Word doc with Simple Markup when using Adobe Online to convert Word to PDF conversion appears with All Markup instead of Simple markup

Question

I have a Word document.

It uses Arial and Arial Bold font throughout.

It contains Headings (Heading 1) which are to automatically create bookmarks in the PDF document.

It has Simple Mark-up displayed for track changes (a vertical line bar in the left margin to indicate changes).

I do not want nor do I see All Markup of track changes in the Word document. Balloons, strike out text etc are not visible in the Word document.

But when I convert the Word document to PDF using Adobe Online conversion tool, the PDF is appearing with a grey track changes margin on the right hand side of the document and all mark-up highlighted with text in balloons showing all changes annotated.

I have queried this with Adobe, but they say the track changes feature is solely a Microsoft Word function.

How can I ensure the Word to PDF conversion only retains Simple Mark-up (vertical change bar in left margin) as displayed in the Word document and does not display track changes with the entire All Mark-up with balloons ?

Also in the Word - Advanced Track Changes Option, there are certain options which are greyed out (the tick box for 'Show lines connecting to text' for example). How do I prevent these options being greyed out ?

Answer 1

Hi Chris,

Sorry for the inconvenience caused at your end.

Per your description, we understand your concerns i.e. whenever you convert the Word document with Track Changes to the PDF, it will show up the All Markup even though Simple Markup. First, we would like to apologize to say that we couldn’t test exactly with a similar scenario as yours because we don’t have the third-party tool (Adobe Online).

Since we can either use the feature Save As or Export to convert the Word document into the PDF, we tried at our end and experienced a similar behavior where converting the Word document to PDF will display as All Markup view with all highlighted with text.

So, based on your test and your requirement, since you want to convert the Word document with a Simple Markup, you can set the Insertions and Deletions to none in the Advanced Track Changes Options during the time of conversion.

 

But I couldn’t find a way to make balloons disappear even after making the Balloons option to Nothing and sorry for that. During my search, the only option is to make No Markup, but it will not show the left lines which indicate change occurred to the line.

Moreover, we would also like to invite the Word experts in this community to share their ideas and views regarding your concern.

Lastly, about the “Show lines connecting to text” will be grayed out when the Balloons in All Markup view show option is set to Nothing.

Appreciate your understanding and patience.

Best Regards,

Chitrahaas

Answer 2

When you are printing a Word document or converting it to a PDF, Track Changes will be displayed the way it does in the print preview at File > Print.

Switch to the All Markup view and then change the Advanced Track Changes Options so that they match what you want in a PDF (or a printout). Also, hide the revision balloons (Review > Show Markup > Balloons > Show All Revisions Inline), if you don't want them to be visible.

Answer 3

Thanks Stefan.

I am trying to satisfy 3 criteria:

1. High quality PDF image with embedded Arial fonts.
2. Headings (Heading1) converted to Bookmarks in the PDF.
3. Simple Markup (vertical black line in left hand margin).

My Tracking settings are as follows:

Review > Simple Markup

Review > Show Markup > Balloons > Show All Revisions Inline

Advanced Track Changes Options:

I have Adobe Acrobat Standard installed on my laptop but have also tried the Adobe Online conversion:

(a) Print to PDF

So with your example above, if I Print to Adobe PDF: I have the required high quality image, I have the Simple Markup, but I do not have Bookmarks from the headings.

(b) Export to PDF (Create Adobe PDF) - result is same as item (d) below.

(c) Export to PDF (Create PDF/XPS Document) - I have Simple Markup, I have bookmarks from headings, but the font quality is poor with lack of embedded Arial fonts.

(d) Create PDF - I have bookmarks from headings, I have high quality Arial font, but the Simple Markup is missing.

(e) Save as Adobe PDF - I have bookmarks from headings, I have high quality Arial font, but the Simple Markup is missing.

(f) Convert to PDF using Adobe Online tool. - I have bookmarks from headings, I have high quality Arial font, but the Full Markup with balloons and a grey markup column down the right side of the page is produced.

As you can see none of them satisfy all 3 criteria.

Items b, d and e all use the Adobe Acrobat PDFMaker for the conversion.

I don't mind how I do it, I just want to satisfy the 3 criteria of simple markup, bookmarks from headings and high quality fonts.

Answer 4

If, in the Print dialog, you choose Adobe PDF as the printer, you should be able, via Printer Properties, to access all the same settings you can choose in Preferences on the Acrobat tab of the Ribbon. In addition, under Settings on the Print tab, click Print All Pages and clear the check for Print Markup.

Answer 5

Thanks Suzanne.

If I have Adobe PDF as the printer, and then

(a) Print to PDF

I have the required high quality image, I have the Simple Markup, but I do not have Bookmarks from the headings in the PDF.

And I can't see how to create the bookmarks from headings when using Print to PDF function.