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Participating Frequently
October 24, 2008
Question

Convert multiple files (word docs) to multiple pdf

  • October 24, 2008
  • 19 replies
  • 273218 views
Hi,

Is there a script I can use in batch processing to convert about 1500 word documents into pdf? I know it's possible to convert multiple files into one pdf, but this is no good to me. Doing these conversions one by one is going to take forever!

I've tried selecting a few documents at a time and then selecting "convert to pdf" from the right-click menu, but each one requires that you tell it where to save, and then opens the file when it is done.

I need to convert Word files on a regular basis for work, and could really use a batch process for this with so many to do!

I have Acrobat 7 Pro (version 7.1.0) on XP Pro SP 2 at work, and Acrobat 8 Pro (Version 8.1.2) on XP Pro SP 3 at home.

If there is anyway it's possible to do this via a batch process I would really appreciate knowing how!!

Apologies if this has been covered in another thread, I searched but couldn't find anything.

Thanks in advance :)
This topic has been closed for replies.

19 replies

Participant
June 13, 2018

I have the same problem and have tried to batch convert multiple word documents to pdfs, unsuccessfully. I have around 300+ word documents which need to be converted to pdf's and cannot imagine opening each one and saving as pdf.

I am using Adobe Acrobat Pro DC with Word 2013 and Windows 10 Professional.

Is there a command line procedure which can be used to convert multiple word files to pdf's?

I used the Action Wizard to create an action to do so, it gives an error "An unexpected error occurred. PDFMaker was unable to produce the Adobe PDF. Whenever I try to select multiple word files into pdf's by selecting those manually, it throws the same error.

Have tried uninstalling and reinstalling the Adobe software more than a dozen times over the last 3 months, no resolution.

This is extremely frustrating and I will have a total of 600+ word documents to convert by the end of this week.

Can someone post assistance for the PDFMaker error or anything else that can resolve this? I have tried all the solutions and instructions posted in the various screenshots on this page but to no avail.

Apologies if this is repeated in another thread, I have been looking but couldn't find anything.

Much appreciated and thanks !!

mattl90946033
Participant
June 19, 2018

You can do it with Windows Powershell if you have Word installed.

Open a powershell window (windows search bar - search 'windows powershell') and paste the following (update the path to the folder containing the files before pasting as pasting usually just executes the code immediately).

#Change the path

$path = "C:\Users\jdoe\somefolder\"

$word_app = New-Object -ComObject Word.Application

#Convert .doc and .docx to .pdf

Get-ChildItem -Path $path -Filter *.doc? | ForEach-Object {

    $document = $word_app.Documents.Open($_.FullName)

    $pdf_filename = "$($_.DirectoryName)\$($_.BaseName).pdf"

    $document.SaveAs([ref] $pdf_filename, [ref] 17)

    $document.Close()

}

$word_app.Quit()

Participant
June 27, 2018

Worked like a charm.

Awesome, and thank you for posting from your knowledge @mattl90946033

Am sure a lot of forum members will benefit. Thanks again.

June 23, 2015

[ Mod: Spam removed ]

llamallamaduck
Participant
February 9, 2015

I have Acrobat 9 Pro. I can batch convert Word docs to PDFs by doing this:

1. Open Acrobat Pro. Click File > Create PDF > Batch Create Multiple Files...

2. A window will open prompting you to add files. Click Add Files > Add Files... OR Add Folders... If adding a folder, navigate to it, and click OK to add it to the list. You can also select a bunch of files and drag & drop them into the Add Files window.

3. Once you have all the files listed that you want to convert, click OK. A new window called Output Options will open. In this window, select your preferred settings. For me, I want all the new PDFs to have the same filename and be in the same folder as the Word docs, so I choose these settings:

4. Click OK, and then the batch process will begin running. You will see Word opening and closing. However, you won't have to click Save or anything. You can run it unattended. The process takes a little while, so I usually set up a batch to run, then go to lunch. Once finished, you should have all your new PDFs:

Hope that helps someone!

John_Awad
Participant
February 17, 2017

@llamallamaduck, that's exactly what the OP was looking for, and what I was looking for too. Thank you so much!

Participant
November 17, 2014

Batch conversion from supported file formats to pdf can be done by creating an action with Action Wizard:

Click Tools button from the upper right>Click Action Wizard>Click Create New Action...>Click Save & Export from the left panen>Click Save>Click the button that it's located between the left and right pane>Click Specify Settings from the right panel.

Now, I checked the box called PDF Optimizer>Click Settings and then, on Images category, for Color Images and Greyscale Images I choosed Maximum Quality, which increase the file size, but it's OK for me.

Now, I clicked the Save button and provide a name for this profile settings, something like "Maximum quality".

Click OK, click OK, click Save, provide a name for this Action, something like "Convert all to pdf at maximum quality", then click Save.

When you want to convert, for example a bunch of .docx files to pdf, open Adobe Acrobat Professional, click Tools from the upper right, click Action Wizard, under Actions, click "Convert all to pdf at maximum quality", choose Add files or Add folder from the drop down menu located immediately under "Files to be processed:", browse and select the folder that contain .docx or other files formats, click OK, click Start.

Adobe Acrobat Professional will start conversion, without unwanted prompts.

When the job is finished, click Close, and close Adobe Acrobat Professional. If it prompt to save changes to untitled, click No.

Participant
October 2, 2014

You can create a portfolio of a folder of Word files. Then extract the files from the portfolio to individual PDFs.

Inspiring
October 2, 2014

If you add Word files to a Portfolio there is an option to convert the file to PDF but this assumes you have everything setup properly for the use of PDF Maker.

Participant
October 2, 2014

I don’t recall setting anything up for PDF Maker, and I’ve installed Acrobat hundreds of times. Is it sometimes a problem?

Participating Frequently
January 25, 2009
Bernd,

Does the batch use the user-set preferences in Word for converting the .docx or is this a "generic" conversion?

Secondly, I almost missed your solution because it was so simple :-) I was looking for a JavaScript.

Thanks,

Tom
Participating Frequently
November 12, 2008
Thanks - I'm using Acrobat 7 Pro at work, so I guess I'll have to take the files home and try that on Acrobat 8 instead.

Thanks for all the ideas :)
Participant
November 11, 2008
I tried the instructions Bernd Alheit posted and i was successful. I'm using Acrobat 8 Pro and i converted 300 files. Thamks Bernd
Bernd Alheit
Community Expert
Community Expert
October 24, 2008
> Using a new sequence in the batch processing, it is possible to convert documents, but for every document you do, you have to keep clicking on "OK" when it tells you that "whatever" can't be saved because it is open elsewhere (Acrobat is opening the thing in the first place) and I would end up with about 1500 open Word documents (which would crash my computer).

Looks like a problem with your installation. I don't have any problem using such a batch sequence.
Participating Frequently
October 24, 2008
I think I need to clarify a bit here - I need to convert around 1500 documents from Word format to pdf format. I need a batch process that will do this WITHOUT opening each Word document, and WITHOUT opening each completed pdf document.

Using a new sequence in the batch processing, it is possible to convert documents, but for every document you do, you have to keep clicking on "OK" when it tells you that "whatever" can't be saved because it is open elsewhere (Acrobat is opening the thing in the first place) and I would end up with about 1500 open Word documents (which would crash my computer).

I need to run a batch process, unsupervised (so I can get on with the rest of my work on a separate computer) that won't open each document as it processes it.