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rgbnites
Known Participant
March 11, 2026
Question

Acrobat- convert story to RTF (Text Edit) results in one blank page- HELP

  • March 11, 2026
  • 2 replies
  • 28 views

Acrobat- Trying to convert a 200-page PDF story to a continuous plain text or RTF (Text Edit) results in a blank page.

 

I don’t need special formatting. I’m on a deadline- please help!

    2 replies

    Dave Creamer of IDEAS
    Community Expert
    Dave Creamer of IDEASCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    March 11, 2026

    The the responses to your InDesign question about exporting text to RTF.

    David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)
    Meenakshi_Negi
    Meenakshi_Negi
    Legend
    March 11, 2026

    Hi rgbnites,

     

    Thank you for reaching out, and sorry for the trouble caused.

     

    I understand how stressful this is, especially with a deadline. If Acrobat exports a blank file when converting a PDF to Plain Text or RTF. Please try converting the PDF using the Acrobat Web account and see if that works.

    You can access the Acrobat Web account via this link: https://adobe.ly/40ZVuq6. Once you open the link, sign in with the Adobe credentials you use for the desktop application. Then go to the Convert tab and select PDF to Word.  Upload the file, and then from the Convert drop-down, select Rich text format. Refer to the screenshot below:

     

     

    You may also refer to the steps suggested in the following help document: https://adobe.ly/4rqi9XC. 

     

    If that works, we can troubleshoot the issue on the desktop version. Please check whether the issue occurs only with this PDF or with others as well. Could you please share the sample PDF so we can review it? Please do share the Acrobat and OS version numbers on your machine.

     

     

    Let us know if you need any help.

     

    Thanks,

    Meenakshi

      R
      rgbnitesAuthor
      Known Participant
      March 11, 2026

      OK- I should change my career to Dog Walking, but I followed your clear and concise directions and managed to get a plain-text RTF. However, paragraphing was weirdly indented in random places, and drop caps converted to outlines (InDesign) were left out. So in TextEdit, I converted it> Format> Make Plain Text> Make Rich Text, and paragraph indents evened out. I have to go over the whole story to fill in missing drop cap letters (at the start of each chapter)- that’s over 6000 words.

      But thanks a 1,000,000 for your quick reply! I have another question on converting to RTF in the InDesign forum, sooooo...

      Meenakshi_Negi
      Meenakshi_Negi
      Legend
      March 11, 2026

      Hi rgbnites,

       

      Glad to know it helps a little. However, we can still check what might have caused this behaviour if you wish. If you can share a sample file, we can replicate the issue and share the correct information. 

       

      Thanks,

      Meenakshi

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