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Microsoft Word 2011 Help Needed ASAP- Text Effect Changes on PDF

cbcampbell818

cbcampbell818

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 21, 2015
10
0
Hello,

I'm using Microsoft Word 2011 on my Macbook Pro to create my resume. Some of the sections are titled with orange text with an emboss effect on it. It looks incredible on Microsoft Word but when I save it as a pdf the effect looks completely different and horrible.

Here is how it SHOULD look:
B8hc4AU.png


Here's how it looks on the PDF:
nGHzs3z.png


It's NOT a font issue as the rest of my resume has this same font and displays perfectly on the PDF. My guess is somehow PDF doesn't recognize the emboss effect. It kind of looks like the drop shadow gained distance somehow...

Just for the record I am reading it on Adobe Reader 10.1.12.

I know this sounds like a very noobish (odd how spellcheck doesn't react to that word...) question and maybe there's no answer but if anyone does know anything about how to fix this or work around it I'd be extremely appreciative. My resume looks great but this is the only thing keeping it from perfection.

Thanks in advance!
 
cbcampbell818 said:
Hello,

I'm using Microsoft Word 2011 on my Macbook Pro to create my resume. Some of the sections are titled with orange text with an emboss effect on it. It looks incredible on Microsoft Word but when I save it as a pdf the effect looks completely different and horrible.

Here is how it SHOULD look:
B8hc4AU.png


Here's how it looks on the PDF:
nGHzs3z.png


It's NOT a font issue as the rest of my resume has this same font and displays perfectly on the PDF. My guess is somehow PDF doesn't recognize the emboss effect. It kind of looks like the drop shadow gained distance somehow...

Just for the record I am reading it on Adobe Reader 10.1.12.

I know this sounds like a very noobish (odd how spellcheck doesn't react to that word...) question and maybe there's no answer but if anyone does know anything about how to fix this or work around it I'd be extremely appreciative. My resume looks great but this is the only thing keeping it from perfection.

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

I am not sure what is causing the drop shadow affect that is applied to your headers to distance itself further away when you save your Word Document as a PDF. I am using MS Word 2011 Version 14.5.3 and Adobe Reader Version 11.0.12 on my iMac.

I have just created a Word Document resume with the exact same drop shadow headers and saved it as a PDF. When I open it in Adobe Reader it is exactly the same as the Word Doc. A suggestion I do have though, is to remove one of the drop shadows. You really should not have two drop shadows applied. It is plugging in you font. One will give you a better looking effect and will open up your font more. Please remember only a suggestion.

I am also hoping removing one of the drop shadows may help with your problem. I am not an expert with Word but I do have some other thoughts if this does not work.
 
firedept said:
I am not sure what is causing the drop shadow affect that is applied to your headers to distance itself further away when you save your Word Document as a PDF. I am using MS Word 2011 Version 14.5.3 and Adobe Reader Version 11.0.12 on my iMac.

I have just created a Word Document resume with the exact same drop shadow headers and saved it as a PDF. When I open it in Adobe Reader it is exactly the same as the Word Doc. A suggestion I do have though, is to remove one of the drop shadows. You really should not have two drop shadows applied. It is plugging in you font. One will give you a better looking effect and will open up your font more. Please remember only a suggestion.

I am also hoping removing one of the drop shadows may help with your problem. I am not an expert with Word but I do have some other thoughts if this does not work.
Click to expand...

Thank you for replying!

Well that's the thing, I don't have any drop shadows. All I have on the text is the emboss effect, I do follow your logic though.
 
rhett7660 said:
What happens if you print to PDF as opposed to saving it as a PDF file?
Click to expand...

Thank you for replying!

Haven't tried that before, how do you mean 'print to pdf'? Like saving it to pdf through the print window? Because if so that is what I did before.
 
I have tried everything to recreate your problem and can not do it. I have tried Save As, Save, Save to PDF from Print, Open in Preview, Open in Acrobat Pro X And Acrobat Reader. Have you tried opening your PDF in any other readers such as Preview? Just wondering if thr reader was rendering something funny.

I should have been more clear about the embossed effect, it is created with the use of a curve and shadows. For some strange reason, it seems to be distancing itself away from your font upon saving.
 
firedept said:
I have tried everything to recreate your problem and can not do it. I have tried Save As, Save, Save to PDF from Print, Open in Preview, Open in Acrobat Pro X And Acrobat Reader. Have you tried opening your PDF in any other readers such as Preview? Just wondering if thr reader was rendering something funny.

I should have been more clear about the embossed effect, it is created with the use of a curve and shadows. For some strange reason, it seems to be distancing itself away from your font upon saving.
Click to expand...

Interesting theory, let me try...

-One test later-

Well now this IS weird. So I opened it in preview, and while there is still some distancing of the shadows, it's nowhere near as drastic as when I open it in reader and resembles much more closely the original. Curiouser and curiouser...
 
Man this is really weird. Could you try another effect and see if it will render properly when you save as a PDF. Let's see if it is just that effect or all of the effects that are similar in design. Just throwing things out there.
 
firedept said:
Man this is really weird. Could you try another effect and see if it will render properly when you save as a PDF. Let's see if it is just that effect or all of the effects that are similar in design. Just throwing things out there.
Click to expand...

Survey says...

I tried outline and for the most part that came out normally. It looked a bit more faded but nothing as drastically different as the emboss's differences.
 
Just giving you another alternative to design. Is there a second choice in effects that will work for you and work with the export to PDF?

Edit: Maybe another thought. Save as Word Document, Open in Pages and Export as PDF and have a look at it. I know it may be the long way around and a long shot but if it works for you, at least it is a solution.
 
Last edited:
rhett7660 said:
I am glad I am not the only one scratching my head at this.........
Click to expand...

I normally do not work with Word, but do enough in it to know that it should not be doing this for the OP. I usually work in Pages or InDesign depending on the project.

But, yeah I have tried a lot of trouble shooting with it here and just can not think of why that effect is distancing itself on the save.
 
Thank you everyone, but I've just decided to grin and bare it. Thank you very much for your help though!
 
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