Problem converting to PDF

[Peyton Todd]

Hello. This may be a difficult problem since it involves the interface
between Word and another product, but here goes...

I frequently convert Word documents to Adobe Acrobat PDFs, and I always
count on the fact that Word's headings, which are viewable in the Document
Map, are converted automatically to Acrobat's 'bookmarks', a tree-style
outline on the lefthand side of the PDF, accessible by pressing a button just
like the Document Map in Word. However, this time, even though the headings
show up in the Document Map in Word just as they should, they don't appear in
the resulting PDF.

I am using a Word template provided by the academic journal to which I plan
to submit this PDF, so it must be something special about their headings. But
they seem normal as far as I can see. As I said, they all appear just as they
should in the Word Document Map. And they can be readily edited in
Format...Styles and Formatting.

Any ideas on what could be wrong here?

Thanks in advance for any help you might provide!

 

[Lene Fredborg]

A couple of things you could check in Word (if you have not already done this):

Do you have an Adobe PDF menu en the Menu Bar in Word? In that case, select
Adobe PDF menu > Change Conversion Settings and check the following:

1. On the Settings tab, make sure that "Add bookmarks to Adobe PDF" is
checked.

2. On the Bookmarks tab, make sure that the check box "Convert Word Headings
to Bookmarks" is checked and that the headings you want to bookmark are
checked in the list (according to my experience, Acrobat sometimes lose the
checkmarks in the list).

Depending on your version of Adobe Acrobat, the names of the commands may
differ from the above.

---
Regards
Lene Fredborg
DocTools - Denmark
www.thedoctools.com
Document automation - add-ins, macros and templates for Microsoft Word

 

[Peyton Todd]

Thanks, Lene, it turns out that Yes, both the things you mentioned were
already checked. While I was there I noticed that there is an additional box
to check: 'Convert Word Styles to Bookmarks'. When I check that, then my
headings do convert, but... a thousand other things get put into the bookmark
list as well! So that won't solve it.

One might conclude, 'Oh, so my 'headings' are not really headings, they are
styles.' Okay, but if so, how do I convert them to headings? Furthermore, in
the 'Type' column in the Bookmarks tab you mentioned, they are listed as
'headings', and the Bookmark box is check for each and every one of them.
Arggh!

 

[Lene Fredborg]

Your "headings" must be formatted with Word's built-in Heading styles
(Heading 1, Heading 2, …, Heading 9) in order to be treated as headings in
Acrobat.

According to your latest description, I think (as you do) that the problem
is that you have formatted your "headings" with other style(s) than Heading
1-9. If this is correct, I suggest that you change the formatting of your
"headings" so that you use the built-in Heading styles.

The appearance of each Heading style depends on its style definition. Note
that you can modify the style definitions of the built-in Heading styles so
that they look exactly as you wish.

If you have used different styles for your "headings" you can use Edit >
Replace to search one of your "heading" styles at a time and replace it with
the relevant built-in Heading style (in the "Find what" and "Replace with"
fields, select the relevant styles via More button > Format > Style). If your
"heading" styles were created using the same style (e.g. Normal) but with
different local formatting, it is also possible to search for the specific
formatting and replace with the relevant Heading style. Alternatively, step
through the document manually, select the "headings" one at a time and apply
the relevant built-in Heading style.

For a lot of really useful information about styles, see:
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/styles/TipsOnStyles.html
Note that several other articles about styles are listed to the left when
you open the article above.

--
Regards
Lene Fredborg
DocTools - Denmark
www.thedoctools.com
Document automation - add-ins, macros and templates for Microsoft Word

 

[Peyton Todd]

Thanks, I'll try that...
--
Peyton Todd

Your "headings" must be formatted with Word's built-in Heading styles
(Heading 1, Heading 2, …, Heading 9) in order to be treated as headings in
Acrobat.

According to your latest description, I think (as you do) that the problem
is that you have formatted your "headings" with other style(s) than Heading
1-9. If this is correct, I suggest that you change the formatting of your
"headings" so that you use the built-in Heading styles.

The appearance of each Heading style depends on its style definition. Note
that you can modify the style definitions of the built-in Heading styles so
that they look exactly as you wish.

If you have used different styles for your "headings" you can use Edit >
Replace to search one of your "heading" styles at a time and replace it with
the relevant built-in Heading style (in the "Find what" and "Replace with"
fields, select the relevant styles via More button > Format > Style). If your
"heading" styles were created using the same style (e.g. Normal) but with
different local formatting, it is also possible to search for the specific
formatting and replace with the relevant Heading style. Alternatively, step
through the document manually, select the "headings" one at a time and apply
the relevant built-in Heading style.

For a lot of really useful information about styles, see:
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/styles/TipsOnStyles.html
Note that several other articles about styles are listed to the left when
you open the article above.

--
Regards
Lene Fredborg
DocTools - Denmark
www.thedoctools.com
Document automation - add-ins, macros and templates for Microsoft Word