Bamboozled by extra spacing (Word to PDF conversion)

[kgbf]

Hey all,

I've been perplexed for several days now by an issue I'm having when converting a business letter in Word to PDF. 

Here's a screenshot in Word 2016 of the bottom of my main text box and signatures (PNG files) below.

Here's what it looks like when I convert to PDF.

Do you see how there's an extra space between 'With gratitude' and the bottom of the text box? (I left the text box borders on so it would be easier to troubleshoot). Why is this happening? Is there something I can fix in Word so it doesn't add that space when I convert it to PDF?

This is a rather urgent work project, so thank you in advance for any insight you might have! The Word version of this will be a template for other colleagues to work with, so fixing it on the front end is important to me.

[kgbf]

Also, I tried converting it on a different computer with Adobe Acrobat Pro 2015, and I didn't have the same problem. On my computer, I have Adobe Acrobat Pro Continuous Release (last updated in 2020). Do you think that might be the problem? If so, I'm not sure what to do as our entire organization has the 2020 version...

[kgbf]

Hey all, I've determined it's my version of Adobe Acrobat Pro DC that's causing the spacing issue. The same exact thing happens on one colleague's computer who shares the Creative Cloud app with me, but another colleague doesn't have Acrobat and just uses "Save As PDF" in Word, and she doesn't end up with the extra space. As mentioned earlier, I also tried this on another computer with Acrobat 2015 and it also didn't add the extra space.

Does anyone know how to disconnect Acrobat from Word? Even when I choose "Save" --> "Save as PDF" in Word, it reverts to an Acrobat PDF. Can I turn that off somehow? Thanks in advance!

[Test Screen Name]

No, that isn't what is happening. It's an "Acrobat PDF" because your computer has an Acrobat PDF icon. All PDF files get the icon. Acrobat has nothing AT ALL to do with PDFs made with Save as PDF. Your differences from machine to machine are probably from installed printers or fonts.

[kgbf]

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree. I have the same fonts and printers across all computers. There is absolutely no difference between them except that some have Acrobat continuous release and others have an older version or no Acrobat at all.

If anyone else has thoughts on how to disconnect Acrobat from Word, I'd love your thoughts. Thx!

[Test Screen Name]

I suspect the text box is the same size, and the text has reflowed in the normal way that Word does.  Examine the flow of the text, but basically this is just what Word does.

[Test Screen Name]

And of course your Word template will change according to whatever printer the end user has connected to the computer where it runs Word. As a Word designer of templates, you need to allow for this.

[kgbf]

I am converting from Word to PDF, not the other way around...

[Test Screen Name]

Yes, I understand the conversion you are making. Perhaps you are not familiar with the way Word is designed to reflow whenever you change printer or make a PDF? This is, as I say, entirely normal. Your task is to make sure it's not a problem, if you're designing templates for others. For example a fixed box you have to fill is going to be a problem.

[kgbf]

Thanks...I can't really get around not placing a text box there, but I appreciate your help.

[Test Screen Name]

Perhaps you could put a border around the text. This will be whatever size is needed to enclose the text. Your problem may be being made worse because you have items at fixed locations as well as able to reflow.

You could also try putting the "must be at the bottom" line in its own invisible box, anchored to the outer box.

[Dov Isaacs]

Maybe if you posted a sample Word document exhibiting this problem when creating PDF via Acrobat's PDFMaker, we could really be able to assist you.

For the record, using Word's Save as and specifying PDF as the file type is not the same as using Acrobat PDFMaker's Save as Adobe PDF, although they use the same internal formatter which in fact is part of Word itself (produces EMF stream in which spacing, line breaks, etc. are already “baked in”).

[kgbf]

Sure! I posted screenshots above because they're internal documents. But I would be happy to share samples via Dropbox and/or private message if helpful.