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April 8, 2009
Question

Missing text after using Acrobat PDF Maker to convert Word document

  • April 8, 2009
  • 10 replies
  • 32990 views

I am trying to convert a Word 2003 document (Windows XP) into a PDF using Acrobat PDF Maker in Acrobat 9.1 Pro Extended.  When I use the Acrobat PDF Maker, the resulting PDF is missing text that is in the original Word document.  The text is the last two lines of a paragraph that has flowed to the top of the following page.  However, when I print this document to the Adobe PDF printer, the text is there in the resulting PDF.  Also, when my boss used the Acrobat PDF Maker in Acrobat 8.1.2 to convert the same Word document to PDF, the PDF contained the missing text.

Does anybody know why this is happening and how I can fix this issue?

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    10 replies

    New Participant
    October 12, 2021

    It's 12 yeas later - but I just started having the same issue. Converting from Word to PDF in various ways deleted random sentences. Following the advice of one person in this thread, I deselected the option for enabling accessibility, which solved the problem. (Phew). But the question is - why did this happen? It just started last week and I hadn't installed or updated anything or made any other changes that I know of. No changes to fonts. 

     

    It was EXTREMELY frustrating until it was solved - with partners needing documents with tight deadlines. 

     

    Cheers

     

     

    New Participant
    February 16, 2022

    Same problem with you in 2022!

    My word version is Microsoft Office 2019 (2201 Build)

    My Acrobat Pro DC version is 2021.011.20039.

    And I think both are the latest version. All the font I used in my word file is Times New Roman. Only by turning off that option, the produced pdf would be entire. 

    It was EXTREMELY frustrating until it was solved - with partners needing documents with tight deadlines.

    March 7, 2011

    I am having the same problem with missing text.  I convert documents from Word to PDF to file in court.  Missing text from a court pleading is definitely not good.  I have contacted Adobe Chat and sat through a long phone call with a tech but still have the problem.

    Inspiring
    March 7, 2011

    For court you may simply want to print, though the accessibility feature would be useful there I guess. I have printed and used PDF Maker on the DOC file that was posted earlier and had no problems with the result. In both cases I had all fonts embedded. That may be the key for all of you. In that case, try setting your default job settings to either print or press type settings, not the standard. Also, check the documents you are having problems with to see if all the fonts were embedded. My guess is that all the issues relate to fonts that did not get embedded. You may also have an issue with the "use Local Fonts" menu selection.

    Participating Frequently
    November 5, 2009

    I posted a similar problem here:
    http://forums.adobe.com/thread/517784

    No resolution for me yet either. I assume it's a bug in Adobe.

    New Participant
    September 18, 2009

    I am having the same problem after installing the upgrade to Acorbat Pro 9. However, as I was on the phone with Tech Support, I kept trying by selecting one Word document at a time, and right-clicking "Convert to Adobe PDF" and it worked fine. Go figure. I don't know what to expect the next time.

    I told the Tech Support lady I thought maybe it was just a random bug, that seemed to be fine now. But I wonder what will happen when I select multiple Word documents at a time, to Combine and Convert. That is when the problem happened for me the first time. Meh!!

    October 6, 2009

    We have same issue since upgrading from 8 to 9 Pro. None of these suggestions are working for us. Happens with any version of Word (XP, 2003 or 2007). This did not happen in version 8.

    Participating Frequently
    November 24, 2010

    You did not indicate your version of WORD and that may be an issue. In any case, try selecting the Adobe PDF printer in the print menu of WORD (or select it as your default printer). Then do a ctrl-A followed by F9 to reflow and renumber the entire document. Actually, OFFICE 2007 started turning off use of printer metrics by default, but OFFICE 2003 and earlier had use printer metrics turned on, causing this problem. With older printers, the printer metric issue was probably important, but with newer, high-resolution printers it is probably not critical and is likely the reason for the change.

    One you have reflowed and fixed the numbers in the document, print to the Adobe PDF printer. If you need links and bookmarks, then you will need to use PDF Maker, but might want to turn off some of the features to improve the file size and maybe avoid some of the other issues that this topic has been discussing.


