What RTF is good for
RTF (Rich Text Format) is a simple document format that almost every word processor has read for over 30 years: WordPad, Microsoft Word, LibreOffice, Google Docs, Apple TextEdit and many older office programs. It is a safe choice when you do not know which software the other person uses.
What happens when you convert
The text of each PDF page is read and rebuilt as paragraphs. Larger text becomes bold, larger headings, bold text stays bold, and each PDF page starts on a new page in the RTF file. Non-English characters are stored with standard RTF codes so they appear correctly in modern editors. Pictures, tables and colours are not copied.
RTF or Word?
Choose RTF for maximum compatibility and simple text documents. Choose PDF to Word when you want tables rebuilt and a modern .docx file. Both tools need a PDF with real text — scanned PDFs need OCR PDF first.
Common problems and how to fix them
Line breaks appear in the middle of sentences: the PDF had narrow columns; join lines in your editor. Headings look too big: change them to your preferred style. Some characters look wrong in an old program: open the file in Word or LibreOffice, which support all characters.
Good habits
Save the edited document as .docx once you are done editing, keep the PDF original, and check numbers and names after converting.