At this week’s MacWorld Expo, Recosoft Corporation announced an upcoming utility to convert PDF documents into InDesign files that can be edited.

Check out the news release, then come back and I’ll tell you why this has great potential for designers.

First, I don’t expect this tool to do a perfect conversion. I would think it’s virtually impossible for certain things to be translated. And I can’t imagine that the conversion process will create the individual character and style sheets that might have been used to create the PDF in the first place.

So as long as we’re not expecting perfection, we’re ok because I doubt it’s possible.

However…

If the conversion can get you “close enough,” that could be enough to save you loads of time.

Here’s a not-too-uncommon scenario that a direct market designer encounters where a tool like this will be useful. The client calls and says, “We’ve got a 300 page book that we need to make some changes on. We have the completed PDF, but the designer has the original files and we can’t get access to them.”

In some cases, it’s almost better to start from scratch, but that’s not always practical or cost effective.

Imagine, instead, that you could use this plug-in to do most of the dirty work, then go back through and fix the things the conversion couldn’t handle. How much time might that save you on a large project? What kind of hero might you be to the client?

Well, the bottom line is we won’t know how useful this plug-in will be until it’s released. But it’s definitely something you’ll want to keep on eye on if you’re an InDesign user.