Scanned PDF to Formatted MS Word

[Syphon]

I know I am going to get laughed off the forums for asking this question.

Here is the problem:
A client gave us a hard copy 200+ page manual. They want us to scan it to PDF (I already have done) and then convert it to a completed formatted word file. In other words, the client does not want to set up (typeset and format) the manual, they want it to be done without any effort and be perfect.

So the question is:
Is there a way of doing this?
To my knowledge there is no application that converts a hard copy into a already formatted file that is ready to go.

[born2print]

OCR would get you started, but there is no magic pixel-to-rich-text software that I know of.
And I'm not laughing!

[Ear]

Ya, no laughing, bro. This is a seriously F'd up request they make of you.

As b2p stated, OCR would get you started but damn, this project sounds like a daily migraine. Envy you I do not. 

[t-pat]

in acrobat x there is "File...save as... Microsoft Word" I shit you not.

[born2print]

No doubt an "embed in" more than a "save as" I would bet.

[frailer]

Sometimes cruising threads pays off. My wife sends me a TIFF of a guy's CV that they need to be editable. (Part of a submission her company's making). When I get this thing, it's ... groan...
But, armed with the knowledge on this thread>> Open in PhSh, save as PDF > Acrobat > OCR. A bit rooted up in the text, but.. editable!  For several milliseconds I felt like some sort of pp nerd. Then the feeling faded.

[David]

You will need to re-scan with OCR to be able to get any text at all out of that.

And after that, you will need to go through the pages to correct any OCR errors.
Is the type on the pages something simple, like Times Roman? Any charts or graphs?
Some type does OCR better than others (helvetica and times work best, cursive or fancy fonts do not), charts and graphs don't do OCR at all.

good luck.

[frailer]

I ran my eye over it quickly, and shot it back to her. She's aware it needs tweaking against the orig. But, SWMBO seems happy. Can't ask for more than that.  :cheesy:

[DigiCorn]

in acrobat x there is "File...save as... Microsoft Word" I shit you not.

There's a "Save for Microsoft Office" in Illustrator too.

[Syphon]

in acrobat x there is "File...save as... Microsoft Word" I shit you not.

I already tried the Export to Word and Rich Text (in Acrobat Pro 9), it would need a LOT of work.
But I should say that they want to edit the file but as I said they don't want to go thru formatting and setting it up which I believe they are going to have to do. This should teach them to not lose the original file.

[Joe]

No easy button on this. They know they can't "do it without any effort and be perfect" but they expect you to.

May the bird of paradise shit on them.

[Farabomb]

Shit may me involved but I don't think it's on the customer right now.

[Syphon]

Here is a update.
The boss had me export the OCR text out of the pdf to a word file and send them that.
They just going to have to deal with what we can give them.