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Lani5CFE
Lani5CFE
Participant
September 30, 2021
Question

Specific pdf file export to Word is 1 blank page; cannot print to PDF either

  • September 30, 2021
  • 3 replies
  • 2727 views

I need to convert some training manuals from PDF to Word.  All of them exported beautifully except one.  It is 55 pages long and when the export finished, I get a 1-page blank document.  I read some about trying to first print the document to AdobePDF before converting but that is failing with an error: "The document cannot be printed" and then "An error occurred during printing".  If I choose an actual printer, I can print the document.  I have checked security on the document and all options are set to NONE.  I also tried the 'EditPDF' tool and it cannot be edited either.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions?  Much appreciation!

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3 replies

Brad @ Roaring Mouse
Community Expert
Brad @ Roaring MouseCommunity Expert
Community Expert
October 5, 2021

Does it also happen if youe Export to Rich Text Format? (which you can then open in Word?)

Luke Jennings3
Community Expert
Luke Jennings3Community Expert
Community Expert
September 30, 2021

I don't have a fix for you, but I have some suggestions you can try;

Save as PDF/X-1a (file> Save as other> Press ready PDF> Settings) this may clear out any issues preventing conversion to Word.

If that didn't help, apply the time-tested technique "divide & conquer" Duplicate your PDF, split your PDF into two parts, convert each part to Word, if one part fails, split it again until you (hopefully) identify the single page causing the error. Once identified, delete that page, convert the remaining pages to Word, then try saving the problematic page as Rich text, copy and paste it into a Word file. 

    Lani5CFE
    Lani5CFEAuthor
    Participant
    October 5, 2021

    Thank you, Luke Jennings.  These are great suggestions.  I tried them all.  When I try to save as, I get an error:  "The document coul d not be saved.  There was a problem reading this document (109)".  When I try to split the document, I get an error "Object label badly formatted."  

     

    I am still stuck :(.

    Luke Jennings3
    Community Expert
    Luke Jennings3Community Expert
    Community Expert
    October 5, 2021

    Are you comfortable with InDesign? If so, create a new, one page InDesign document and use the "place multipage pdf" script* to place all 55 pages into InDesign, export to a new PDF, try to convert the new pdf to Word. If that doesn't work, you could try to either export the PDF as a rich text file and copy/paste into a new Word document, or copy/paste from Acrobat, not ideal, but slightly better than setting copy from scratch.

    * Window> Utilities> Scripts> Application> Samples

    Amal.
    Community Manager
    Amal.Community Manager
    Community Manager
    September 30, 2021

    Hi Lani

     

    Hope you are doing well and sorry to hear that. As described you are unable to export a specific document from PDF to Word not able to edit it.

     

    Would you mind sharing the PDF file with us so that we can check it at our end?

     

    What happens when you try to export the PDF file to Word or edit it? Do you get any error message? If yes, please share the screenshot of the same for a better understanding.

     

    Please check the document for any sort of restriction applied. open the PDF > File > Properties > Under Description tab, check the document restriction summary.

     

    Regards

    Amal

      Lani5CFE
      Lani5CFEAuthor
      Participant
      September 30, 2021

      Thank you for your reply, Amal!  I cannot send you the file as it contains information I am not at liberty to share.  

      You asked:  What happens when you try to export the PDF file to Word or edit it? Do you get any error message? If yes, please share the screenshot of the same for a better understanding.

      ---When I export the PDF to Word, the file finishes without error but the Word document is just 1 blank page.

       

      You suggested:  Please check the document for any sort of restriction applied. open the PDF > File > Properties > Under Description tab, check the document restriction summary.

      --- See attached imate of what I see in the Description and Security tabs.

       

      I thought by using File > Print and choosing the AdobePDF printer, the document would get recreated so that I could then try to export.  But that is when I get the printing errors - also attached.

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