PPT to PDF Search Issue

[Guest]

Hello everyone,

We are experiencing an issue when converting a PPT to a PDF. This conversion consists of taking the slide and notes section of the PPT and turning it into a PDF document. The issue is that once this content is a PDF, there is no possibility of searching the text in the slides. This is because the slides have been turned into images and the search feature is only available with the notes section content.

In older versions, it was possible to highlight and search the text in the slides after being converted to PDFs. Has anyone experienced this issue and been able to find a workaround?

Thanks,

Julia

[Tariq Ahmad]

Hi Julia,

Would you let us know the steps you choose to create the file?

Also, please visit the link: Scan paper documents to searchable PDF | Adobe Acrobat DC tutorials and let us know if that helps.

-Tariq Dar.

[Guest]

Hi Tariq,

The following steps are our current process:

• Open the PowerPoint and click the File button. Click Export and then select Create PDF/XPS.
• Prompted to publish the PDF file. Make PDFs not only of the slides, but also of the notes pages. Click Options. Beside the Publish what option, select Notes Pages from the drop down menu. This ensures that the PDF will display the Notes view, not only the slides. Click OK.
• Click Publish to convert the document to PDF format.
• Click Save. Repeat this process for each PowerPoint.

Let me know if you require further information.

Kind Regards,

Julia

[Dave__M]

If you have/see the Acrobat tab on the ribbon bar, try producing the PDF using the Create PDF button there.  You may also want to visit the Preferences button on the ribbon to see/set the various conversion options available (like Convert Speaker Notes, etc).

My best,

Dave

[Guest]

Hi Dave,

I do not have this tab available, is there a way to incorporate this tab into PowerPoint?

Kind Regards,

Julia

[Dave__M]

Julia,

The Acrobat Ribbon comes from the installation of Adobe Acrobat Pro.  What program are you using to  open, view, and search your PDF?  If you have only Acrobat Reader, you do not have the tools of which I am referring.  Many programs will create/export PDFs. but the PDF Maker (Acrobat Ribbon in MS Office apps) is the best choice with the most flexibility of options (in my opinion).

My best,

Dave

[Guest]

Hi Dave,

I currently have Adobe Acrobat 9 installed.

Kind Regards,

Julia

[Dave__M]

Julia,

If your PowerPoint has "Word Art", it may then produce an image of the text. Also, printing to PDF and using the PDF Maker (the Acrobat Ribbon) also can produce different results (and usually the best, I believe).

My best,

Dave