Having problems with Word conversion to PDFs? Embedding fonts? PDF bookmarks? Here are some simple solutions and tips to help.Having problems with Word conversion to PDFs? Embedding fonts? PDF bookmarks? Here are some simple solutions and tips to help.
Converting Word to PDF
Perhaps the biggest question regarding PDFs is, "How do I convert a Word doc to PDF if I don't have Acrobat?" There are plenty of solutions out there that will work, depending on your needs and budget.
Here are a few solutions commonly mentioned on listservs and message boards:
Sonic PDF 1.0 is priced at $79 and is a multi-featured PDF converter program. Users can convert to PDF from any Windows-based program.
Word to PDF Converter 1.0 is priced at $49 and offers a very simple user interface. All you have to do is open the Word document for conversion and hit the "Save as PDF" button in the MS Word toolbar.
And finally, a good free Word-to-PDF converter called PrimoPDF 2.0 offers conversion from Word, but also Excel, PowerPoint and several other common file types. The newly created PDF can be optimized for print, screen, e-book or prepress and comes with full security features.
Embedding Fonts in a PDF
Another common area of complaint among frequent PDF users is font incompatibility and problems with font embedding. Here are some solutions and tips for putting your best font forward so to speak.
Keep in mind that when it comes to embedding fonts in a PDF file you have to make certain that you have the correct fonts on the system you're using to make the conversion. Typically you should embed and subset fonts, although there are always exceptions.
If you just need a simple solution that will handle the heavy font work for you, the WonderSoft Virtual PDF Printer helps you choose and embed your fonts into any PDF. The program supports True Type and Unicode fonts.
The left viewing window shows you all the fonts installed on your system and the right viewing window shows the selected user fonts to embed into a newly created PDF form. A single license is $89.95.
Another common solution is the 3-Heights Optimization PDF Optimization Tool.
One of the best sources of information on all things font is at the Adobe site itself under the Developer Resources section.
PDF Bookmarks
Now let's turn the proverbial page and take a look at bookmarking in PDFs. Bookmark managers are good programs to use when you want to change, add or remove multiple bookmarks simultaneously.
One good bookmarking solution is EverMap's AutoBookmark plug-in for Adobe Acrobat, which is priced at $99 and helps you sort and print bookmarks, customize bookmark titles and create multi-level bookmarks.
A second user-friendly solution that runs less than $50 is MagicTeck's Windows-based Magic PDF Bookmark Editor. This is a good stand-alone solution for creating, adding, editing and extracting bookmarks. It also offers unlimited nesting levels and does not require Adobe Acrobat for use.
