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Font size changes when converting to PDF

Forum|Forum|11 years ago
March 6, 2015
2 replies
37176 views

When I convert Word 11.0 text sized document to PDF, text size becomes 10.98. This is for grant submission and text size must be 11.0.

Correct answer Dov Isaacs

This is a problem that has plagued applications under Windows going back well over 20 years!

The issue of the resultant text size in PDF files being a small fraction of a point different from that specified in the application is due to how these Windows applications output either via print or the internal pathway used for creation of PDF with either Microsoft or Adobe tools. The text you specify in your Office document (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) as 11 point type may appear as 10.98 point or 11.04 point in the resultant PDF file.

The same symptoms occur regardless of whether you produce PDF using the Adobe PDFMaker “save as Adobe PDF” function (part of Acrobat installed into Office applications), Microsoft's native “save as PDF,” or via print drivers including the Adobe PDF PostScript printer driver instance as well as third party print drivers that create PDF. Furthermore, it you looked at the PostScript generated by the PostScript printer driver, the PCL generated by the PCL printer driver, or could even measure the type actually you would see that these applications are actually requesting these oddball point sizes and that is what you get for printed output.

Unfortunately, there is nothing that Adobe can do about this.

If it eases your mind at all, although we have heard about and have experience this issue ourselves over the years, we have never heard of a grant proposal or a government document submission (such as required by pharmaceutical companies to the FDA) to be rejected on the basis of 11pt text appearing in a PDF file as 10.98pt, 10.92pt, or 11.04pt. Apparently, those values are “close enough for government work.”

Note that Windows applications that do generate their own PDF, such as InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop do yield exact point sizes, primarily because they don't go through the Windows imaging model.

- Dov

JR Boulay

Community Expert

All the answers are above, you should start by reading them.

Acrobate du PDF, InDesigner et Photoshopographe

A

Andy28453449ljca

Participant

Sir, would you please let me know if it's possible to get font size 11 in my PDF, Adobe Acrobat Reader, 64 bit?

Regards,

T

Test Screen Name

Legend

Already answered in great detail.

Dov IsaacsCorrect answer

Legend

This is a problem that has plagued applications under Windows going back well over 20 years!

The issue of the resultant text size in PDF files being a small fraction of a point different from that specified in the application is due to how these Windows applications output either via print or the internal pathway used for creation of PDF with either Microsoft or Adobe tools. The text you specify in your Office document (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) as 11 point type may appear as 10.98 point or 11.04 point in the resultant PDF file.

The same symptoms occur regardless of whether you produce PDF using the Adobe PDFMaker “save as Adobe PDF” function (part of Acrobat installed into Office applications), Microsoft's native “save as PDF,” or via print drivers including the Adobe PDF PostScript printer driver instance as well as third party print drivers that create PDF. Furthermore, it you looked at the PostScript generated by the PostScript printer driver, the PCL generated by the PCL printer driver, or could even measure the type actually you would see that these applications are actually requesting these oddball point sizes and that is what you get for printed output.

Unfortunately, there is nothing that Adobe can do about this.

If it eases your mind at all, although we have heard about and have experience this issue ourselves over the years, we have never heard of a grant proposal or a government document submission (such as required by pharmaceutical companies to the FDA) to be rejected on the basis of 11pt text appearing in a PDF file as 10.98pt, 10.92pt, or 11.04pt. Apparently, those values are “close enough for government work.”

Note that Windows applications that do generate their own PDF, such as InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop do yield exact point sizes, primarily because they don't go through the Windows imaging model.

- Dov

- Dov Isaacs, former Adobe Principal Scientist (April 30, 1990 - May 30, 2021)

G

Gnosis8

Participant

Does anyone have any updates about a fix or work around for this?

Is it dependent on version of Word and/or Adobe Acrobat DC and/or if the original file was created on a Mac vs PC?

Grant guidelines have changed and does not allow for this known error.

Thanks in advanced!

Dov Isaacs

Legend

The response I provided in March 2015 in this thread and again numerous times in other threads still applies.

This is a Microsoft problem and from what we can tell, specifically with their Office applications. Only point sizes that are multiples of 3 points (i.e., 6 pt, 9 pt, 12 pt, 15 pt, etc.) come out in either print or PDF at the exact value specified.

There is absolutely NOTHING that Adobe or anyone else can do about this. You might want to advise those producing the “grant guidelines” of this issue and that unless they allow for the “Microsoft Roundoff Error” they will need to either change the allowable point sizes to be multiples of 3 points or rule out use of Microsoft word processing, presentation, and spreadsheet products.

- Dov

- Dov Isaacs, former Adobe Principal Scientist (April 30, 1990 - May 30, 2021)

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