Skip to main content
D
defaultq3mqmz4k9egp
Known Participant
September 13, 2021
Question

Parts of figures disappear Conversion from Word to PDF with Adobe Acrobat Pro 2017

  • September 13, 2021
  • 2 replies
  • 8726 views

When I am exporting a Word file to PDF by using the "Save as Adobe PDF" option (linked to Adobe Pro) some features just disappear such as arrows and edges of graphs. If I do the same with Word´s own converter by going to Save as and after that chose PDF, everything comes out normal but the abilities to edit the PDF are much more limited by using this option.

 

The things that disappear are still there but only the outline shape is visible and it is not possible to give them a fill color in Illustrator. It looks like they are hidden behind but I do not know how to bring them up.

This topic has been closed for replies.

2 replies

Luke Jennings3
Community Expert
Luke Jennings3Community Expert
Community Expert
September 28, 2021

I suspect the original art placed in Word was saved as .eps, or they are from an application that uses odd vector constructs that do not work well in Acrobat. If the originals are .eps, try resaving them as PDF and replacing them in your Word file before saving as PDF. The reason it appears to be working when using the Word converter may be because Word is converting them to images? 

When your PDF is opened in Illustrator, you can see how the arrow heads are compound paths, with an extra node at the tip, selecting it (with the direct select tool) and deleting the extra node turns the tip black, (this is not a fix, it's just illustrating the odd construction).

Do you know what application created the illustrations?

Here are some links to related topics that you might find helpful:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator-discussions/embedding-pdf-file-removes-strokes/m-p/9272539#M60313

and 

https://community.adobe.com/t5/acrobat-discussions/how-do-i-paste-a-vector-image-into-a-pdf-made-from-microsoft-word/m-p/12407699#M331008

Edit: If you have PDF options when saving a PDF from Word, use "Make compatible with Acrobat 6.0 or later", Earlier versions do not allow transparency, which may be forcing Word to try to flatten the illustrations?

 

 

D
defaultq3mqmz4k9egpAuthor
Known Participant
September 29, 2021

Thanks a lot for the answer, that was really interesting that the arrow appeared again if the achor point was deleted. However, the arrows was not the only thing that was problematic as shown in the attached file where you can see that all symbols are cut on either side of Figure B. I tried to delete paths here also but could not find any way to do it properly, and it is seems to be needed to find one individual fix for each symbol. So unless there is a way to remove all unnecessary paths in one step, I think the strategy will not work.

 

The file is created initially from GraphPad Prism 9, a program that is used for making graphs using the "send to Word option". I have now investigated that further and found that it is then placing it as an emf type of file (called EMF+),. The EMF+ option gives a file that is looking much better inside Word (better rendering), but actually the old version for placing into Word (WMF) did not make this mistake and looks equally good after conversion into PDF. So this seems at least to solve the current issues but it is too early to say if it makes other mistakes. It is still full of odd compound paths, which makes it difficult to select what I want in Adobe Illustrator as described above. Unfortunately, it is not possible to change linewidths directly in Adobe Acrobat, otherwise this program is much easier to work with when using the kind of files I get from GraphPad Prism. Adobe Illustrator has a tendency to split word into fragments, when Adobe Acrobat keep them together as words.

 

Best, Anders 

Luke Jennings3
Community Expert
Luke Jennings3Community Expert
Community Expert
September 29, 2021

Saving the GraphPad Prism file as a WMF might be a good solution. 

I believe Illustrator can open a WMF and save to .ai or .pdf, (assuming you have the needed fonts), which might be a safer format and will give you other options for work-arounds, as described in the 2nd link from my earlier post, (place the Word PDF and saved art into InDesign and export to a new PDF). 

As for changing line width, there are two methods to do this in Acrobat, Tools> Print Production> Fix Hairlines and Tools> Print Production> Preflight> Fixups> Page Contents> Set Minimum line width (the preflight can be duplicated and edited if you want to change the settings).

These tools will work on lines (strokes) only, not thin shapes.

Amal.
Community Manager
Amal.Community Manager
Community Manager
September 13, 2021

Hi there

 

Hope you are doing well and sorry for the trouble. As described after exporting the Word file to PDF using 'Save as Adobe PDF' some features such as arrows and edges of graphs just disappear.

 

Please try to create the PDF using the Acrobat ribbon in MS Word and also try to tune the settings under the preferences as shown in the screenshot below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also go to Edit (Win), Adobe Acrobat (Mac) > Preferences > Under Rendering , select, smooth line art, smooth images and Enhance thin lines > Click OK and reboot the computer once.

 

Regards

Amal

D
defaultq3mqmz4k9egpAuthor
Known Participant
September 13, 2021

Thanks a lot for the answer. It did not help to use the Acrobat ribbon but on the other hand I did not known which Advanced settings to change. I tried to change the two options convert gradients to smooth shapes and convert smooth lines to curves but it did not make any difference if they were on or off.

 

The second advice, I did not understand in what program I should change them. I am using Windows 10 (Pro version 20H2 64-bit), and the Office 365 version of Word. I could not find the rendering option in Acrobat Pro or in Word.

 

Best, Anders

Amal.
Community Manager
Amal.Community Manager
Community Manager
September 14, 2021

Hi Anders

 

The second Advice is for Adobe Acrobat 2017 application. Go to Edit (Win), Adobe Acrobat (Mac) > Preferences > Under Rendering , select, smooth line art, smooth images and Enhance thin lines > Click OK and reboot the computer once as shown below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Regards

Amal

Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices