Some comments — PDF export functionality in Office 2007

[Jan Sichula]

Hello everyone,

first of all let me express that I am very excited about new Office 2007. It
is really a revolutionary step forward. I can’t wait to buy the RTM release
once it hits the stores. I welcome the PDF export functionality which is much
needed. During several weeks of Beta testing I have discovered some bugs and
places for improvements. Here is a description:

1. I am mainly using Slovak script on a daily basis. PDF files do not have
Slovak fonts embedded correctly. Adobe Reader throws a message informing
about error and renders file wrongly. Moreover some OfficeArt objects are
wrongly placed in resulting PDF file.

2. I am doing a lot of DTP work in Word and using EPS often for import from
other programs like Corel or Expression Graphic Designer. Those EPS files
usually have an WMF preview included with them. This preview is what Word
displays in editing mode. When I export such a file into PDF, I want the
PostScript part of EPS to be converted to native PDF objects. Office’s PDF
export however converts the WMF preview part. This is bad and makes it
unusable for this scenario which is very common for me. This seems to be one
area where old style PostScript route to PDF (like PDF Creator or Acrobat)
wins over Office PDF export.

I can send you source and export files if you want to review them. And if I
can afford a remark on your recent clash with Adobe — do not be intimidated
by them. They are shaking because first time in their history they have some
real competition in Microsoft and they are not used to it. Your PDF export
has a potential to be much better than costly Adobe Acrobat. Personally I
much prefer it to any other way of exporting PDF since it is so fast and
comfortable (I also hope we will have a way to automate it via VBA and VSTO).
Just go on and make it perfect and we will all be sticking with Office for
the years to come since nothing else will make us more productive.

Jan Sichula
(Slovak Republic)

 

[Patrick Schmid]

Hi Jan,

First off, no one from Microsoft is reading these newsgroups. The people
you are talking with are fellow peers, users like you.
You can send me your sample files via email. I'll submit them to
Microsoft so that they can fix the issues. Please send me a small sample
for each individual issue you are encountering. You can get my email
from my website.

Patrick Schmid

 

[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Hi Jan,

Starting with Office 2002 EPS graphic displays in Word, Excel and Powerpoint are generally from the EPS content rather than from the
preview, provided that you're using an EPS feature set (version) that is not newer/higher than what the Office EPS graphics filter
recognizes. It is possible that the preview is being used when using File=>Save as=>PDF, so you may want to send Patrick a couple
of sample files and the steps you're using, the more detailed example the better.

To send Office 2007 feedback directly to the MS Office product team you can use the feedback tool from the link below. It enables
you to submit detail steps to reproduce an issue and a screenshot, but not to send files (although if you include your email address
in the tool feedback it may help <g>).

The discussion/newsgroups are for discussion of both the good and bad points, opinions and suggestions for the MS Office products.
If you do have an issue, such as the one described, it can be helpful to list here (or in a group for a specific Office app, when
appropriate) a description of the problem, information on your PC/windows/office configuration and specific steps for reproducing
the problem starting (if possible) with a new blank document, to see if others get the same result you do.

===========
Hello everyone,

first of all let me express that I am very excited about new Office 2007. It
is really a revolutionary step forward. I can't wait to buy the RTM release
once it hits the stores. I welcome the PDF export functionality which is much
needed. During several weeks of Beta testing I have discovered some bugs and
places for improvements. Here is a description:

1. I am mainly using Slovak script on a daily basis. PDF files do not have
Slovak fonts embedded correctly. Adobe Reader throws a message informing
about error and renders file wrongly. Moreover some OfficeArt objects are
wrongly placed in resulting PDF file.

2. I am doing a lot of DTP work in Word and using EPS often for import from
other programs like Corel or Expression Graphic Designer. Those EPS files
usually have an WMF preview included with them. This preview is what Word
displays in editing mode. When I export such a file into PDF, I want the
PostScript part of EPS to be converted to native PDF objects. Office's PDF
export however converts the WMF preview part. This is bad and makes it
unusable for this scenario which is very common for me. This seems to be one
area where old style PostScript route to PDF (like PDF Creator or Acrobat)
wins over Office PDF export.

I can send you source and export files if you want to review them. And if I
can afford a remark on your recent clash with Adobe - do not be intimidated
by them. They are shaking because first time in their history they have some
real competition in Microsoft and they are not used to it. Your PDF export
has a potential to be much better than costly Adobe Acrobat. Personally I
much prefer it to any other way of exporting PDF since it is so fast and
comfortable (I also hope we will have a way to automate it via VBA and VSTO).
Just go on and make it perfect and we will all be sticking with Office for
the years to come since nothing else will make us more productive.

Jan Sichula
(Slovak Republic) >>
--
I hope this helped you,

Bob Buckland ?
MS Office system products MVP

LINKS to the 2007 Office System

1. Free MS Office 2007 book from MS Press, 213 pages:
http://microsoft.com/learning/office2007/default.mspx#booksfrommspress

2.. Office 2007 Beta 2 Online Test Drive, Downloadable beta,
e-learning courses, doucmentation and movies:
http://microsoft.com/office/preview

3. Send 2007 Office System Beta 2 feedback directly to the MS Office 2007 product team with this feedback tool:
http://sas.office.microsoft.com/

4. Try the 2007 OfficeOnline preview website , without Office2007

a. Install the ActiveX access control
http://office.microsoft.com/search/redir.aspx?AssetID=XT101650581033

b. then visit
http://officebeta.iponet.net