.pptx) | Presentations | ⭐⭐⭐ |
| Images (.png/.jpg) | Visual snapshots | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Text (.txt) | Plain text extraction | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| HTML | Web content | ⭐⭐⭐ |
| Markdown (.md) | Structured text | ⭐⭐⭐ |
| Source Format | Quality Notes |
|---------------|---------------|
| Word (.docx) | Excellent preservation |
| Excel (.xlsx) | Good, check page breaks |
| PowerPoint (.pptx) | Excellent with animations flat |
| Images | Depends on resolution |
| HTML | Variable, CSS may differ |
| Text (.txt) | Perfect, but basic |
"Convert this PDF to Word"
"Save this document as PDF"
"Extract this PDF as images"
"Convert PDF to Word, preserve exact formatting"
"Export PDF pages 1-5 as PNG images at 300 DPI"
"Convert Excel to PDF, fit all columns on one page"
"Convert all PDFs in this folder to Word documents"
"Create PDFs from these 10 Word files"
## PDF to Word Conversion
### Best Practices
1. **Check source PDF type**:
- Native PDF (from Word/etc): Best results
- Scanned PDF: Use OCR first
- Image-based: Limited accuracy
2. **Formatting considerations**:
- Complex layouts may shift
- Fonts substitute if not installed
- Tables may need adjustment
- Headers/footers require review
### Quality Settings
| Setting | Result |
|---------|--------|
| **Exact** | Matches layout precisely, harder to edit |
| **Editable** | Optimized for editing, may shift layout |
| **Text only** | Plain text, no formatting |
### Common Issues
| Issue | Solution |
|-------|----------|
| Text as image | Run OCR before converting |
| Missing fonts | Embed or substitute fonts |
| Broken tables | Manually adjust in Word |
| Lost colors | Check color profile settings |
## PDF to Excel Conversion
### Ideal Sources
- PDF with clear table structure
- Financial statements
- Data reports
- Invoices with line items
### Extraction Methods
| Method | Use When |
|--------|----------|
| **Auto-detect tables** | Clear table borders |
| **Select area** | Tables without borders |
| **Full page** | Entire page is data |
### Quality Tips
1. Ensure PDF has selectable text (not scanned)
2. Clean table borders help detection
3. Merged cells may cause issues
4. Multi-page tables need manual merge
### Data Cleanup
After conversion, check:
- [ ] Column alignment
- [ ] Number formatting
- [ ] Date formats
- [ ] Merged cell handling
- [ ] Header row detection
## PDF to Image Conversion
### Resolution Settings
| DPI | Use Case | File Size |
|-----|----------|-----------|
| 72 | Screen viewing | Small |
| 150 | Email/web | Medium |
| 300 | Print quality | Large |
| 600 | High-quality print | Very large |
### Format Selection
| Format | Best For |
|--------|----------|
| **PNG** | Text, graphics, transparency |
| **JPG** | Photos, smaller files |
| **TIFF** | Print production |
| **WebP** | Web optimization |
### Output Options
- All pages → separate images
- Specific pages → selected images
- Page range → batch export
## Converting to PDF
### From Word
**Settings**:
- [ ] Embed fonts
- [ ] Include bookmarks
- [ ] Set PDF/A for archival
- [ ] Compress images (optional)
### From Excel
**Settings**:
- [ ] Define print area
- [ ] Set page breaks
- [ ] Choose orientation
- [ ] Fit to page options
### From PowerPoint
**Settings**:
- [ ] Slide range
- [ ] Include notes (optional)
- [ ] Quality level
- [ ] Handout format (optional)
### Universal Tips
1. Review in print preview first
2. Check page breaks
3. Ensure fonts are embedded
4. Verify hyperlinks work
## Batch Conversion Job
**Source**: [Folder path]
**Target Format**: [Format]
**Output Folder**: [Path]
### Files to Convert
| File | Pages | Status |
|------|-------|--------|
| document1.pdf | All | ✅ Complete |
| document2.pdf | All | ✅ Complete |
| document3.pdf | 1-5 | ⏳ Processing |
### Settings Applied
- Resolution: [X] DPI
- Quality: [High/Medium/Low]
- Naming: [Original name]_converted.[ext]
### Summary
- Total files: [X]
- Successful: [Y]
- Failed: [Z]
| Problem | Cause | Solution |
|---------|-------|----------|
| Text not selectable | Scanned PDF | Apply OCR first |
| Missing characters | Font issues | Embed fonts or convert |
| Poor image quality | Low DPI | Use higher resolution |
| Large file size | Uncompressed | Apply compression |
| Lost formatting | Complex layout | Use "exact" mode |
After conversion, verify:
Comprehensive document creation, editing, and analysis with support for tracked changes, comments, formatting preservation, and text extraction. When Claude needs to work with professional documents (.docx files) for: (1) Creating new documents, (2) Modifying or editing content, (3) Working with tracked changes, (4) Adding comments, or any other document tasks
Comprehensive PDF manipulation toolkit for extracting text and tables, creating new PDFs, merging/splitting documents, and handling forms. When Claude needs to fill in a PDF form or programmatically process, generate, or analyze PDF documents at scale.
Presentation creation, editing, and analysis. When Claude needs to work with presentations (.pptx files) for: (1) Creating new presentations, (2) Modifying or editing content, (3) Working with layouts, (4) Adding comments or speaker notes, or any other presentation tasks
Create beautiful visual art in .png and .pdf documents using design philosophy. You should use this skill when the user asks to create a poster, piece of art, design, or other static piece. Create original visual designs, never copying existing artists' work to avoid copyright violations.
Use this skill whenever the user wants to do anything with PDF files. This includes reading or extracting text/tables from PDFs, combining or merging multiple PDFs into one, splitting PDFs apart, rotating pages, adding watermarks, creating new PDFs, filling PDF forms, encrypting/decrypting PDFs, extracting images, and OCR on scanned PDFs to make them searchable. If the user mentions a .pdf file or asks to produce one, use this skill.
Use this skill whenever the user wants to create, read, edit, or manipulate Word documents (.docx files). Triggers include: any mention of 'Word doc', 'word document', '.docx', or requests to produce professional documents with formatting like tables of contents, headings, page numbers, or letterheads. Also use when extracting or reorganizing content from .docx files, inserting or replacing images in documents, performing find-and-replace in Word files, working with tracked changes or comments, or converting content into a polished Word document. If the user asks for a 'report', 'memo', 'letter', 'template', or similar deliverable as a Word or .docx file, use this skill. Do NOT use for PDFs, spreadsheets, Google Docs, or general coding tasks unrelated to document generation.
Use this skill any time a .pptx file is involved in any way — as input, output, or both. This includes: creating slide decks, pitch decks, or presentations; reading, parsing, or extracting text from any .pptx file (even if the extracted content will be used elsewhere, like in an email or summary); editing, modifying, or updating existing presentations; combining or splitting slide files; working with templates, layouts, speaker notes, or comments. Trigger whenever the user mentions \"deck,\" \"slides,\" \"presentation,\" or references a .pptx filename, regardless of what they plan to do with the content afterward. If a .pptx file needs to be opened, created, or touched, use this skill.
Create and edit Obsidian Flavored Markdown with wikilinks, embeds, callouts, properties, and other Obsidian-specific syntax. Use when working with .md files in Obsidian, or when the user mentions wikilinks, callouts, frontmatter, tags, embeds, or Obsidian notes.
Take claude-office-skills/pdf converter from the repository into ~/.claude/skills for personal
use, or into .claude/skills inside a project.
The agent identifies a skill by the name field in its header. Two skills with the
same name cannot sit side by side — one of them will be ignored.