Convert a Paperback Word File to PDF

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KDP Publishing Create a Book Upload Book Resources Convert a Paperback Word File to PDF

Convert a Paperback Word File to PDF

For paperbacks, PDFs is preferable to Microsoft Word documents. PDF means "Portable Document Format" and doesn't depend on system limitations, printer characteristics, or available fonts. PDF documents will look the same on any computer. Browse the topics below to learn about converting your file from Word to PDF.

Common formatting issues and fixes

It's easier to see the formatting issues listed below if you change the view settings in Word. Try using:

Draft view. Go to the View tab and click on Draft in the "Views" section
Show formatting button. Go to the Home tab and click the Show/Hide Formatting (¶) button in the "Paragraph" section
Reveal formatting pane. Hold the "Shift" key and type "F1." Click on any content to view how the text is formatted and see links to the menus to make adjustments. You can also use the compare option to see how formatting differs from one selection to another
Navigation pane. Go to the View tab and click Navigation Pane in the "Show" section. When the pane opens, click Pages. This can help you see if page sizes differ

Page size

The page size must also be a page size in the PDF printer. To ensure this:

Go to File > Print
Select the AdobePDF printer and click on Printer Properties
On the Adobe PDF settings tab, click the Add button next to Adobe PDF Page Size
Give the page size a name, add dimensions, then click the Add/Modify button

The page size should now be available to select as a Print to PDF option.

Page numbers

Check your sections. To have separate page numbering for a section, unlink it from the previous section. To unlink sections, go to the Header/Footer toolbar
Set default printer to Adobe PDF before converting. Word re-paginates depending on the default printer

Page breaks

Search for unwanted page breaks. With the Show Formatting view selected, you'll be able to see page breaks and remove them.
Check Paragraph/Indents and Spacing settings. Make sure Spacing Before and/or Spacing After values aren't set too high
Check Paragraph/Line and Page Breaks and review settings for:
- Page Break Before. This inserts page breaks before paragraphs
- Keep With Next. This prevents page breaks between current and following paragraphs
- Keep Lines Together. This prevents page breaks within a paragraph
Check From Edge/Header or Footer settings. Make sure values aren't set too high because this will determine how far from the edge of the page Word places the header or footer

Blank pages

Word assumes that each sheet of paper has a front side and a back side. This means every odd page has an even page. When you start a new section, Word will start that new section on a new, odd page. If the last page of a section is an odd page or if page breaks are created with the "Odd page" option, this even page will not appear as a new page in Word, but Adobe sees the "Even" page in between as a blank and will insert a blank page. To avoid unwanted blank pages:

Use "Next page" section breaks. If you still have problems, change Section Break > Next page to Section Break > Continuous
If using mirror margins, use an even page section break
Hard page breaks (Ctrl + Enter) can be troublesome in Word. They can cause blank pages if used after a page break

Line spacing

Use style & paragraph formatting to keep lines of text together. Or check these settings if there's unintended spacing in your file. "Keep with next," "Keep lines together," and "Page break before" settings can keep your sections together or fix unwanted formatting.

Text alignment

Select the last paragraph. On the Home tab, go to Paragraphs > Line and Page Breaks > Pagination. Make sure all the boxes are unchecked.
On the View Tab, check show Navigation Pane. Select the page and go to the Page Layout tab. Then highlight that page and go to Page Setup > Layout > Page > Vertical alignment and make sure that it says Top and not Center. To apply this setting to the whole file, select all and ensure the setting is for Top.

Images

Word downsamples images by default when saving. Change this by going to File > Word Options > Advanced and check the "Do not compress images in file" box
Size your image to the intended size before placing in your Word file. Sizing up or down after placement will reduce resolution
Place your images; do not drag and drop. Drag and drop will reduce resolution
Choosing "Print to PDF" instead of "Save As PDF" will allow your images to remain at 300 PPI (pixels per inch)
Images missing? Go to File > Options > Display > Printing Options and check either or both, the "Print Background Colors and Images" box and the "Print Drawings Created in Word" box
Images still missing? This is often due to using a third-party PDF producer. Try a different producer

Embedded fonts

In your PDF, go to File > Properties. On the Font tab, there will be a list of all the fonts in the file. If embedded as a subset, this means only the characters used in the document are embedded. This can sometimes cause font problems because the full character map is not available when printed.

