If you have a PDF document that you want to put on a web page, the most common scenario would be that you post it to the web in the PDF format, add a link to the document on a webpage, and allow people to download that document. A common example of this would be a medical practice that publishes their patient forms to their website and asks those patients to download the form, print it, complete it, and return it when they visit the office. This is different than having an online form that can be filled out in the browser. This is just a PDF document that they can download.
Sometimes you may want to do more with your PDFs. Instead of simply making them available for download, you may want to convert that content into a real HTML web page. To do this, you could obviously hand code the content from scratch and build the web pages manually. If you do not know HTML/CSS, however, this is unlikely to be possible for you.
Thankfully, there are some other (much easier) options if you want to turn PDFs into simple web pages (note that this process will not allow you to turn a PDF of an E-commerce site design into an actual working webpage complete with a shopping cart system - this process is for basic, informational pages only). The PDF to HTML converters covered in this article will help you turn PDF files into HTML web pages.
Note: If you're looking to convert HTML web pages to PDF, check out this list of 5 tools for converting HTML to PDF.
Adobe Acrobat
If you want the most flexibility and functionality for your PDF to HTML conversions, Acrobat is the tool you should look at. After all, it is the recommended way to work with PDF files, created by the originators of the format itself.
The other, less sophisticated tools that are available will convert PDF files to images and then put them into an HTML file. Or, in some cases, they won't include links or don't add them correctly into the document. Because Acrobat is the program that was created to manage PDF files, and it is still the best tool for the job.
You will find the end result of your PDF to HTML conversions to be the best with this software. Obviously, that level of functionality comes with a cost and this software is not free.
If you are looking for a free tool to do this kind of conversion one time only, then Acrobat may not be for you. But if you are doing these conversions with any regularity, or if you have other PDF needs (editing documents, creating new ones, etc.), then the nominal licensing cost of this tool should be something you consider and budget for. More »
PDF2HTML Online
This is probably our favorite free PDF to HTML tool. It extracts the images to a separate directory, writes the HTML, and keeps the hyperlinks that you already have in your PDF file. That alone is important!
Links are the essential ingredient of the web, so the fact that this tool maintains them is critical to the functionality of the resulting web pages it creates. If you need to do one or even just a handful of PDF to HTML conversions and you want a free tool to do them with, this is where I would start. More »
Some PDF to HTML Converter
This tool will also convert PDF files to HTML for free. It handles encrypted PDF files and can handle batch PDF conversion. That's a nice option since it allows you to convert multiple files at once. If you are trying to convert a folder with numerous PD documents, this feature is a real time saver.
Note that this is a Windows program, so it must be downloaded and installed to be used. More »
IntraPDF
This is a nice PDF tool that offers more than just PDF to HTML conversion. They also have tools to convert your PDF files to images and text as well as web pages.
IntraPDF is a paid tool with a free trial. It's only for Windows, so once again it must be downloaded and installed. Test out the free trial version before purchasing to see if it meets your needs. More »
Convert PDF to HTML
Upload your PDF file and this online tool will convert it to HTML. Unfortunately, when we tested it, we couldn't open the zip file on our Mac, so there are some challenges with it to be sure, but the fact that it is an online tool is attractive. Try it for yourself to see if it works for you. More »
pdf2htmlEX
This is a source based program that you have to download and compile it on your system.That means that of all the tools listed here, it is undoubtedly the most complex to get up and running and likely not for the tech-wary beginner.
However, once you have this software running, you can use it to convert PDF files to HTML that remain consistent with the fonts, formatting, and so on. The end result is really nice, so it may be worth the upfront challenges in order to add this tool to your toolbox. More »
