Inserting PDF into Word file still a problem?

[Chuck M]

I searched. Found a two-year-old thread acknowledging that inserting
PDFs into a Word document is not good if one requires good on-screen
and printed results.

I'm using Office X in Mac OSX.3.9. I do print ads (in InDesign CS2) for
a client, and deliver in PDF format. It would be nice to drop the PDF
onto a Proof/Approval form in Word and send that. The sales reps could
then edit the Word doc as needed (e.g., "must respond to this Proof by
XXXX XX, XXXX").

Should I assume it still doesn't work. In both Office X and Office
2004?

 

[CyberTaz]

Can't speak on Office X but it isn't a problem in 2004 depending on *which*
of your 2 issues you're most concerned about See below;

I searched. Found a two-year-old thread acknowledging that inserting
PDFs into a Word document is not good if one requires good on-screen
and printed results.

Still very much true. As I understand it, Word doesn't really read PDF very
well so it creates a PICT file which may very well be lower quality than the
PDF. Therefore not recommended for quality printed output... But then again
nothing about Word is designed for direct output to commercial press.

It then has to store both the PDF & the PICT which results in a bloated file
- how bloated depends on the size of the PDF to begin with. (I just stuck a
28k PDF into a 19.6k Word doc & resulted in a 45k doc.)

Throw in the fact that Word can only display one page of the PDF (as with
any other Inserted Object to be fair) and multi-page PDFs are useless.

I'm using Office X in Mac OSX.3.9. I do print ads (in InDesign CS2) for
a client, and deliver in PDF format. It would be nice to drop the PDF
onto a Proof/Approval form in Word and send that. The sales reps could
then edit the Word doc as needed (e.g., "must respond to this Proof by
XXXX XX, XXXX").

As long as they understand that the 'finished product' will be higher
quality there shouldn't be a problem - on-screen display isn't commercial
output quality anyway. OTOH if they're expecting to inspect "the real thing"
you might be better sending the approval letter with the PDF embedded,
displayed as an icon, so they can double-click the icon & display the actual
PDF in Preview, Reader, Acrobat, whatever.

Should I assume it still doesn't work. In both Office X and Office
2004?

You be the judge

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Chuck M]

"You be the judge "

Actually, that duty is engaged by my client. He likes his clients to
see our work at full quality. He likes for them to be able to, for
example, zoom in to proof the mice type.

He's not fond of having to explain away less than our best. Makes sense
to me.

I believe I'll continue to do the Proof forms in InDesign, and send
PDFs. (They look better, too.)

It was great coming here and getting solid info on "issues" that had
been bothering me for a while. Now it's time to give you assembled
gurus a rest.

Don't know how I might give back to the group. All I can think of is
that I've had good luck (on my Mac) inserting PNG files into Word and
PowerPoint. Make them as 8 bit not 24. Sometimes with dither. Make them
in Photoshop or another Adobe app, oversize, and raise the ppi (not the
file size) in Photoshop. Small files. Good looks. But the extra time it
takes is a weight.

Thanks again...

 

[Phillip Jones]

I am going to interject a Fly in ointment. ;-)

If you have Acrobat Pro version 7.07 or better you can actually save a
PDF as a Word Document. Just open the PDF go to File Menu > Save As. Lo
and behold there is a choice for Word Document.

I have used it and it even carries over the original line, Tabs,
Paragraphs and pages I've done this when I needed an original Word file
without one and I had the PDF. your free to use your desired front and
restyle as necessary and then save as Word Document then you can use
PDFMaker to create a new PDF.

I haven't in the past recommended PDFMaker because up until 7.0.7
Acrobat pro it didn't work. Seems their buyout of Macromedia help fix a
long standing issue. Now it brings up a window with a progress bar. you
still have to wait about a minute or two at the end before you can open
the PDF or dismiss the window. But it does work now.

Sorry I got off on a Tangent at the end. :-(

"You be the judge "

Actually, that duty is engaged by my client. He likes his clients to
see our work at full quality. He likes for them to be able to, for
example, zoom in to proof the mice type.

He's not fond of having to explain away less than our best. Makes sense
to me.

I believe I'll continue to do the Proof forms in InDesign, and send
PDFs. (They look better, too.)

It was great coming here and getting solid info on "issues" that had
been bothering me for a while. Now it's time to give you assembled
gurus a rest.

Don't know how I might give back to the group. All I can think of is
that I've had good luck (on my Mac) inserting PNG files into Word and
PowerPoint. Make them as 8 bit not 24. Sometimes with dither. Make them
in Photoshop or another Adobe app, oversize, and raise the ppi (not the
file size) in Photoshop. Small files. Good looks. But the extra time it
takes is a weight.

Thanks again...

--
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Martinsville Va 24112 |[email protected], ICQ11269732, AIM pjonescet
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[Chuck M]

If you have Acrobat Pro version 7.07 or better you can actually save a
PDF as a Word Document. Just open the PDF go to File Menu > Save As. Lo
and behold there is a choice for Word Document.

When Acrobat Pro 7.07 (which I have) saves the PDF as a Word doc, I
would half expect it to do two things.

1. Use low resolution approximations of the photos and other bitmap
images. Like it does when one inserts a PDF into a Word doc using Word.


2. Lose subtlety (like kerning, tracking, points above paragraph, etc.)
in the type - causing reflow and necessary clean up.

This speculation isn't based on knowledge, but just on the feeling that
the universe probably wouldn't let Acrobat produce a smarter Word file
than Word does.

Am I wrong?

(Yes, I certainly can try it for myself, but there may be more to it
than meets the eye.)

 

[Phillip Jones]

You would be right, Photos would only be as good as the Resolution of
the files inserted.

If you have access to real photos and not too many I suppose, you could
always re-import them in the Word document.

As for the kerning issues I don't know about that. I do know on some
document I need to correct and only had the pdf (with no photos) That I
have used this a time or two in a pinch. its possible you would have
re-Kern items. I don't know when printed out in both format in my
untrained eye they looked as good. But then I use an Inkjet printer and
it may be different on a Laser Printer.

My suggestion would be try on something that you wouldn't have to spend
too much time on, but has enough to see if it works correctly.

When Acrobat Pro 7.07 (which I have) saves the PDF as a Word doc, I
would half expect it to do two things.

1. Use low resolution approximations of the photos and other bitmap
images. Like it does when one inserts a PDF into a Word doc using Word.


2. Lose subtlety (like kerning, tracking, points above paragraph, etc.)
in the type - causing reflow and necessary clean up.

This speculation isn't based on knowledge, but just on the feeling that
the universe probably wouldn't let Acrobat produce a smarter Word file
than Word does.

Am I wrong?

(Yes, I certainly can try it for myself, but there may be more to it
than meets the eye.)

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phillip M. Jones, CET |LIFE MEMBER: VPEA ETA-I, NESDA, ISCET, Sterling
616 Liberty Street |Who's Who. PHONE:276-632-5045, FAX:276-632-0868
Martinsville Va 24112 |[email protected], ICQ11269732, AIM pjonescet
------------------------------------------------------------------------

If it's "fixed", don't "break it"!

mailto[email protected]

<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/default.htm>
<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/90th_Birthday/index.htm>
<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/Fulcher/default.html>
<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/Harris/default.htm>
<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/Jones/default.htm>

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