TIFF is a high-resolution image format, works as an industry standard to highly maintain the image integrity. Many users may save a document filled with images and texts in TIFF, but later have to convert back to be an editable Word document, trying to edit the contents or for other reasons.
.tiff,.tif.doc: MIME type: image/tiff, image/tiff-fx: application/msword: Developed by: Adobe Systems: Microsoft: Type of format: Image file format: document file format: Description: TIFF is a computer file format for storing raster graphics images, popular among graphic artists, the publishing industry and photographers. How To Use: Select a TIFF file (such as.tiff,.tif). Click button 'Convert' to start upload your file. Once upload completed, converter will redirect a web page to show the conversion result.
Methods to convert TIFF to editable Word document are various, but not all of them can fit your needs. Partially for users who are just new to this topic may have a preference to online, free tools. In this post, you will get to know what are the best online, free TIFF to editable Word converters and which tool will bring you a high-quality conversion result.
Convert TIFF to Editable Word with Accurate Result (Mac & Windows)
If you have tried online OCR tools, you may give up the idea of using online, free tools and want a professional tool to get best result. In this case, you can have a try on PDF Expert or PDF Element.
In fact, I personally give more credits to ABBYY FineReader offline OCR tools, but you have to admit that its price just pushes most of us away, so, if you want an affordable and good-quality TIFF to Word Converter, PDF Expert or PDFElement Pro is a better choice.
TIFF to Editable Word on Mac
PDF Expert have maintained its high ranking and reputation for many years. This year, it adds OCR feature and supports more output formats, which make it the most beautiful and powerful PDF editor for Mac users. It is more than a PDF editor, it can do any kind of PDF tasks.
Main Feature of PDF Expert
- OCR image and PDF to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, HTML;
- Create PDF from blank page, Word, Image, etc.;
- Edit PDF text, image, link;
- Redact, annotate, protect, add stamp, sign, crop, rotate, extract PDF;
- Add/delete PDF pages, merge/split PDF files;
- Export annotation summary;
Steps to Convert TIFF to Word with PDF Expert on Mac
- Download and install PDF Expert;
- Drag and drop TIFF image to the program;
- Click Create to save TIFF as PDF first and open in PDF Expert;
- Click on Scan & OCR, use the OCR tools and click Recognize Text;
- Apply OCR result or revise the OCR errors;
- Go to Export, choose output as Word;
- The editable Word document will be auto opened with defaulted Word file viewer.
TIFF to Editabl Word on Windows
You may have heard about PDFElement Pro, the best alternative PDF tool to Adobe Acrobat, though not that powerful as Adobe, it does help users to cope with PDF editing, conversion, creation and management in an efficient way. The greatest benefit of using PDFElement Pro lies in its capability to edit and modify the file in the program even you are not satisfied with the OCR result. It allows users to convert both PDF and images, including TIFF, JPG and PNG to editable word.
Steps to Convert TIFF to Word with PDFElement Pro on Windows
- Download and install PDFElement Pro;
- Launch the program, go to Create PDF and load your Tiff image into the program;
- Go to Convert>OCR, choose as Editable Text and select file language;
- Then go to Convert>To Word, and you will be able to convert TIFF to Word document;
Convert TIFF to Editable Word online, free
Frankly speaking, the first time I needed to convert a TIFF image to editable word document, I searched online and did the job with an online TIFF to Word converter. Like many others, I didn't want to pay anything to convert just one or several files then. So, I just get your point if you want to start with an online, free solution to do the conversions.
But before going to the recommended online tools, we'd better have a basic understanding on OCR, the technology that an online, free TIFF to Word has added to recognize characters from image-based files and save as editable texts. If you want to make a TIFF file editable, you need to find an online tool with OCR feature, otherwise, you will be just allowed to save the TIFF image in a Word document, leaving the texts still non-editable.
