Word 2008 (Pub format) - PDF Conversion

Hello Guys,

When converting/printing a Word file to a PDF, the file size increases dramatically. Also, it would take anywhere from 10-15 minutes for a conversion.

i.e.

1.9MB Word = 13MB PDF
3MB Word = 30MB PDF

Is there any anything else out there that's better than the built in PDF converter? Free app preferably

... why is the dual core MAC so slow with most apps, my 4 y.o. 1.8mhz P3 laptop is so much faster??

That has not been my experience with converting a Word document to PDF. What kind of documents are you trying to convert?

As for a free application which provides PDF output from the DOC format, you can try NeoOffice. Download from here:

NeoOffice Home

Regards.

The issue is not with a regular Word file, but Publisher formatted file.

vpkb said:

The issue is not with a regular Word file, but Publisher formatted file.

Click to expand...

You stated:

vpkb said:

When converting/printing a Word file to a PDF, the file size increases dramatically. Also, it would take anywhere from 10-15 minutes for a conversion.

Click to expand...

You're referring to MS Publisher files then? (*.PUB) No wonder.... They are not document files but primarily made up of entirely graphics with text in frames.

Also, what has MS Publisher to do with OS X since there is not a version of Publisher for the Mac?

Regards.

You're not understanding me. Word in office 08 can actually work in publisher mode. Call it enhancement mode or whatever, but I'm having issues saving & converting when working in this publishing mode. May I add that printing produces the same result - 5-10 mins to process.

I have no problems in "regular" mode.

I'm getting frustrated, it's like having a V12 Ferrari running on 1 cylinder.

chscag said:

You stated:



You're referring to MS Publisher files then? (*.PUB) No wonder.... They are not document files but primarily made up of entirely graphics with text in frames.

Also, what has MS Publisher to do with OS X since there is not a version of Publisher for the Mac?

Regards.

Click to expand...

When printing PDF's they just about triple in size due to the way the file is compressed. Basically (and I am paraphrasing here) pdfs use jpeg compression and when they are sent to a printer they are uncompressed so that the best quality print is achieved.

As for why it gets bigger when saving, try changing the compression settings when you save it, I'm sorry but I dont know where this is on the mac version.

This would be printing from Word and not PDF. I can't find the compression setting/option anywhere. I don't think there's one. It's probably a flaw with Office 08.

vpkb said:

This would be printing from Word and not PDF. I can't find the compression setting/option anywhere. I don't think there's one. It's probably a flaw with Office 08.

Click to expand...

Nope, as explained to me by a print engineer at Oce a few weeks back, it happens on all PDF's.

Your best bet is to either
1) use the "Compress PDF" command from the Print dialog box (NOT the "Save as" PDF option)
2) Buy Acrobat if you want complete control.

Sorry, I don't see the compress option you're suggesting. I do see PDF-X, but it didn't help the situation. btw - even the printing dialog box took forever to load up the pre-view, i can't select anything in the meantime (beach ball).

Also, thanks for suggesting Acrobat, but I wasn't looking to spend $300 on what a "great machine" should already be able to handle in a minute, not ten.

Oh well, thanks Guys, but I guess I'll just wait or OSX Meerkat to come out.

technologist said:

Your best bet is to either
1) use the "Compress PDF" command from the Print dialog box (NOT the "Save as" PDF option)

Click to expand...

This isn't in Leopard

Adobe owns the PDF format, which is why they are able to charge so much for their products. Acrobat Pro is only about $75, which is a minor fee if you are truly serious about your publishing. If you compress a PDF file, you will encounter a quality loss. This will even occur on the best software Adobe currently makes. Office is a slow running software and I prefer not to use it whenever I can. The speed is also dependent on the amount of memory you are running, processor speed, and hard drive space. More than likely, it's an individual feature you've chosen not to upgrade to such as those that is slowing you down if it's not a software issue.

You have to keep one thing in mind about the size of the file is that .pdf files have to imbed all of the information about the fonts in the file. Have you ever opened a Word file and been told you don't have a particular font? That will never happen with an adobe file. Depending on the software and the font, all fonts are either embedded in the .pdf file or represented graphically. So, the file is ALWAYS going to be MUCH larger than a Word file. The more fonts you have, the larger the file will be. The more fonts you have, the longer it is going to take whatever program you are using to embed that information in the .pdf. How many fonts are in your publication?

I am not an Office 08 user. (Pages does everything I need done, and I much prefer Keynote to Powerpoint.) So, I don't know whether or not Office has a built in .pdf converter. If it does, have you tried using the built-in print to pdf function that is included with OS X?

Finally, if you absolutely need to compress the file, Preview, at least in Snow Leopard, includes an option to reduce file size when saving. Just open the .pdf file, choose save, and under Quartz filter, choose reduce file size.

However, it really sounds like most of your problems are with Word and not with the system in General.