Some fonts will not embed if they're contained in a table or chart or brought over from another program like Excel. Certain fonts will not embed if the font file itself does not allow for commercial usage.

PDF size

In the PDF, click File > Properties. On the Description tab, the page size will be towards the bottom.

Check your settings

To help ensure your file looks as intended, we recommend checking your settings.

Creating a PDF

In the PDFMaker settings, leave the checkbox "Convert Document Information" unchecked. If it's checked, it can cause problems in the structure of the file.

Printing to PDF

When you print to the Adobe PDF printer or use PDFMaker, the document will reflow to best match the printer. For the best results:

Set Adobe PDF printer as the default printer. Under the File > Options > Advanced > Layout options dialog setting, check "Use printer metrics to lay out document"
Go to File > Print, select the AdobePDF printer, and click on Printer Properties
On the Adobe PDF settings tab, select "PDF/X-1a." If this option is not available on your system, select "High-Quality Print" or "Press Quality" from the list of presets

Embedding fonts

Embedding fonts is not set by default. Go to File > Options > Save and check the "Embed fonts in the file" box. Make sure the "Embed only the characters used in the document" and "Do no embed common system fonts" boxes are unchecked.

Tips for avoiding file rejections

Always make a copy of your file to work on before you format it. That way you'll have a clean backup.

Word document looks different depending on the computer

Word uses the default printer to display your document. Always use Adobe PDF or PDFMaker as the default printer to ensure that the Word file appears the same when using a different computer
Fonts that are installed on one computer may not be on another. In this case, the font will be replaced. The size and spacing of characters can vary significantly from one font to another. This can dramatically change the formatting

Word file is corrupted

A DOC file and a DOCX file are not the same and file formats should not be changed. DOCX files are capable of storing file information differently than DOC files. When you save a DOCX as a DOC, the file information is downgraded, which can corrupt a file.

Fixing a corrupted Word file

There are four ways to overwrite file errors or fix structure problems:

Rename the file. This can overwrite erroneous data introduced in previous saves.
Copy to a new document. Filed data is stored at the end of the document. Turn on Show formatting to see formatting marks. Copy everything but the last paragraph tag (¶), then paste into a new document.
Save the file as XML. This will fix file structure issues. The XML file can then be re-saved as a Word document.
Save the file as TXT. This will remove all formatting and any formatting errors that have been introduced to the file. Copy everything and paste into a new document. Then you can re-format your file.

Keyboard shortcuts to remove formatting

CTRL+Space. This removes all character-level formatting. Select text, then hold CTRL and press the space bar to remove fonts, underlining, boldface, and italics to return text to the default.
CTRL+Q. This removes all paragraph-level formatting. Select text, then hold QTRL and press Q to remove any line spacing, line before/after paragraphs, indents, etc.

Tips for Mac users

Convert the file to Rich Text Format (RTF) to preserve formatting. Re-open the RTF file in Word for Mac and convert it back to its native format. This can remove file damage
Copy everything except the last paragraph mark (¶) to a new document. The paragraph mark "holds" certain style and section formatting in Word for Mac. Leaving this mark behind will sometimes remove file damage
Click Select All from Edit menu, hold down Shift and press the Left Arrow key once. Release the Shift key
Click Copy from the Edit menu and then click New Blank Document from the File menu
In the new document, click Paste from Edit menu. You can then reapply style and section formatting
Copy all to a text-only file and then copy back to a new blank document in Word for Mac. This will remove all formatting and hopefully file damage from the file. But this will also require re-formatting

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