To save your time, here we pick 3 best online, free TIFF to Editable Word converters, basing on following criteria:
- Safe and clean for conversion
Most of us have a negative impression on online, free platforms due to 2 reason, either guiding users to install malware or annoying us with lots of distractive ads. To have a relatively good user experience online, we list those safe and clean platforms for conversion only.
- Fast conversion
To convert TIFF to editable Word document, there are 3 steps involved, uploading, converting and downloading, each procedure is done online. The conversion speed does have something with Internet connection status, but only those online tools that can process uploading/converting/downloading equally fast can be added to our top list.
- Accurate conversion
Accuracy is the key in such a conversion, it refers characters and words can be accurately recognized, also means the original formatting can be highly preserved. Though accuracy matters the most, we need to realize that there is no perfect OCR at this moment, even you are using a dedicated OCR program.
No.1 ABBYY FineReader Online
Pros:
- Free to use;
- Highly accuracy, especially the texts can be accurately recognized;
- Support recognize multiple languages in the same file;
- Support OCR PDF and image;
- Export file to 9 editable formats;
- Save output to cloud storage;
Cons:
- Need to register for conversion;
- Need to manually adjust the file size;
- 5 files per month and max 100 MB for free conversion;
The OCR Result
As you can see, ABBYY FineReader Online OCR can recognize all the texts from the TIFF image accurately, just a few of buttons cannot be exported as editable texts in the Word document. Also, most of the formatting is preserved, the accuracy is much higher than other online OCR tools. However, the great disadvantage lies in its failure to make the file size in normal A4 size, it is just in a size similar as the original Tiff image.
Steps to Convert Tiff to Editable Word Document online, free with ABBYY FineReader
- Go to ABBYY FineReader OCR;
- Click 'Register' to create an account;
- Then go back to the OCR page, click 'Upload' to add TIFF image for OCR;
- Choose file language, you can select 3 languages at the same time if your file is multi-lingual
- Choose output as Word DOCX format;
- Click 'Recognize' to convert TIFF image to Word document online, free.
No.2 Online2pdf
Pros:
- Free to use;
- Good OCR result, especially the formatting is highly preserved;
- Support both PDF and image file;
- Support various editable output formats;
- Can create, convert, edit, compress, protect, merge and split PDFs;
Lenovo t420s bluetooth driver windows 10 dell. Cons:
- 20 files and max 150 MB for free conversion;
- Some texts cannot be recognized;
- Need to manually adjust the files size;
The OCR Result
As you can see, the headline texts of the TIFF image are still bit image which cannot be recognized as editable texts, also, you can find multiple recognition errors in the Word document. However, the formatting is highly maintained, except the truth that you need to manually adjust the file size to a normal A4 size.
Steps to Convert Tiff to Word Document online, free with Online2pdf
- Go to Online2pdf;
- Add Tiff image for OCR;
- Choose output as Word Docx and select file language;
- Click 'Convert' to save TIFF image as editable Word format;
No.3 Convertio
Convert Tiff To Docx Online
Pros:
- Free to use;
- Good OCR result;
- Support PDF and virtually all image formats;
- Support bilingual file;
- Export file to cloud storage;
Cons:
- 10 pages for free OCR;
- Some texts cannot be recognized and formatting is a little messy;
- Need to manually adjust the file size to A4.
The OCR Result
In the Convertio OCR result, you can notice that some of the texts are not recognized and the formatting is not highly preserved, you need to manual adjust both the formatting and file size. However, there is no recognition error.
Steps to Convert TIFF to Word Document online, free with Convertio
- Go to Convertio OCR;
- Drag and drop TIFF image to the program;
- Choose file language and select output as Word Docx;
- Click 'Recognize' to turn Tiff to Word format;
Is There any 100% free Offline TIFF to Word Converter?
No!
Trust me, there is no 100% free offline Tiff to Word software available. I once spent days to find a free good offline program to do the OCR, but only to find that I just downloaded and installed multiple programs with limited features, like you were limited to convert 3 or 5 or 10 pages, or you could only export the image-based file as pure text format, or the output just drove you crazy, you had to modify up to 50% of the file, that was torturing.
