RTF Format Guide

Available Conversions

About RTF Format

Rich Text Format (RTF) is a proprietary document file format developed by Microsoft in 1987 for cross-platform document exchange. Unlike plain text files, RTF files support rich text formatting including bold, italic, underline, fonts, colors, sizes, paragraph alignment, bullet lists, numbered lists, and can embed images and tables. The format uses human-readable ASCII-based markup language with control words and commands enclosed in curly braces. RTF was designed to be a universal document format that could be opened and edited by any word processor on any operating system while preserving basic formatting.

History of RTF

Microsoft introduced Rich Text Format in 1987 as part of Microsoft Word 3.0 for Macintosh. The goal was to create an open specification for document exchange that would work across different word processors and operating systems. RTF was revolutionary because it allowed formatted documents to be shared between Mac and Windows systems, as well as between Microsoft Word and competing word processors like WordPerfect, WordStar, and later OpenOffice and LibreOffice. The format became a de facto standard for document exchange in the 1990s and 2000s. Microsoft released multiple RTF specifications: version 1.0 (1987), 1.3 (1993 with Word 6.0), 1.5 (1997 with Word 97), 1.6 (1999 with Word 2000), 1.7 (2001 with Word 2002), 1.8 (2004 with Word 2003), and 1.9 (2008 with Word 2007). While newer formats like DOCX have largely replaced RTF for daily use, RTF remains important for legacy document exchange, legal systems, government compliance, and situations requiring universal compatibility without proprietary software dependencies.

Key Features and Technical Details

RTF files are ASCII text files containing formatting commands (control words) that begin with a backslash (\), followed by lowercase letters and optional numeric parameters. The entire document is enclosed in curly braces with nested groups for different formatting scopes. For example, {\b bold text} produces bold text, {\i italic text} creates italics, and {\fs24 sized text} sets font size to 12 points (24 half-points). RTF supports font tables (\fonttbl), color tables (\colortbl), style sheets, headers and footers, footnotes, endnotes, tables with cells and borders, embedded images (stored as hexadecimal data), hyperlinks, and document metadata. The format preserves paragraph formatting including alignment (left, right, center, justified), indentation, line spacing, and tabs. RTF is human-readable when opened in a text editor, making it possible to manually edit formatting or troubleshoot issues. The format's simplicity and readability make it excellent for programmatic document generation and manipulation.

Common Applications

RTF is widely used in scenarios requiring cross-platform document exchange and universal compatibility. Legal systems use RTF for court filings, case documents, and legal briefs because of its stability and guaranteed readability across different software versions. Government agencies and regulatory bodies often mandate RTF for submissions because it's an open specification without proprietary dependencies. Healthcare systems use RTF for medical records and patient documentation that must remain readable for decades. Scientific journals and publishers accept RTF manuscripts for article submissions. Educational institutions use RTF for academic papers, assignments, and documentation that students submit using various operating systems. Software applications use RTF for help files, documentation, and text editors with formatting capabilities. Email clients use RTF as a native format (especially Microsoft Outlook). Clipboard data is often stored in RTF format when copying formatted text between applications. Document conversion pipelines use RTF as an intermediate format because it's easy to parse and generate programmatically. While DOCX has replaced RTF for daily document creation, RTF remains essential for long-term archiving, regulatory compliance, and interoperability scenarios.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Why Convert RTF Files?

• Extract Plain Text: Remove all formatting to get clean, searchable text content
• Modern Formats: Convert to DOCX, PDF, or HTML for better compatibility with modern applications
• Data Processing: Convert to JSON, CSV, or other structured formats for analysis
• Publishing: Transform to Markdown, HTML, or LaTeX for web publishing or typesetting
• E-books: Convert to EPUB, MOBI, or AZW3 for e-readers and digital libraries
• Archiving: Convert to PDF for long-term document preservation