Convert RTFD to Doc (without losing images)

Hello!

Is it possible to convert RTFD-format files to Microsoft Word (doc) format - without losing images?

As a longtime Mac user, I have a multitude of RTF and RTFD files. I want to be able to access the contents of these files on platforms other than OS X (eg: Windows).

RTFD is not supported outside OS X. I'll qualify this by acknowleding that since RTFD files are OS X Packages, they show up in Windows as a folder containing image files and an RTF file; some people conclude that this is acceptable since, strictly speaking, its readable by windows. I disagree because its fiddly and hack-like rather than simple, recognizable and practical like a .doc file.

Given that I can open an RTFD file, copy/paste it's content (images and text) to a new blank Microsoft Word document and save it as .doc, it seems to me that I should be able to automate those steps using AppleScript or Automator.

I've Googled for a solution to this but no-one else is talking about it, with the exception of:

- the command-line 'textutil' converter, but that creates ascii files that are necessarily stripped of all images

- converting to HTML, but that creates more than a single file (an HTML file plus a folder containing the images)

Am I missing something really obvious?

Many thanks!

Peter

MacBook Air, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2), iMac, iPad mini

Posted on Mar 7, 2013 7:29 AM

Top-ranking reply

Peter Norman1 Author

Level 1

41 points

Posted on Jul 26, 2013 3:53 PM

Hi duncang!

The command-line 'textutil' app strips out images and so is useless for my purposes. As you pointed out, the solutions suggested by MrHoffman and Etresoft are incorrect.

A solution for my original post for this thread: use Apple's Pages for Mac (part of the iWork '09 Suite). I have succesfully converted thousands of RTFD files containing images into Microsoft Word (.doc) format.

If you have a lot of RTFD files to convert, then I recommend using an applescript to automate the process.

The applescript wizard Yvan Koenig (link) has very kindly provided a useful applescript for Pages '09 to automatically convert batches of RTF and RTFD files into Word or PDF. That guy knows what he's talking about and should be knighted for his efforts and kindness.

Look on his Box dot net public folder (link) for a file called 'batch_Pages2Doc.zip' (created Jan 31 2013). Here is the path to the file: / for_iWork'09 / for_Pages09 / batch_Pages2Doc.zip

- open the script in 'AppleScript Editor' on your Mac

- read the useful instructions he provides in comments within the script

- save it as an application so you can use it as a droplet onto which you can drag multiple RTFD files

- you can even edit the script using his instructions so it exports PDF as well as Doc

- it saves output to a 'wasPages_now_doc' folder on either your desktop or in your Documents folder

I'm running:

- Mac OS X 10.8.4

- iWork 2009 (retail boxed edition, not Mac App Store edition)

I hope this helps. It took me months to discover the solution to my original post.

-Peter

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34 replies

Mar 7, 2013 8:21 AM in response to VikingOSX

VikingOSX,

Thanks for trying that out!

You are correct: the .doc saved by Pages maintains the images, text and formatting of the original RTFD document when tested in both Microsoft Word 2011 for Mac and Microsoft Word 2013 for Windows.

I had already successfully done this with Microsoft Word 2011; its good to know that its also possible with Pages.

This means that there is hope that a stand-alone converter might be possible, created using AppleScript or Automator, to automate the process so its not necessary to convert all the RTFD files manually.

Thanks again!

Peter

Jan 26, 2017 2:11 PM in response to VikingOSX

This appears not to work any longer. When I try to open an rtfd file in Pages, the rtfd file is grayed out in the Open dialog. If I right-click (or ctrl-click) on the rtfd file and choose Open With > Other... Pages is grayed out in the file list of the Open dialog. If I choose All Applications from the Enable: popup and choose Pages, Pages shortly returns a dialog saying that it cannot open rtfd files.

VikingOSX

Level 10

127,680 points

Feb 11, 2017 7:34 AM in response to Ralph Jones

No release of Pages v5, and now, version 6 will recognize, or open RTF/RTFD documents because the applications simply exclude support for that document format.

Only Pages '08 v3.0.3, Pages '09 v4.3, and the Bean v3.2.9 Word processor — all on macOS Sierra 10.12.3, can open, edit, and save to RTF/RTFD/DOC formats. Both Pages applications can also export to RTFD, or Word DOC with images intact. TextEdit can open, edit, and save RTF/RTFD documents. LibreOffice v5.3.3 can open, edit, and save RTF documents, but not RTFD format.

The second paragraph was tested on macOS Sierra 10.12.3 with the last application versions shown.

Feb 11, 2017 6:02 AM in response to MrHoffman

Works simply with Option ⌥ key to get the Save As...

A succinct solution appreciated.

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Convert RTFD to Doc (without losing images)