So, you are always recommended to free try on a dedicated OCR program, then make your decision to pay or not.
Conclusion
How To Convert Tiff To Doc
For better or worse, online, free TIFF to Word OCR tools are worth a try, especially those on my top list. While, for offline options, you are the one decide which one fits your needs the most, we just have our own particular needs when doing a task.
Helping people with computers.. one answer at a time.
Converting '.tif' format documents to editable Word '.doc' files requires Optical Character Recognition - OCR - services or software.
by Leo A. Notenboom, © 2011
Is there a way to convert a file received as a .tif file back to a .doc file? That's what it was originally.
•
Yes and no.
The problem is that your '.tif' file may have started out as a Worddocument, but it's not a Word document any more.
Not even close.
•
'.tif' files
TIF stands for 'Tagged Image Format'. As the name implies it's a format forstoring images, or pictures, much like the '.jpg' images you might get off ofyour digital camera.
It's a common file format produced by digital copiers and fax machines.These devices don't transmit documents in their original form, but ratherphotographs of the documents.
Regardless of exactly how a '.tif' might be created from a Word documentit's the equivalent of taking a photograph of the document.
OCR is the answer
Life is strange ep 5. OCR stands for optical character recognition and is a process that analyzesa photograph of text looking for things that 'look like' numbers and letters,and produces a document that can then be edited.
The good news is that it doesn't matter much whether the image is '.jpg','.tif' or any of the other photograph or image formats.
The bad news is that OCR is rarely perfect and often quite error prone.
I've spoken about OCR recently when someone asked about scanning adocument into Excel. OCR software takes a look at the picture of yourdocument, examining the picture of each letter in that document, and attemptsto determine what letter that picture represents. Advanced OCR software mayeven try to automatically figure out where paragraphs are and more.
The problem is that OCR is exceptionally difficult to get right. For example'1' (the number one) and an 'l' (a lower case L) look very much alike. If thephoto of the document is blurry or distorted, or even if the characters on thepage use different fonts and styles, the OCR algorithm can get confused andproduce the wrong results. Often close results, but still wrong results.
OCR software and services
A great new on-line solution to getting your TIF image converted into a Worddocument is BetterOCR. BetterOCRoffers both free and paid conversion - the accuracy and speed goes up with thepaid options.
BetterOCR accepts not only '.tif', but '.pdf', '.png', '.jpg', and '.gif'files, as well as '.zip' for multiple file submission.
If you're looking for software to install on your machine to perform OCRnotable packages include OmniPage 17 and Abbyy Finereader.
(This is an update to an article originally published May 2, 2007.)
Article C3012 - January 22, 2011 «»
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June 8, 2007 11:07 PM
Sir,
I am scaning some text in *.tif file, How can i convert *.tif file word file with out contants changeing
RinaMay 3, 2008 8:17 AM
Do let me know whether there is and free trail software through which i can convert tif files into microsoft waord without changing itts contents & formatting.
Plz help me out
markJuly 25, 2008 10:42 AM
that bit of information was useless. First I did not convert the file to tiff. I have the tiff file already created and wanted to know how to convert it to word. Saying that I have to start at OCR does me no good. Tell me how do i find OVR and give me the steps to convert it using OCR. you just dont leave someone with more questions not even answering the original question
John StaackNovember 11, 2008 8:41 AM
I have a tif file of a blue print. How can I select a small portion of it and inlarge that portion?
Vikas AherkarDecember 28, 2008 8:08 PM
some problem in converting the tif image file into word file & then getting the HTML taging .
Is there any free software for that purpose .
please send me the proper solution for that file . its and urgent requirment.
