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VellumPDF

RTF to PDF

The text format of WordPad and TextEdit, as a PDF with real text, no software and no upload.

Your files never leave your device

Drop your RTF files here

.rtf (WordPad, TextEdit, Word…) — several files at once

How to convert an RTF file to PDF, step by step

An RTF document becomes a PDF without installing software: the file is read and typeset again in your browser.

  1. Drop your RTF files

    Drag one or more .rtf files into the drop zone, or click to choose them. Word and OpenDocument files are accepted too.

  2. Keep or remove bookmarks

    The “Bookmarks from headings” box, ticked by default, turns the document’s headings into the PDF’s clickable outline. Only headings marked as such by Word (Heading 1, Heading 2…) become entries; an RTF from TextEdit or WordPad usually has none.

  3. Click “Convert to PDF”

    Each file becomes a PDF with real text, selectable and searchable; several files are gathered in a ZIP archive.

  4. Read the list of adjustments

    Below the download button, a list shows what was adjusted, for instance replaced fonts.

The layout is rebuilt, not copied pixel for pixel: a letter or a memo come out faithful, an elaborate design shifts. The document’s fonts are replaced with Helvetica, Times or Courier according to their family.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need Word or WordPad to convert RTF to PDF?

No. VellumPDF reads the RTF file itself and builds the PDF in the browser: no software is installed and the document is sent nowhere.

What is carried over from the document?

Fonts (mapped to Helvetica, Times or Courier by family), bold, italics, underline, colours, alignment and indents, lists, simple tables, images and links. Text is decoded according to each font’s character set, the way Word writes it: Polish, Greek, Russian, Arabic and Hebrew (right to left), Chinese, Japanese and Korean all come through. Whatever cannot be carried over is listed after the conversion.

Can several RTF files be converted at once?

Yes. Drop them together: each one becomes a PDF, and the set downloads as a ZIP archive.