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A
A_Ran
Inspiring
July 4, 2023
Answered

"Save as Adobe PDF" from MS Office/365 apps fails occasionally

  • July 4, 2023
  • 2 replies
  • 6387 views

Windows 11 Enterprise Build 22621.1848

Microsoft® PowerPoint® for Microsoft 365 MSO (Version 2304 Build 16.0.16327.20324) 64-bit

Adoba Acrobat Pro Version 2023.003.20215 64-bit

 

Trying to create a PDF file from MS Office document (usually Powerpoint, but also in Word, Excel) using "Save as Adobe PDF", I often get a dialog titled "Adobe PDFMaker" with the message "Adobe PDFMaker needs to save the file before continuing. Do you want PDFMaker to save the file and continue?"

 

If the file is indeed not saved, then clicking "Yes" saves the file and proceeds to select the PDF file name and location.

However, this often happens even if I did save the file right before going to "Save as Adobe PDF", and in these cases, clicking "Yes" just closes the dialog without generating a PDF. When that happens, it persists no matter how many times I save the document.

For a long time, the only resort I had was to close the file and re-open it, and then a PDF can be generated with no message. It's an annoying workaround.

I recently found both a way to reproduce this problem, and some nicer workarounds.

 

If I change the file properties from within the PowerPoint (File->Info->Properties, change anything in the dialog) then any subsequent attempt to generate a PDF will result in this behavior. It may not be the only reason, but it repeatedly creates the problem, and I often set the document properties right before creating a PDF.

 

As for workarounds: I found that there are several ways to generate a PDF from Office:

  • Using "Save as Adobe PDF" as I usually do (which generates a PDF with the PDF Producer property to "Adobe PDF Library 23.3.247") - is prone to the issue described.
  • Using "Print" and choosing to "Adobe PDF" (which sets the PDF Producer property to "Acrobat Distiller") does not have this issue, but unlike PDFMaker, it does not preseeve the file properties from PowerPoint.
  • Using "Save a copy" and choosing "PDF" from the file type drop-down creates a PDF using PowerPoint's internal generator (PDF Producer set to "Microsor® PowerPoint® for Mircosoft 365") without the issue above. It preserves the file properties (and even lets me edit them in the File Save dialog). Oddly, after using this method, the problem disappears and I can use "Save as Adobe PDF" again. I am going to switch to this method, although it is somewhat less natural.

I don't know if there are any benefits for using the Adobe PDFMaker method over the Microsoft "Save As" method, but the former is the more accessible method, so likely the default for most people, and this issue may be a hassle for others too. So please either fix it or remove it...

Correct answer A_Ran

Hello Bevi,

The behavior with the Acrobat ribbon seems to be identical. I am getting the familiar message below. When I click either Yes or No, the message box is closed and I don't get any "Save" dialogue.

If I save the file using "Save" (without changing its name) and repeat, it does not change the behavior above.

 

I agree that printing to PDF is not a good solution.

 

I tried to "save as" and realized I only have the option "Save a copy" (the file is on OneDrive and is saved as I edit).

I tried again with a file stored locally that is not synced with OneDrive, and in that case the problem is not reproduced - after I get the message box I can click "Yes" and get a regular "Save as" dialog for the PDF file.

 

So it seems that OneDrive may be part of the puzzle (@Amal, FYI).

 

Thank you

2 replies

Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com
Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com
Legend
July 5, 2023

What happens when you export the PDF using the Acrobat Ribbon at the top of the window?

See our tutorial on exporting PDFs from Office 365 at https://www.pubcom.com/blog/tutorials/ms-office/export-pdf/index.shtml

 

And FYI, "Printing" to PDF is the worst way: it destroys all the live data in the file, like live accessible tagged text, metadata, alt-text, etc.. It's really only the information that is sent to a printer for printing. Ditch it as an option!

 

When the "Save" dialogue appears, do you give the file a new file name or do you overwrite the existing file? Giving a file a new name (or using FIle / Save As) forces the system to create a new version of the file. On the other hand, overwriting an existing file just appends any new information in the file so it could still contain a glitch or two that cause the problem.

 

|    Bevi Chagnon   |  Designer, Trainer, & Technologist for Accessible Documents ||    PubCom |    Classes & Books for Accessible InDesign, PDFs & MS Office |
A
A_RanAuthorCorrect answer
Inspiring
July 5, 2023

Hello Bevi,

The behavior with the Acrobat ribbon seems to be identical. I am getting the familiar message below. When I click either Yes or No, the message box is closed and I don't get any "Save" dialogue.

If I save the file using "Save" (without changing its name) and repeat, it does not change the behavior above.

 

I agree that printing to PDF is not a good solution.

 

I tried to "save as" and realized I only have the option "Save a copy" (the file is on OneDrive and is saved as I edit).

I tried again with a file stored locally that is not synced with OneDrive, and in that case the problem is not reproduced - after I get the message box I can click "Yes" and get a regular "Save as" dialog for the PDF file.

 

So it seems that OneDrive may be part of the puzzle (@Amal, FYI).

 

Thank you

Amal.
Community Manager
Amal.Community Manager
Community Manager
July 6, 2023

@Amal.FYI


Hi there,

 

This issue is reported to our engineering team for further investigation.

 

I will keep you posted as soon as I get any information.

 

Regards

Amal

Amal.
Community Manager
Amal.Community Manager
Community Manager
July 4, 2023

Hi @A_Ran 

 

Hope you are doing well and thanks for reaching out.

 

As you have the most recent version of the application and experiencing this issue with the PDF Maker, please go through the help page https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/troubleshoot-acrobat-pdfmaker-problems-office.html and see if tht works for you.

 

Also, please collect the Adobe CC logs https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/cc-log-collector.html , Procmon logs (Win Only) https://www.adobe.com/devnet-docs/acrobatetk/tools/Labs/acromonitor.html  and share them via any cloud storage. Just upload the log file to the cloud and generate the link and share that link with us for further investigation

 

You may also try to remove the application using the Acrobat cleaner tool https://www.adobe.com/devnet-docs/acrobatetk/tools/Labs/cleaner.html , reboot the computer once and reinstall the application using the direct link
https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/acrobat-dc-downloads.html

 

 

Regards
Amal

 

[Edited]

A
A_RanAuthor
Inspiring
July 4, 2023

Thank you Amal,

I tried the procedure in the troubleshooting web page and it did not solve the problem.

I have used the Acrobat cleaner and resinstall before (for other reasons) and it has not eliminated the problem, so I'm not going to try that path again.

 

I believe the reproduction method I shared (change the file properties from within PowerPoint: File->Info->Properties, change anything in the dialog and save) should enable anyone to verify this problem. I hope Adobe development team takes notice of that and provide a fix.

 

Amal.
Community Manager
Amal.Community Manager
Community Manager
July 5, 2023

Hi there

 

Would you mind sharing the Adobe CC logs https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/cc-log-collector.html , Procmon logs (Win Only) https://www.adobe.com/devnet-docs/acrobatetk/tools/Labs/acromonitor.html  and share them via any cloud storage. Just upload the log file to the cloud and generate the link and share that link with us for further investigation.

 

~Amal

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