Convert Tiff To Docx
atharMarch 11, 2009 10:27 PM
i have to convert pdf to word or tif to word plz help me
PrashanthMarch 19, 2009 8:19 AM
I have a .tif file, i want to convert it into notepad .txt extension? How can i do it? Please let me know.
karthikeyan.vApril 11, 2009 2:42 AM
I have a .tif file, i want to convert it into notepad .txt extension? How can i do it? Please let me know
goutamApril 11, 2009 4:49 AM
Sir,
I am scaning some text in *.tif file, How can i convert *.tif file word file with out contants changeing
shafiApril 26, 2009 6:23 AM
I want to convert the .tiff image to a editable word document
S.SubramanianMay 29, 2009 9:40 PM
Hi sir,
please tell me how to compare tif files and notepad files (or) word document files.
Thank you
June 23, 2009 10:55 PM
sir i want to convert the tif file in to note pad ..how i have to do sir
July 9, 2009 5:05 PM
Would you be kind enough to send me a few links to download OCR Freeware? Please and thanks.
rajJuly 10, 2009 9:27 AM
some problem in converting the tif image file into word file & then getting the HTML taging .
Is there any free software for that purpose .
please send me the proper solution for that file . its and urgent requirment.
July 23, 2009 5:47 AM
i read ur article, its really interesting. i need tif to word convertor. can u provide me the link or else where can i get this software?
loguAugust 19, 2009 7:42 PM
I have a .tif file, i want to convert it into notepad .txt extension? How can i do it? Please let me know
jilmalikaSeptember 7, 2009 3:23 AM
I HAVE .TIF IMAGE.I WANT TO CONVERT THIS .TIF INTO NOTPAD .TXT OR WORD .DOC FILE
Na nach nachma nachman meumanDecember 1, 2009 6:43 PM
Got it! Right click the file and click OPEN WITH and select MICROSOFT OFFICE DOCUMENT IMAGING. Then press the logo with the little arrow and W that exports to Word. Worked great!
Ankit NagpalJanuary 17, 2010 4:41 PM
Hi, thanks for all the information. now it is easy to convert any image to editable and searchable doc, pdf, html files using ocr software. however, good quality ocr software are not available for download. The only ocr software I was able to freely download and try was Image to OCR Converter available at http://products.softsolutionslimited.com/img2ocr/index.htm It does a fairly good job of ocr processing.
313624January 30, 2010 9:43 PM
Hi
Is there will be any difference between the text converted from the image using a OCR technology and normal typed text except for the errors in the text converted using ocr?
rishiFebruary 18, 2010 8:32 AM
i want to convert tiff image to notpad?
can any one help me
March 11, 2010 1:11 AM
i have 1 file in TIF format and like to convert in txt file format
rusticrajApril 13, 2010 9:50 PM
hi
i have a tif file please tell me [links removed] how can i convert it in notpad ??
April 13, 2010 11:02 PM
I have .tif docs and i want to convert it to .txt docs. How can i do that? I have tried using varios OCR tools but i m not getting any satisfactory results. none of the text is matching from the .tif file to .txt file. plz help me out.
JaleelApril 28, 2010 10:26 PM
Hi,
I have a tif file in Tahoma format, performing OCR gives junks only, how can i change it to doc.
May 5, 2010 7:25 AM
I was going to submit a long post to try and help explain why this
simple request is actually quite a complex problem, but let me be
brief instead ;)
There is no way to simply 'convert' an image (tif) into a text based
file (ie doc or txt). The formats are not compatible.
Sorry it's that simple.
You can, however, make a new document and put the picture into it
if you don't need editable text, the other option is that you have
to re-type it with (or without) the 'help' of OCR.
If it's short I would suggest you re-type it yourself, if it's long..
Yes can use an OCR program but you will have a lot of work to do
correcting the errors that the OCR program will make. If you are a
business it may be best to get a proper typist to re-type it for you.
I work in the printing business and I have had to do this and a big
(120 page) document can take 40-60 hours of work after OCR-ing it.
