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jomili
Known Participant
September 8, 2020
Question

Mass Conversion, Word to PDF

  • September 8, 2020
  • 1 reply
  • 2277 views

I get hundreds of Word docs at a shot.  I need to convert each one to PDF.  Using Pro 2017, going to Tools, Create PDF, "Create Multiple PDF Files", each doc takes a couple of minutes, partially because I get a "Document uses Ink annotations" message I have to click past to get the process to continue (timed it this morning, 37 minutes to do 16 documents) .  Isn't there an easier and/or faster way?  Currently I can do it faster by opening each document and saving as a PDF manually.   

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    1 reply

    ls_rbls
    Community Expert
    ls_rblsCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    September 8, 2020

    When you work with with large amount of files as a batch you need to define import settings presets.

     

    This is  done via "Edit" --->> "Preferences" --->>> "Convert to PDF"

     

    Before you do this process you'll need to carefully examine and test which settings work the best for you. See slide below:

     

     

    These settings are important because if those files have images or embedded font types you would want to factor in all of these additional considerations.

     

    My other suggestion would be to creat a folder where you put all theMS Word files that you're gonna work with, select all, right-click and choose from the context menu "Convert to PDF" . 

     

    This method uses the dobe PDF Maker add-in, which is basically the Distiller program. It is a lot faster, however,  user manual intervention is needed to save the newly created PDFs as they get converted to a PDF . 

     

    See more suggestions here: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/need-to-batch-convert-word-to-pdf-files/4ee388d3-038f-4c46-a67c-9aacdbdfc2a0

     

      J
      jomiliAuthor
      Known Participant
      September 8, 2020

      Thanks so much for walk-through on editing my preferences, and for the suggestion on the simple right-click method.  I'll work with both to see which is easiest/fasted, and i'm also starting to explore the link you provided.  I appreciate all the help!

        J
        jomiliAuthor
        Known Participant
        September 8, 2020

        Okay, I tried the Right Click method.  Maybe a little faster, but I didn't notice much improvement.  So, since I'm more familiar with  Office VBA I went the macro route.  My macro is below, and it's incredibly much faster, but still has one issue; the prompt for "Ink Annotations" still shows up for each document and I can't figure out how to defeat it in the macro.  I would think one of the two "Application.Display Alerts..." lines would do it, but neither of them do. 

         

        Sub MassConvertToPdfs()

        'Converts every docx in the folder you select
            Dim xIndex As String
            Dim xDlg As FileDialog
            Dim xFolder As Variant
            Dim xNewName As String
            Dim xFileName As String
            Set xDlg = Application.FileDialog(msoFileDialogFolderPicker)
           
            If xDlg.Show <> -1 Then Exit Sub
           
            'Application.DisplayAlerts = wdAlertsNone
            Application.DisplayAlerts = False
            xFolder = xDlg.SelectedItems(1) + "\"
            xFileName = Dir(xFolder & "*.*", vbNormal)
            While xFileName <> ""
                If ((Right(xFileName, 4)) <> ".doc" Or Right(xFileName, 4) <> ".docx") Then
                    xIndex = InStr(xFileName, ".") + 1
                    xNewName = Replace(xFileName, Mid(xFileName, xIndex), "pdf")
                    Documents.Open FileName:=xFolder & xFileName, _
                        ConfirmConversions:=False, ReadOnly:=False, AddToRecentFiles:=False, _
                        PasswordDocument:="", PasswordTemplate:="", Revert:=False, _
                        WritePasswordDocument:="", WritePasswordTemplate:="", Format:= _
                        wdOpenFormatAuto, XMLTransform:=""
                   
                    ActiveDocument.ExportAsFixedFormat OutputFileName:=xFolder & xNewName, _
                        ExportFormat:=wdExportFormatPDF, OpenAfterExport:=False, OptimizeFor:= _
                        wdExportOptimizeForPrint, Range:=wdExportAllDocument, From:=1, To:=1, _
                        Item:=wdExportDocumentContent, IncludeDocProps:=True, KeepIRM:=True, _
                        CreateBookmarks:=wdExportCreateNoBookmarks, DocStructureTags:=True, _
                        BitmapMissingFonts:=True, UseISO19005_1:=False
                    Application.DisplayAlerts = wdAlertsAll
                    ActiveDocument.Close
                End If
                xFileName = Dir()
            Wend
            MsgBox "All Done.  Check 'em out", vbOKOnly
        End Sub

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