Introduction:
Rich Text Format (short for RTF) is a cross-platform format designed to interchange documents between Word and other word processing programs. An RTF file or Rich Text Document, denoted by the .rtf extension, is similar to a DOC file, which is editable. For publication or archiving reasons, you may need to convert RTF files to PDF documents that are portable and non-editable. Learn this SwifDoo PDF post to convert RTF to PDF on Windows, macOS, iPhone, Android, or online. 

Convert RTF to PDF on Windows

SwifDoo PDF

SwifDoo PDF is a one-stop PDF converter solution that can convert nearly any file format to another. It deals with both text-based and scanned documents. The software helps convert Word of an RTF file to PDF without losing quality. It keeps the original formatting and layout intact. It takes no time to get started for beginners thanks to the intuitive and simple UI and workflows. 

  • Convert large documents to standard PDFs or PDF to RTF;
  • Convert scanned PDFs to Word, TXT, or other editable files with OCR;
  • Bulk convert multiple files in one shot;
  • Combine images into one PDF or individual PDFs at once;
  • Directly edit the content in a PDF. 

Uncover how to convert RTF to PDF using the SwifDoo PDF for Windows application. 

Step 1: Launch the setup converter software;

Step 2: Open the RTF file you want to convert to PDF and save it as DOCX or DOC;

Step 3: Drop the saved file into the application to convert the RTF text to PDF automatically;

Step 4: Go to SwifDoo > Save as to export the PDF. 

3 Easy Ways to Convert PDF to RTF

Looking for easy ways to convert PDFs to RTF files individually or in batches? This post shares 3 PDF to RTF converters for Windows, Mac, and online devices.

READ MORE >

Microsoft Print

If you need to convert just a couple of rich text documents to PDFs, there is no need to ask for an extra app. The recent versions of Windows, Windows 10 and 11, come with a free RTF to PDF converter and a built-in virtual printer called Microsoft Print to PDF. This additional feature of Windows enables you to convert various types of files, such as Word to PDFs while retaining the quality without spending a dime.

Step 1: Open your RTF file with WordPad;

Step 2: Go to File, and click Print to open the Print dialog box. Alternatively, press Ctrl+P;

Step 3: Select the printer as Microsoft Print to PDF, then hit Print to convert RTF into PDF on Windows 10 or 11. 

WordPad is a pre-installed word processor on almost all versions of Windows and the default program for opening and converting RTF files. 

How to Convert an RTF File to PDF on Mac

Normally, if a program allows you to open and print a document, it can convert it to a PDF. The text editor mostly. TextEdit is one of the default programs on MacOS that makes your daily job more manageable. It lets you edit rich text documents created from Word, LibreOffice, or other word processing software and can act as a .rtf file to PDF converter freeware. Find out how to convert RTF to PDF on a Mac.

Step 1: Right-click on the RTF file you need to convert to a PDF in a folder and choose Open with > TextEdit;

Step 2: In the text editor, tap File and select Export as PDF from the drop-down list;

Step 3: In the pop-up dialog box, select where to save the exported file, and click Save.

Press the Command+P hotkey on your Mac device to trigger the printing feature after opening a document. When the printing window appears, you can click “Show Details” to set the page size, orientation, and other options. With the handy text editor, you can convert a file from RTF format to PDF for free and have a free TXT to PDF converter.  

How to Change .rtf to .pdf on iPhone

Apple Inc., the tech giant, provides its iOS users with many powerful inbuilt apps such as Pages. Pages is the free word processor available on iPhone, Mac, and iPad devices, which can help change RTF into PDF. The app can be downloaded from the App Store if you uninstalled it before. It lets you alter the file content before conversion. Follow the three steps to use the converter to convert an RTF file to a PDF on an iPhone.

Step 1: Open the rich text file you need to convert in the RTF to PDF converter app;

Step 2: Click on the three dots icon in the top right corner of your screen;

Step 3: Choose Export, and select the file type as PDF.

As Pages was developed to run on most Apple devices, this conversion trick also works with MacOS and iPadOS operating systems.

Convert a Rich Text Document to PDF on Android

If you have installed a word processing program on your Android phone, converting RTF to PDF is not a big issue. Otherwise, you need to download a file conversion app on Google Play. One of the few tools supporting rich text documents is the All File Converter. Let’s see how it makes an RTF file into a PDF document.

Step 1: Search and install the converter app on your Android, then launch it;

Step 2: Click Document on the home screen, select convert-to-pdf, and hit NEXT;

Step 3: Import an RTF file and tap the START button to change the rich text document to PDF format.

Download and save the PDF in your desired location. The tool's good part is that you can upload and convert multiple documents at the same time.   

Online RTF to PDF Converter

PDF24 Tools

PDF24 Tools is one of the free online RTF converters that lets you convert RTF (.rtf) files to PDF documents in batch. It can convert a large RTF file to a PDF. Web-based apps have gained widespread support among several people because of their ability to conveniently handle your files for free despite the operating system you use. Perhaps best of all, they usually don’t ask you to download or register their software.   

Take a look at how to turn RTF into PDF online for free. 

Step 1: Go to the web application site and navigate to PDF Converter;

Step 2: Choose Convert to PDF, then upload your rich text documents;

Step 3: Press the Convert to PDF button and download the converted PDFs.

This completely free conversion tool allows you to convert documents without limits. Aside from RTF to PDF conversion, it supports many other formats, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and images. You can use the tool to convert PDF documents to RTF files when needed. Regarding file security, the online RTF file converter claims that all the files will be automatically removed from their server in 1 hour.

Wordize.com

Wordize.com is an online document merger tool that can convert and combine RTF files into one PDF. It can also combine several PDFs into one. The web-based app allows you to rearrange the uploaded files in your desired order before conversion. You don't have to sign up for an account to use it. The website claims that they store the generated PDF files for 24 hours and then delete them. The tool limits the file size to 10 MB.   

Step 1: Click the Merge menu on the navigation bar;

Step 2: Click Choose files to upload your rich text files and reorder them;

Step 3: Tap the Merge button, then the RTF file will be converted to a PDF for download.

Conclusion

PDF documents are almost everywhere in business life, and the market for PDF tools is booming today. All the methods introduced relieve you from the hassle of converting RTF files to PDFs. However, you may have more need for PDF format conversion to another format. As for changing PDF to Word DOC/DOCX without losing formatting, Excel XLSX/XLS, PowerPoint, CAD, TXT, and vice versa, SwifDoo PDF is at your service. SwifDoo PDF also enables you to convert files online for free.

Charlotte

Columnist