A properyly skilled typest can be faster but then you will
have to re-format as well so it will still take a lot of time.
It is, simply, a very time consuming process as you are creating a
whole new document :(
PS if it some kind of legal document I would suggest that you need
to use a program that will let you insert the tif image into it as
re-creating it can cause serious legal problems if any errors are
caused when it's re-typed.
Yes this is the short post :)
AnkitMay 12, 2010 7:28 PM
Hi, thanks for all the information. now it is easy to convert any image to editable and searchable doc, pdf, html files using ocr software. however, good quality ocr software are not available for download. The only ocr software I was able to freely download and try was Image to OCR Converter available at http://products.softsolutionslimited.com/img2ocr/index.htm It does a fairly good job of ocr processing.
vijayJuly 15, 2010 7:47 PM
Hi. the article was good, but i ve another problem. i want to convert a jpeg scanned file to a doc/docx format. is that possible? can u do it?
Natarajan
July 24, 2010 10:34 AM
The author must be a very good teacher with a passion to teach! Wonderful explanation.
Sunil ChauhanAugust 31, 2010 1:27 AM
'How do I convert a French Script MT font.tif' file to a Word '.doc' file or a txt file?':
krishanaSeptember 27, 2010 8:07 AM
hi.
i want read french script mt text from tiff image.
help me//
if u have this type software knowledge send me details
thanks
sathyaSeptember 30, 2010 10:13 AM
'How do I convert a French Script MT font.tif' file to a Word '.doc' file or a txt file?'
AnkitOctober 1, 2010 5:54 PM
Hi, thanks for all the information. now it is easy to convert any image to editable and searchable doc, pdf, html files using ocr software. however, good quality ocr software are not available for download. The only ocr software I was able to freely download and try was Image to OCR Converter available at http://products.softsolutionslimited.com/img2ocr/index.htm It does a fairly good job of ocr processing.
rajendraprasadOctober 6, 2010 8:14 AM
i would like to know about the software which converts tiff file to word document then we should be able to make changes in word document
Laurence ChristensonOctober 6, 2010 10:58 AM
Hi Leo,
In answer the the person who asked, 'How can I convert a TIF file to a DOC file?' this is exactly the problem I faced. I scanned a 435 page typed document into my computer, ending up with 435 TIF files. My attempts to convert them to an editable document were as frustrating as you describned in your answer. UNTIL..after about three days of Googling, I came across www.convertfiles.com I followed their prompts, uploaded my TIF files by Chapter (15 chapters) and presto I had a highly accurate WORD document that I could edit and work on. Better than any OCR program, of which I had tried at least five. Larry Christenson
K M Siva SomasundaraamNovember 9, 2010 12:26 AM
Hi,
i got scanned tiff file i want to make it as editable document in word. i tried to convert by using abbyy fine reader but i can't is there any way to convert plz suggest
November 30, 2010 10:20 PM
Hi, Please let me to know how to convert tiff image file as into the word.doc file. So that I can able to edit the word file.
Please reply me with the positive answer.
Thank you,
UDAY
Aryan Patel
December 15, 2010 7:05 PM
Hallo lio !!!
just tell me how i can convert a tif file to word file..
i have a big problem in company for this purpose..
if this is possible than tell me which software convertor we can use ???/plz . i hope u give a mail answer.
Sarguna Sebastin
December 19, 2010 11:22 PM
Hi, Mr. Leo,
Please let me to know how to convert tiff image file as into the word.doc file. So that I can able to edit the word file.
Regards,
Sebastin
deepak chouhabn
December 29, 2010 2:21 AM
hello, I've a .tif format image, but i want to convert it into text format I've tried so many software but i m not able to convert the page so plz give me suggestion for that
Entronix
January 10, 2011 3:01 AM
Converting a TIFF is very easy but u will get only 80-90% accuracy then you need to do manual correction for remaining 10-20% to get 100% accuracy.
