Issue with tags on converting Excel file to PDF

Report · Oct 25, 2017

I have an excel spreadsheet 88 pages long. When I convert to PDF, it place all the table headers inside the first table row tag. Understand? all 88 pages of the headers are inside the first tag. They should be in the proper tag at the proper location (i.e., each individual page).

Why is it doing that? it will take me forever to manually click and trag 88 pages of table headers to the right location.

Report · Dec 17, 2017

Hi Frederickr,

Sorry for the delay in response.

As you are experiencing an issue with the tags, please let us know the Adobe Service you are using to convert the file to PDF.

If you are using the desktop application, please share the dot version of that application.

Take help of the steps mentioned here Identify the product and its version for Acrobat and Reader DC to check the dot version.

Did you check if this is an issue that occurs with other excel files too? Try to replicate the issue with other files.

Is it possible to share the file with us, so we can check it on our end?

If yes, use the steps provided here How to share a document to share the document

Let us know if you have any questions.

We will be waiting for your response.

Regards,

Meenakshi

Report · Dec 27, 2017

Our client wanted an Excel spreadsheet converted to PDF, but with the Excel print settings set to “repeat header row on every page” when printing. So when you convert to Excel, every page of the PDF has the header row. The client didn’t understand that meant 73 pages of tables instead of one table 73 pages long. But the PDF sent all the header rows for all 73 pages to the first tag of the first page. Why would it do that?

In other words, the first

tag had the 73 pages worth of header rows all sent to that location. We can’t run autotag or use TURO because the PDF will freeze up.

Report · Jun 01, 2022

Hi @frederickr73805091, You definitely didn't get the type of PDF file you were expecting.

Question: are you trying to make an accessible PDF from the Excel spreadsheet? Since you mentioned print settings, it's unclear what the intent of the PDF is.

Report · Jul 31, 2024

Hi Bevi,

I am trying to make an accessible PDF from an Excel spreadsheet and am still having this problem as described in the original post. The spreadsheet is 35 pages long once exported so it's an arduous process. Here are the steps I took before this point:

Created a range of data in Excel (since filtered tables export with a completely wrong tag tree from Excel)
Marked the "Print Tiles" setting to repeat my desired header rows on each page when exporting to PDF. The settings for sheets-to-page setup are called the print settings/preview but it applies to a PDF export. I don't think there is print vs. digital PDF exporting in Excel.
Exported to PDF using the "Create Adobe PDF" function
In Acrobat, I have my table structure come out mostly correct. I manually converted the relevant <TD> cells into <TH> cells and gave them the proper column scope.

However, the problem is when I open the <TH> tag, it is filled with the text of the repeating header cell on all 35 pages of the table (see the attached image). The only way I know to address this is to go to Acrobat's content panel and artifact every header row that is not the first one, then clean up the empty <P> tags.

Is there any easier solution to this, either in Acrobat or with third party software? The clients I work with legally, they have to make them accessible, but they post massive spreadsheets of data that have to be done in Excel and Excel's accessibility features seem severly lacking.

Report · Jul 31, 2024

@Sami2505, unfortunately it's really not practical to export a large Excel spreadsheet such as yours to an accessible PDF. Neither Adobe nor Microsoft have given us the tools to do this.

We use these tactics instead:

Export to PDF, but delete the tags in Acrobat and retag it, either by hand or use your favorite PDF remediation tool.
Import the spreadsheet into Adobe InDesign which has the best tools for designing and exporting long tables.
Import the spreadsheet into MS Word and export to tagged PDF from there.
Publish the native Excel spreadsheet and don't bother making a PDF at all.

Report · Jul 31, 2024

That is good to know there are no native workarounds, Bevi. Thank you for confirming that so I don't keep pulling my hair out! I appreciate the alternatives too. These are my notes from experimenting with those:

Having Acrobat autotag a document exported from Excel has been fairly accurate, minus the repeating headers. It even adds spans to the merged header cells. After I do that, I am able to artifact all the repeating headers in the content panel, and delete the empty row tags. I can also do that with Excel's original exported tags, but the export Acrobat reading order is a disaster (my client requires that to be accurate as well), so for such a long document, I have to use Acrobat's retagging.
InDesign makes a prettier table and good reading order, but they still have that glitch where tables that spread across multiple pages will repeat the headers instead of artifacting them. The result is no different than #1
Word tables that go across multiple pages turn into separately tagged tables for me. I then have to artifact the header rows again and pull the data rows into the main table tag. I'm not sure if I'm missing something but it's even more inefficient this way.
I think publishing a native Excel sheet will be my go-to recommendation for future clients. These table alterations in PDF are a huge time sink.

Report · Aug 02, 2024

I think publishing a native Excel sheet will be my go-to recommendation for future clients. These table alterations in PDF are a huge time sink.
By @Sami2505

Agree! HUGE tink sink.

Just ensure that the Excel spreadsheet abidds by accessibility guidelines, too. See Microsoft's tutorials for this.

Report · Jun 01, 2022

What has helped me with this issue is to first strip away the tags brought in from Excel (Accessibility >> Reading Order >> Clear Page Structure). Then I have Acrobat autotag the document. Although this is not perfect, it saves me a lot of time trying to fix issues imported from Excel.