Word change bars disappear in Adobe Acrobat Pro DC pdf

[MatH]

Hi Everyone,

Is anyone experiencing an issue (just in the last 4-6 weeks) when converting a Word document to an Adobe PDF, where your change bars are no longer showing up in your PDF when using the "Save as Adobe PDF" feature in Word?

The change bars DO appear in the Adobe PDF if I perform a "Save As" and change the "Save as type:" to "PDF (*pdf)". In that situation the "Publish what" under "Options..." is automatically set to "Document showing markup" enabled, but I cannot find an equivalent setting in Adobe Acrobat Pro DC. I am using Office 2016 on Windows 10 box with Adobe Acrobat Pro DC version 2019.012.20040.

I have been scouring the web for potential solutions, but not having much luck. Any ideas are much appreciated.

[MatH · Accepted solution]

Hi Karen_Z,

Thanks for your response. I am glad this was helpful. It is an annoyance, since we have hundreds of documents, but at least the work-around gets us by. The "collective" mind is these forums is always a great resource to solve issues.

I should also mention that if you convert it using the work-around and you use the File > Document Properties window to add the Title, Author, etc., that information does not come over in the conversion. You have to re-enter it.

Good luck and I, too, hope Adobe includes a fix in their next version.

Matt

[Karen_Z]

Hello,

Yes I have come across the same problem after my company switched to DC. I have nothing to add, but I'm glad you posted, as this is all I could find in my searching. Thank you for finding the workaround. Let's hope Adobe picks up on this.

[MatH · Accepted solution]

Hi Karen_Z,

Thanks for your response. I am glad this was helpful. It is an annoyance, since we have hundreds of documents, but at least the work-around gets us by. The "collective" mind is these forums is always a great resource to solve issues.

I should also mention that if you convert it using the work-around and you use the File > Document Properties window to add the Title, Author, etc., that information does not come over in the conversion. You have to re-enter it.

Good luck and I, too, hope Adobe includes a fix in their next version.

Matt

[Karen_Z]

Appreciate the update, we use the Properties as well.

[My American Fashion]

In Adobe Acrobat Pro DC, if word change bars or other markup elements seem to disappear in a PDF, here are a few steps you can take to resolve the issue:

• Comments Pane: Go to View > Tools > Comment > Open to make sure the comments pane is visible. If change bars were created as comments, they should show up here.
• Show Markups: Ensure markups are not hidden by going to Comments > Show and selecting Show Comments List and Show All Comments.
• If the PDF was created by converting a Microsoft Word document with tracked changes, ensure that the “Track Changes” was enabled when saving to PDF. In Word, go to File > Save As > select PDF format, and check the options to include markups.
• In some cases, change bars may be saved on a separate layer. Go to View > Show/Hide > Navigation Panes > Layers and check if there are any additional layers containing the markup. If so, make sure all layers are visible.
• An outdated version of Acrobat might not display all elements correctly. Go to Help > Check for Updates to ensure you have the latest version.
• If the PDF was generated from a design application or includes complex elements, open the Print Production tool (under Tools > Print Production) and try using the Flatten Layers option, which may merge all elements, including change bars.

[Karen_Z]

Hello My American Fashion, 

Thanks for your detailed response. However, your suggestions do not work for me. I am trying to show change bars to indicate where changes were made, but not show the changed text or comments. (I want the PDF to look like Word in the "Simple Markup" mode.)

In particular - "If the PDF was created by converting a Microsoft Word document with tracked changes, ensure that the “Track Changes” was enabled when saving to PDF. In Word, go to File > Save As > select PDF format, and check the options to include markups." This is the problem - the new Acrobat does not include the option to include markups. Please see the attachements below.

Regarding other comments - Print to PDF shows the edits, not just the change bars. Right clicking the file name in a folder does not give me the option to convert to PDF.

I am on Windows 11 Enterprise with Microsoft Word for Microsoft 365 MSO and Adobe Acrobat Pro (all up to date).

IMHO - instead of complex user workarounds, why doesn't Adobe just restore the Publish showing markup option?? It's been 5 years since this thread started!

[jqpublic11]

I too have this problem when using the "Save as Adobe PDF" feature as well as "Create PDF" from the Acrobat tab.  The workaround that works for me is to choose the "Adobe PDF" printer under File/Print.  I am currently using Adobe Acrobat Pro DC ver. 2020.013.20074.

[jqpublic11]

Update:  The Adobe PDF printer option will strip the clickable links from the pdf.  Mat10's workaround does work for both change bars ans links.

[MatH · Accepted solution]

Hi jqpublic11,

As a further update to you and to anyone else who reads this topic, one of my colleagues (thanks, Janet!) discovered a second workaround. When converting Word to PDF and the Word file is closed and sitting in a windows folder you can right-click the Word version, select "Convert to Adobe PDF", select where you want it to be deposited, and click Save. When the PDF has been created, this version will also retain the change bars (at least for us). 

Happy PDFing,

Matt

[Peter249920364l25]

That procedure is the easiest for most conversions, but (for me, anyway) the PDF also includes a wide strip along the right margin that squashes the pages to the left. The only way I've found to convert Word to PDF AND include the change bars but NOT the strip at the right is something I read this morning (but cannot find now; sorry, whoever wrote it) is to Save As a PDF and make sure that the Options are set to Publish what: Document showing markup and Include non-pringing information: Creat bookmarks using: Headings.

[Michael34477432bbet]

If there are comments then that can confuse teh pdf converter.

[Michael34477432bbet]

Just tried this and it didn't work.  The only way I can get the pdf to have change bars is to use the MS tool "Save as pdf"...  c'mon Adobe, sort it out!

[Michael34477432bbet]

But I don't think that it's using Adobe...  so what's the point of paying for Adobe?