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Inspiring
May 24, 2022
Answered

PDFMaker not working in Office 365 apps

  • May 24, 2022
  • 5 replies
  • 9114 views

PDFMaker option is available in Office 365 apps.  When selected, it will bring up the dialog box for creating a file.  When you continue, the dialog box goes away and no file is created.  If using the AdobePDF print driver, it works fine.

 

Problems started after uninstalling Adobe Acrobat XI Standard and installing Acrobat DC Pro from Business Cloud account.

 

Office 365 (64bit) is at the latest version.  Acrobat DC Pro (32bit) is latest version.  Running Windows 10 21H2.

 

I have uninstalled and reinstalled Acrobat DC Pro.  I have run the "Full Repair" of Office 365.  No reinstalls have changed the outcome.

 

Current versions of Office 365 and Acrobat DC Pro are:

 - Office 365: 16.0.15128.20240 (64 bit)

 - Acrobat DC Pro: 22.001.20117 (32 bit)

 

I have run through several of the posted suggestions as well and they have not resolved the issue.

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer BSD24584889qms6

I found a way to resolve this issue!

Since Adobe Cloud only installs Acrobat DC Pro 32 bit, I wondered what would happen if the 64 bit version of Acrobat DC Pro was installed instead.  I downloaded the 64 bit version from Adobe, uninstalled the 32 bit version and installed the 64 bit version.  When I tested the Print to PDF option in the bar on the left in the [File] menu of Word, it now works!

5 replies

BSD24584889qms6AuthorCorrect answer
Inspiring
June 9, 2022

I found a way to resolve this issue!

Since Adobe Cloud only installs Acrobat DC Pro 32 bit, I wondered what would happen if the 64 bit version of Acrobat DC Pro was installed instead.  I downloaded the 64 bit version from Adobe, uninstalled the 32 bit version and installed the 64 bit version.  When I tested the Print to PDF option in the bar on the left in the [File] menu of Word, it now works!

Inspiring
May 26, 2022

The PC is running Windows 10 build 21H2. 

 

Note that I had upgraded two identical PC's, previously running Acrobat XI Standard.  Both PC's had XI removed and Acrobat DC Pro installed as part of a Business License.  With both PC's, this PDFMaker option worked when XI Std was installed.  After the DC Pro upgrade, one PC works fine, but this one does not.

 

Here is a view of the options listed in the File menu "Save as Adobe PDF":

The options under Preferences in the toolbar show similar defaults.  

 

I have cleared out all the settings and tested it from the File menu option - no change.

I have cleared out all the settings in the Preferences option for the tabs - Security, Word and Bookmark.  No change.

I have also gone into the Advanced option in Preferences and changed the compatibility option from version 7.0 to 5.0 (suggested by a different post) - No change.

 

Does Acrobat write information to any log file that may provide some clues why this is not working on this PC?

Amal.
Community Manager
Community Manager
May 29, 2022

Hi there

 

We are sorry to hear that.

 

Please collect the Adobe CC logs https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/cc-log-collector.html  and Procmon logs https://www.adobe.com/devnet-docs/acrobatetk/tools/Labs/acromonitor.html  and share them with us as described here https://helpx.adobe.com/document-cloud/help/sharing-pdfs.html

 

Regards

Amal

Inspiring
May 31, 2022

I have pulled the logs from the users PC as described above.  What is the best way for me to get them to you for review without having to post a public link to the shared files?

Inspiring
May 25, 2022

This morning I ran through the process of 

  • Uninstalling Acrobat DC Pro
  • Restart the PC
  • Go into Word and Excel "As Administrator" and remove the COM Add-ins for Acrobat that were still listed there but unchecked
  • Restart PC
  • Reinstall Acrobat DC Pro
  • Run Acrobat DC Pro, set PDF default to Acrobat, check for updates (none available)
  • Restart PC
  • Launch Word - the add-in for PDFMaker was not installed
  • Launch Word "As Administrator" and add the COM add-in for Acrobat
  • Launch Word normally, now the PDFMaker option is there, however, it still doesn't work
  • Launch Excel, the PDFMaker COM add-in was installed there, however, it still doesn't work either

 

Any more thoughts on this?

Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com
Brainiac
May 25, 2022
quote
  • Launch Word normally, now the PDFMaker option is there, however, it still doesn't work
  • Launch Excel, the PDFMaker COM add-in was installed there, however, it still doesn't work either
By @BSD24584889qms6

 

Since we can't see your screen, can you describe what you see on your screen when you say "it still doesn't work"?

 

Just to make sure we're talking about the same thing, PDF Maker is the Acrobat Ribbon/Tab at the top of your Word window. Looks like this:

 

Below, PDF Maker's Preferences dialogue box is open to set the conversion settings.

 

A trimmed-down version of PDF Maker is also available from the File menu, but it won't have as many controls as the Ribbon's version above.

 

File / Save As Adobe PDF (note the word "Adobe" in the utility's name):

 

 

Does your Word look anything like the screen caps above?

 

|    Bevi Chagnon   |  Designer, Trainer, & Technologist for Accessible Documents ||    PubCom |    Classes & Books for Accessible InDesign, PDFs & MS Office |
Inspiring
May 25, 2022

The user wants to use the "Save as Adobe PDF" option in the File submenu.  I have tested that as well as the Create PDF option in the ribbon.  Both operate the same.  They will bring up the dialog box and allow you to select a location and give it a filename.  Once you click the button to create the file, that dialog box goes away, nothing else pops up and the file is not created.  No errors or alerts come up.

 

I have also gone in to the Preferences section and stripped the options down to the bare minimum.  No change in what happens when you try to create a PDF.\

 

If we use the "Adobe PDF" print driver, it works fine.

Amal.
Community Manager
Community Manager
May 24, 2022

Hi there

 

Hope you are doing well and sorry to hear that.

 

Please go through the help page https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/troubleshoot-acrobat-pdfmaker-problems-office.html and see if that works for you.

 

Regards

Amal

Inspiring
May 24, 2022

I have worked through all the options on this document already, to no effect.

Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com
Brainiac
May 24, 2022

During your trys to get this running, did you ever shut down your computer and restart it?

 

Acrobat has a lot of tentacles across your computer, like the PDF Maker plug in for Office. So when you uninstall an old version, it's best to shut down your computer (to turn off any currently running Acrobat-related modules) and reboot before installing the new version.

 

Our recommended steps:

  • Uninstall the old version (in your case, the attempted installation of 2022).
  • Shut down the computer.
  • Reboot the computer.
  • Install the current version of Acrobat.

 

Before attempting to use the PDF Maker plug in in Word, first launch Acrobat so that you can complete the registration of your software, verify the account, and any other stuff Adobe wants you to do.

 

Then, launch Word and try to export a PDF using PDF Maker (the Acrobat Ribbon tab in Word).

 

|    Bevi Chagnon   |  Designer, Trainer, & Technologist for Accessible Documents ||    PubCom |    Classes & Books for Accessible InDesign, PDFs & MS Office |
Dave__M
Participating Frequently
May 24, 2022

I'd be curious to know if it behaves any better if you have Acrobat Pro running already when trying the PDF Maker (if you didn't).  In the past, I have tried to do the same, and the Adobe software wanted to 'phone home' to ensure I was a subscriber, and that seemed to cause a similar issue.  Running Acrobat first allowed for the confirmation to happen, and the PDF creation then went smoothly.

Dave

Inspiring
May 24, 2022

I tested it with Acrobat DC Pro launched and there was no change.  No PDF was created.