If you need converter then you can contact me. (charges applicable)
{removed by moderator}@gmail.com
January 23, 2011 12:17 PM
The best OCR program I've found is ABBYY Fine Reader. The home version costs $49 and you can click on the link that Leo posted. It comes free with many scanners.
If the image is at least 300 dpi and a common font you can expect pretty good accuracy. ABBYY does better with unusual fonts than other OCR programs but expect more mistakes than with normal serif and sans serif fonts.
January 23, 2011 12:19 PM
If you only need it once, you can use the professional version for 15 days for free. http://finereader.abbyy.com/trial/
BartJanuary 25, 2011 7:26 AM
online, free converter. upload the file. convert. and have it sent back to you. Should work just fine.
http://www.fileminx.com/
MeJanuary 25, 2011 9:02 AM
If its short enough I wouldnt bother with the OCR. It would take more time to correct the errors than to type it up by hand.
Dave
January 25, 2011 9:18 AM
If you are an Acrobat Pro user the newest version X (10) has excellent OCR capabilities built in.
KenJanuary 25, 2011 12:45 PM
Hi Leo, I use an application called Open Office which
is a free version and uses OCR. As an alternative to
Microsoft Word. However images can get confused just as you say, and spoil the final result.
January 28, 2011 4:42 PM
My favorite option for free online OCR services is a beta software offered by Ricoh Innovations. You can access it online at: http://beta.rii.ricoh.com/betalabs/content/document-conversion
sreeJuly 16, 2011 9:21 AM
i want .tif file to a word.doc without mistakes
j.arosh
September 20, 2011 4:58 AM
i have the same problem. please help me anyone.
W Bruce
October 7, 2011 12:33 AM
The document is typed using MS Word 2007 then saved as aDoc then emailed as an attachment. I receive it clicking on the atachment, it says the attached file is not an MS Document Image file and has opened the OCR page. I have to request it being sent exactly the same however with the docx extention, then no problem it opens . Isd there a swith or something in the program that I have missed. I have no problem opening the same file on another computer using Vista. Problem is in Pffice 2010 and Windows 7. Any easy answers ease
jaikumarNovember 7, 2011 1:43 AM
Hi, Please let me to know how to convert tiff image file as into the word.doc file. So that I can able to edit the word file. i have alson tried with abbyy but its is not recognising the tiff image font. Its very very ugrent for me leo. help me with your answers as soon as possible
Please reply me with the positive answer.
Thank you
jaikumar
November 7, 2011 3:37 AM
Hi, Please let me to know how to convert tiff image file as into the word.doc file. So that I can able to edit the word file. i have alson tried with abbyy but its is not recognising the tiff image font. Its very very ugrent for me leo. help me with your answers as soon as possible
Please reply me with the positive answer.
Thank you
jaikumar
November 7, 2011 4:52 AM
i have tried converting tiff image file having text written with hand by abbyy
to .doc but it is not recognising the text showing, some symbols .doc files can plz help me with software that will help me to solve this problem
November 7, 2011 1:28 PM
@Jaikumar
If ABBYY won't recognize it, it may be that the font is from a language you haven't yet selected in FineReader. You can try clicking on Tools then Language editor and make sure you have the language checked that you want to OCR. If this doesn't work it's possible that the resolution is too low to work.
November 18, 2011 11:19 PM
Mr. Leo
I want a gif file converter software that convert in word plz suggest me
November 19, 2011 2:08 PM
@Sabir
It's basically the same answer for gif, jpg, png and tiff. OCR is the answer
January 6, 2012 1:04 AM
How can i convert omnipage image doc to word(editable text).
Mark JJanuary 6, 2012 1:15 AM
@Pavan
Omnipage is an OCR program which converts images to text, so you would need to have the Omnipage program to be able to do that.
July 20, 2012 7:42 AM
OmniPage is also available as a cloud service for developers. You may download the SDK and evaluate the service.
https://portal.nuancecomputing.com
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