Loss of XL table border / line formatting when converting to PDF

Does this problem occur if you insert the affected image as a linked object instead of using paste special? What version of Excel and OS are you running?

Many thanks for the suggestion .... but whatever way I try to do insert/paste this the result is the same.

If I convert from XL directly to pdf there is no problem; however this does not suit my layout needs and is not a viable option most of the time.

Sometimes when I paste an XL table into a word document the lines will also appear to be of different thickness. But when the document is magnified this issue disappears and the lines are equal thickness.

I've just tried doing the same thing on a friends system. Exactly the same problem with the pdf conversion returning lines of different thickness. However on printing - with a laserjet the lines were actually the same size (i.e. screen showed varying thickness; print out equal thickness). I tried back on my system - with a colour deskjet - and both screen and print out were of varying thickness.

Any ideas ?

I use XL 2003 SP3 on XP 2002 SP2

Just curious, have you tried to convert the image into another format such as EPS before placing in Word? There was an issue in Acrobat 6/7 where the PostScript driver created a bit mask and a color image to reduce the file size when it drew images. When Acrobat resamples 1-bit images on-screen, it doesn't resample the bitmask, and part of it may appear as black lines or a border around an image due to inexact alignment of the bitmask and the color image.
Do you get any change in behavior if you change the following Preference:
Choose Edit > Preferences under the Page Display category:Deselect Smooth Line Art and Smooth Images.

I refer to the issue of incorrect rendering of table borders and other line types by Acrobat.

This occurs when converting a simple MS Word 2003 doc.

Version: Acrobat 3D, 8.1.2, as part of the Tech Comm Suite.

Please note that I have NOT experienced this problem when creating PDF from FrameMaker.

Further to my above post, I imported the Word doc to FrameMaker and produced PDF from the latter. The tables came out exactly as they should.

So the problem is in the MS Word-Acrobat interface.

Converting Word (table) to pdf - lines screwed up - googled as far back as 2004 - BUG STILL exists. HELP/FIX PLEASE?
http://www.pcreview.co.uk/forums/missing-table-lines-conversion-pdf-t878406.php
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/305508

Trying to convert any word doc with tables (& shading) to PDF
- basic table, black borders throughout
- shaded headings, black outline border
- shaded subheadings, black outline border

However when convert to PDF:
- 'displays' NO top cell border for some/all shaded rows
- shows diff thickness lines
- each conversion, diff lines missing/incorrectly sized
- however converted pdf prints perfectly fine

Adobe know about the bug, per PRMW's (Paul's) post on 2009-07-15 15:44:34, however only offered a painful time consuming workaround using non-freeware Adobe Pro:
http://acrobatusers.com/forum/pdf-creation/word-pdf-table-lines-missing-or-faded#comment-78139
- "It is not feasable to edit 200+ tables in the PDF every time the PDF is generated, as we maintain the original in word.
- "This complete issue seems to have been passed off by Adobe as no problem and that there is a work around. I consider this an unsatisfactory response from a major product supplier.

Microsoft TechNet & NitroPdf said it's an Adobe issue & to contact Adobe to fix the bug.Tried, but proble exists:
* Word 2010 > File > Save & Send > Create PDF/XPS Document
* Word 2010 > Save As > Pdf
* Word 2010 > Print > PrimoPdf (even tried properties > advanced > dpi 300/600/2400) > Custom
* Word 2010 > Print > doPDF v7 (even tried 'high quality images)
* Word 2010 > Print > PDFCreator
* Word 2010 > Print > CutePdf Writer (even worse)
* Nitro Pdf Reader > Convert From File > (even worse)
* www.pdfonline.com > Word to Pdf (even worse)
* www.wordtopdf.com > email: Sorry, an unexpected conversion failure occurred when converting your file.Software:
* Word 2010 - tried with .docx & .doc (97 to 2003)
* Adobe Reader 8.2.6 (freeware), then upgraded to Adobe Reader X 10.0.1 (freeware)
* GhostScript 9.01 w32 (freeware)
* CutePdf Writer (freeware)
* PrimoPdf (freeware)
* Nitro Pdf Reader 1.4.0.11 (freeware)
* doPDF 7.2.361 (freeware)
* PDFCreator 1.2.0 (opensource - www.pdfforge.org)

Seems to display better at 300%, but lines still not right (even at 2400%), but who views pdf's at this zoom?

in Word thicken the lines (obvious)
in Reader, on preferences > page display > 'rendering' section, be sure to select 'enhance thin lines'

The document prints perfectly fine as a pdf (same as displays & prints in Word), it just displays incorrectly on screen as a PDF - lines of different thicknesses (some appear invisible) - not professional looking at all! Need it to print & look the same way, not look crappy but print fine OR look fine but print crappy.....Thanks for your suggestion *rbogie*, it does seem an _obvious_ answer but it is not that simple. Problems still persist.

Sure in 'display pdf' mode it makes the invisible lines actually appear, but the other lines are then too thick, they show as different thicknesses - still very unprofessional looking. Also when printed the lines look way too thick but at least they look the same thickness.

I'm using Acrobat Reader 8.2.6
Edit > Preferences > Rendering - there is no 'enhance thin lines' (or similar)
View > Line Weights - makes all lines appear thin when in fact I have lines of different thicknesses throughout it for a reason.......Still after a FIX :)

Has anyone found a solution to this?
I am also struggling with lost formatting of table borders when converting to pdf. Pasting the table in Word as a "Picture (Enhanced Metafile)" doesn't seem to work either.

Nope. Reported it to Adobe, they blamed Microsoft, reported to Microsoft, they blamed Adobe.

However I did notice that the problem seems to occur when there's spacing between the text & the borders (eg: paragraph formatting or an extra return but only say 2font).

I can be specific about a similar problem with Table borders. I just today purchased Adobe x standard in hopes of fixing this issue: We use MS 2003 Excel and Word. We copy and paste tables in Excel from data tables coming from SPSS. THey have to be re-configured in Excel. We eliminate all old borders and put in new 1 pt borders. They all look fine in Excel. We then create text boxes in a word document, since these tables need to move around a page and fit snuggly together. Then we convert to Adobe pdf in order to add a cover to the report. This is why we need Adobe full version instead of Reader. The tables do the same thing as described in this Forum: some are light grey, some are invisible all together and some fade to grey in between lines. However, when the pdf doc is enlarged to 200%, the lines appear fine and all borders are 1 pt! Also, the report prints fine with all borders showing. We often have 50 tables in a report so re doing them all is not an option. Someonetold me xpro may solve this issue? I tohught maybe an upgrade to 2007, but this Forum tells me the problem is the same.
Is there a way to post a sample in the Forum? Thanks...

jimz,

Consider using a free acrobat.com account. Place the file there & share the link to the file here.
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