Word doc to PDF formatting issues

[WhiteTree]

I'm trying to convert some old Word docs created with Word 2000. There is nothing complex in the files, formatting is fairly standard. Some of the documents have 1 inch margins.

I tried using Open Office Writer on Ubuntu 9.10 to convert them, but there are a few issues. On the 1 inch margin documents sometimes a line is pushed over to the next page. On a 20+ page document, this makes some of the information out of context. Also, some of the files have random newlines, and some of the spaces between words are so large they look like tabs. The strange thing is that the errors are very rare. A document may only have a couple in it. I have 25 documents and some are large. I can't go through each line by line and try to fiddle with the original Word docs to make them turn out alright in PDF format.

Because Open Office is on Ubuntu and the docs were created on Windows, the fonts are probably different, so that could be part of the problem. However, that still does not really explain the weird behavior or the fact that it is rare.

Any help?

 

[deanj20]

Hi WhiteTree!

Do you have access to a Windows computer? I have had a lot of success using CutePDF Writer - just be sure to uninstall the Ask.com crapware that comes bundled with it (it will install it whether you want it or not). Then, in any program you can go to File-->Print and choose CutePDF Writer instead of a printer - it will open a dialogue ox and ask you where to save the pdf file to and voila! Instant pdf file, just like it would look if your original file was printed on paper!

Hope that helps!

 

[WhiteTree]

I did a little research before I tried Open Office. Several of the sites the offered PDF programs didn't appear safe.

For example:

http://safeweb.norton.com/report/show?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cutepdf.com%2F&x=17&y=13

http://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/cutepdf.com - here they say it is safe then lower down they have this: Adware, spyware, or viruses (3)

That worries me a bit.

However, I have seen many recommendations for cutePDF and others.

 

[deanj20]

It comes bundled with Ask.com toolbar. That's it. It installs it whether you tell it to or not - same way with Foxit PDF viewer. But once you install the program , you can just remove the Ask.com crapware via Add and Remove Programs and use the programs. There's no malware. Just an annoying and useless toolbar that is easily uninstalled.

Alternatively, you can try your luck with any number of other free programs - just Google "free pdf converter" - there's a promising online converter right at the top of the list.

But I know from experience that CutePDF Writer works excellent and is malware free.

 

[WhiteTree]

I think that CutePDF is probably safe. Apparently, as deanj20 says, the Ask.com toolbar is what is causing the problem. From what I've read, it's possible not to install it, but it will install it by default.

Anyway, I found PrimoPDF to be decent and it doesn't include any toolbars (at least for now). Unlike Open Office, it generates PDFs that look exactly like the Word docs.* Dragging the file(s) onto the desktop icon is the only way I could get it to work though. There doesn't seem to be any option to choose a file to convert.

*Note: some of the documents had used "revision mode" in the past. Even though it was turned off, all of the revisions were created in the PDF. I had to adjust the original word document for those files.