UDF to PDF

How it works

Choose your UDF files in the box (by tapping or clicking) and press the convert button. The tool opens the UDF package, reads the text paragraph by paragraph and lays it out on A4 pages; alignment, font size and bold come from the document, and the page margins are the values written in the UDF itself. The text in the resulting PDF is real text: you can select it with the mouse, copy it and search inside it with Ctrl+F. So that Turkish letters look right on every device, the font is embedded in the file — the person opening the PDF does not need that font installed for the letters to appear correctly. A two page petition therefore turns, in a few seconds, into a PDF that looks the same on a phone and on a computer and can be attached to an e-mail, with no UYAP document editor to install. The result line tells you how many pages and how many paragraphs were produced. Know the limits too: tables flow as plain paragraphs with no rules drawn, and images stored inside the document are not carried over. Several UDF files can be selected at once; each one downloads as its own PDF.

This tool is also known as convert udf to pdf, udf file to pdf, open udf file, what is a udf file, udf viewer online, uyap document format.

What is UDF file?

A file with the .udf extension is a Turkish judicial document in the UYAP Document Format: a petition, a court decision or official correspondence. Double-clicking it on an ordinary computer usually fails, because only the UYAP Document Editor and a handful of programs recognise the format — receiving a .udf attachment and being unable to open it is one of the most common situations that brings people to this page. Inside, the file is actually a ZIP package holding a single XML, with the document text stored in editable form; this tool reads that text and lays it out as a PDF anyone can open.

What is UYAP Document Editor?

The UYAP Document Editor is the free word processor distributed by Turkey's Ministry of Justice for creating and editing UDF documents; files downloaded from the lawyer and citizen portals open with it. It runs on Java and requires installation — which is exactly why the "I can't open a UDF on my phone" problem exists: mobile use is limited, and the person you send a file to usually does not have it. If you need to keep editing the document, the editor is the right tool; if you only need to read, share or print it, a PDF copy is enough.

What is the difference between an image PDF and a text PDF?

A PDF page carries either real text written with drawing commands or a photograph of the page. In a text PDF you select a word, copy it and search for it; the file is small and printing is crisp, because the printer knows the letter shapes. In a picture PDF the page is nothing but pixels: there is no word to select, a search returns nothing, edges blur as you zoom in and the file swells. This tool produces the first kind, and the typeface needed for Turkish letters is embedded in the document. The same distinction explains why the opposite tool, PDF to UDF, cannot work on scanned documents: a page that is a photograph has no text to extract.

Can the text in the output be selected?

Yes. The tool writes the text itself into the PDF rather than a picture of the page, so every line sits in the file letter by letter. In practice: you can select a paragraph with the mouse and copy it, look for a word with Ctrl+F, and a screen reader can read the document aloud. The file also stays small — a petition of a few pages usually weighs tens of kilobytes rather than hundreds.

Turkish letters are the crux of this. The fonts every PDF reader carries by default do not guarantee the letters used in Turkish, so the tool embeds just the glyphs it needs from the Noto Sans typeface into the document. Because the typeface travels with the file, nothing has to be installed on the reader's computer and the letters cannot break.

Paragraphs written in bold look bold as well; since a bold face would mean a second font file, that look is produced by drawing each letter twice with a tiny offset. Selecting text is unaffected. If the document holds a sign outside the Latin alphabet — the embedded set covers Latin letters, punctuation and currency signs — that sign becomes a question mark so that nothing disappears silently.

When should a UDF become a PDF?

A UDF only opens inside the UYAP ecosystem; to everyone outside it, the file is a closed box. A PDF opens on every phone and computer with nothing to install. The decision is therefore simple: the moment a document leaves the UYAP world, it needs to be a PDF.

• Sending a petition or decision to a client by e-mail or messaging → PDF; the recipient installs nothing
• A .udf attachment arrived on your phone and will not open → convert it here and read it immediately
• Archiving a case so anyone can open it later → keep the PDF copy next to the UDF original
• Printing → a PDF prints identically on every driver
• Continuing to edit the document → do not convert; open the UDF in the UYAP Document Editor instead

Frequently asked questions

How do I open a UDF file?

The native program is the UYAP Document Editor, distributed by Turkey's Ministry of Justice. If it is not installed — on a phone, or on someone else's computer — convert the file to PDF here: choose it in the box, press Convert to PDF and open the downloaded file anywhere.

Can I copy text from the output?

Yes. The text is written into the PDF as real text: you can select it, copy it and search inside it. If you need to edit the document again, the right place is still the UYAP document editor — the UDF is what keeps the editable original.

Does the digital signature of a signed UDF carry into the PDF?

No. A signature is bound to the file it signed and loses its validity when the content moves to another format. The PDF is a viewing and sharing copy; keep the signed UDF as the original.

Is my document uploaded to a server?

No. Unpacking the UDF, laying out the pages and producing the PDF all happen inside your browser; neither the file nor its name is sent anywhere. For court documents, that is the core promise of this site.