Digital documents have become a mainstay of everyday life, which has led to the increased need for data entry and document conversion services. Digitization is an ongoing process in many private as well as government organizations, with the advantages offered by digitization becoming more evident.
Data conversion is a very useful process for inventory management, documentation and long-term ware housing and also helps in quick storing and retrieving of data. In a business organization, for everything from customer contact information to financial statements and industry trends to competitor analysis, data is what provides the required information necessary for daily functioning.
Data is mostly unstructured and arrives in a number of file formats. Such data is hard to access and hard to use. This is where you can utilize data conversion services and benefit from well-organized data.
Earlier data conversion process was carried out using many paid tools. There were many paid tools that a person could purchase and use to convert PDF files and images. The popular tools were Adobe Acrobat XI, FoxIt Phantom, PDF Standard and PDF Studio Standard, but these tools were paid tools. Once Google started offering the convenience of converting PDF files and images to Google doc documents, it became easier for users to convert their files easily. Google Docs, Sheets and Slides are a free, web-based processor, a spreadsheet program, and a presentation program respectively. These are part of an office suite offered by Google within its Google Drive service. Users can create and edit documents online and simultaneously collaborate with other users in real time. These programs are available as web apps – as Chrome apps that work offline, and as mobile aps for Android and iOS. These apps are compatible with MS Office file formats. Other programs include Google Forms, Google Drawings and Google Tables. Forms and tables are available only as web applications, whereas Drawings are also available as a Chrome app. All files created with the apps are by default saved to Google Drive.
It is easy to create and edit documents with Google Docs and it also allows you to edit more than just doc files. Google drive can also convert PDF files and images of text to editable files through Google Docs.
Steps to Convert PDF Files to Google Docs
- The first step to convert a PDF file to editable text is to login to your Google Drive account and then drag the PDF file you want to convert into Google Drive window.
- A dialog box will appear that shows the progress of uploading and once the upload is complete, click on the ‘X’ button to close the dialogue box.
- The next step is to right click the PDF file that you want to convert, select Open With> Google Docs. This will convert the PDF file to Google Doc with editable text. The extension of the file will be PDF but the icon for the PDF file that has been converted to Google Docs will be different.
- Once the PDF file is converted you can download it as .docx file and make necessary changes, or continue to work online in your Google Drive account.
Steps to Convert Images
Images also can be converted in a similar way. Upload the image file that you want to be converted to Google Docs and then right click on the file and select the option to open with Google docs. The text from the image will be extracted and then the file can be edited easily. The results of the conversion from image files are not as good as that from PDF files.
Data conversion techniques help in transforming the files into your desired formats and styles, and this can be easily achieved with the help of document conversion services. PDF files and images can be easily converted to Google Docs; the layout of the file may change after conversion but can be edited and corrected.