    Thank you.  I am using word 2003.  How do I turn off printer metrics?  Is

    this part of word or Adobe?  Where do I turn off these features?  Adobe, I

    assume, but do I open an adobe document and do it or is a feature of the

    adobe PDF maker that I access through word?

    If I set the default printer to pdf and follow your instructions, will my

    original word document return to its original format?  Luckily, I have

    another copy of the original at the office I can access, but I do not want

    to screw it up too.

    Participating Frequently
    August 10, 2009

    I have the same problem of blocks of text missing after creating a PDF file from MS Word documents. I have Acrobat Pro v 9.1.3, and I have experienced the problem both with Word 2000 and Word 2002 on Windows XP.

    I tried the suggestions of unchecking the options in the Preferences, but still have the problem. Where text is missing is inconsistent, but when it occures it seems to happen when there is a font change.

    This is a serious problem because I typically prepare my proposals using Word and supply them as PDF files. They are legal documents, so need to be reliably correct. Your help is appreciated!

    AbhigyanModi
    Community Manager
    Community Manager
    August 11, 2009

    Did you try making Adobe PDF printer the default. Also, it would help if you can post a test file that demonstrates the problem.

    Participating Frequently
    August 11, 2009

    Thank you for your response. I just set Adobe PDF as the default printer, then printed, and the problem persists. There are still many blocks of text missing, plus the headers and/or footers on several pages. as you can see on the attched document. I see .doc files are not allowed, so I can't provide the original for you to compare with.

    New Participant
    April 21, 2009

    I found this thread because I'm having the same problem using Pro 8.1.4.  In PDF Maker for Word docs, I unchecked "Enable Accessibility and Reflow," but that did not fix the problem.  If anyone has any further suggestions, please post!

    Thanks!

    --Natalie

    UPDATE:  I did the same testing that the earlier poster did, and found that as long as "Add Bookmarks to PDF File" is *not* checked, the text does not disappear.

    AbhigyanModi
    Community Manager
    Community Manager
    April 22, 2009

    Can you post a sample document that demonstrates the problem?

    lolo2kAuthor
    New Participant
    April 9, 2009

    Bill, I took your suggestion and turned all the options off in the Acrobat PDF Maker dialog and then turned them back on one by one.  It turns out that when the "Enable Accessibility and Reflow with tagged Adobe PDF" option in the Settings tab is checked, it generates a pdf with the missing text.  This problem is resolved if that option is unchecked.  The weird thing is, my boss, who has Acrobat Professional 8.1.2, does not have this problem.  It seems to be a bug in version 9.  Would you know how I could report this to Adobe?  Thanks again for your help.

    Inspiring
    April 10, 2009

    There is a bug reporting process, it may be one of the other forums. I never can remember it (and with the new forum structure, who knows). Hopefully one of the guys that saved the URL will be by to help on that aspect. Not tagging the document has some pros and cons. The pro is that the document will be smaller (not as bloated). The con is that you lose the accessibility feature as well as storage of information in the PDF of the formating structure. The latter helps if you want to revert ot WORD of such in the future. Not sure it is worth the space it takes. You should always keep a copy of the original anyway.

    Inspiring
    April 9, 2009

    It is strange that it works with the Adobe PDF printer, but not PDF Maker. PDF Maker is simply a preprocessor for the printer. I would suggest checking the preferences in PDF Maker to be sure nothing is messed up. In fact, you may want to try turning all of the options off and then go back and add things that you need.

    lolo2kAuthor
    New Participant
    April 9, 2009

    Thanks for your input.  I set the default printer to Adobe PDF before creating the PDF via Acrobat PDF Maker, but the text was still missing in the resulting pdf.

    AbhigyanModi
    Community Manager
    Community Manager
    April 9, 2009

    Can you share a sample file?

    AbhigyanModi
    Community Manager
    Community Manager
    April 9, 2009

    Try making Adobe PDF printer as your default printer before starting Word.