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I am attempting to convert a Docx file that I have to a PDF. I have done this many times before, but this particular file has a lot of unique formatting with page breaks; some pages are landscape, some are portrait, some have normal margins, some have no margins etc. I also have page numbering in the footers. I need to convert to a PDF without losing any of the formatting (i.e. when I try to do this in WORD in cuts off my page numbers in the footer and also cuts off some of the text and images that are too close to the right side of the page for the pages with no margins). I've already tried using webtools to convert, and although they tend to keep the formatting, they replace some text with question mark symbols and are generally unreliable. I am wondering if anyone knows how to fix this. All I want is for my Word document to convert to a PDF in exactly the same format that it is in already! Thanks

Also, I have attempted to set the paper size in the page setup to custom with "0" in all four boxes, but this tremendously messes with the formatting of my figures, text boxes, text, etc.

Ryan Rothman
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3 Answers3

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I have finally found the solution! You must go into page setup in Word, and create a custom paper size (I used the same size specs as A4, and set printable area to 0 in all 4 cases). The trick then is to make sure you apply this to each page of the document individually, specifying whether the given page is portrait or landscape orientation. Then the converted PDF should give you 100% printable area and still maintain the formatting of both portrait and landscape in the document!

Ryan Rothman
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Or...if you go to File > Save as > PDF then before you click Export be sure to select "Best for Printing" under File Format. The formatting changes if you select "Best for electronic distribution" (which is the default).

styrofoam fly
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adamspc
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A new answer for mac/2023. Changing the margins works for me. In my document the page numbers are at the footer. Changing the margins so the footer is inside fixed the problem.

nmnir
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