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Problems saving as PDF with embedded emf image?

Anonymous
2011-10-20T16:32:19+00:00

I have been having a serious issue lately.  Our IT department has decided that using an Acrobat suite to do their PDF conversion is too troublessome for whatever reason.  They have opted instead to rely on the 'Save As PDF' option in Word 2007.

Here's the issue.  We produce documents with embedded plots and figures in emf format.  When these EMF plots have dashed or dotted lines, the Save As PDF inserts stray solid black lines into the image during the conversion to PDF.

So we get a PDF of our report, with black lines running through the figures.  We've tried every combination of the options word gives for saving to PDF and there's no difference.

This only occurs with dotted or dashes lines though.  We can't figure it out.  I've read about Word having trouble with dotted lines in Tables, but nothing quite like what we're seeing. 

Can anyone offer any insight?

The emf plots were produced using R.

Using windows XP Pro SP3

Word 2007

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-04-02T10:19:55+00:00

    Here is a partial, very ad hoc solution:

    * Paste the figure to PowerPoint

    * Right-click the figure

    * Click 'edit picture'

    * When asked "Convert to Microsoft Office drawing object?", click yes

    For some figures, this solved the problem for me. For others, it caused my PowerPoint to crash, so this is definitely not the long-term way to go... but let us know how this works for you.

    Using external software does not help if somebody else will compile your MS Word file into a pdf (e.g. a publisher), which was the problem in my case.

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-01-18T07:56:45+00:00

    Many thanks Doug, the emf images convert perfectly to pdf format with PrimoPDF.

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  3. Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 323K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2014-03-25T23:16:36+00:00

    Try using the free PrimoPDF converter that will install as a printer to "print" the documents to a pdf file.

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-04-30T14:05:53+00:00

    I have the same problem. Here you can find an example: http://sdrv.ms/13ITrCp

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  5. Anonymous
    2011-10-21T04:46:23+00:00

    Please upload the file for better understanding of the issue.

    Note: Ensure there are no confidential information is present in the document.

    Refer to the following link to know how to upload a file using Windows live Skydive:

    http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7itproui/thread/4fc10639-02db-4665-993a-08d865088d65/

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