Word to PDF include Doc properties

[Rubberduckone]

Hi,

(Running Win 7, O'2010 Pro Plus UK, Word version: 14.0.7128.5000 (32-bit))

I have an automated Word process ending with the creation of a PDF file.

The Word file has for archiving purposes a number of custom doc properties, that are being set during the creation of the Word file.

Now I would also like to include the custom doc props in the PDF file and as far as I can see on the web this should be possible using O'2010's native 'Save as PDF' functionality - a checkbox option under the 'Options' button in the 'Save as' dialog.

http://chi2014.acm.org/authors/generate-a-tagged-pdf - "Word 2010 Natively" paragraph

However in my version of O'2010 - in the 'Options' dialog I have the same as shown in the above article - except the 'Document properties' checkbox.

As my version is also O'2010 - does anyone know if this feature is still:

• present in O'2010?
  a feature from an older version than mine or
  a feature from a newer version or
  does it require some sort of add-in...??

Any insights on this will be highly appreciated

[Rudi]

Hi,

This image is from Word 2007; it refers to the option to preserve document properties...

1.jpg

This image is from Word 2013; document properties is available if one does NOT tick the ISO 19005-1 compliant (PDF/A) option

2.jpg

[Rubberduckone]

Hi Rudi,

Thanks for the suggestion. However, I'm not having the ISO 19005-1 compliant (PDF/A) option checked and yet the 'Document properties' are hidden.

A colleague of mine suggested that it may be due to 'Policies' applied to the installation. Not sure if a standard policy exists for disabling inclusion of 'Doc props' for 'save as pdf'??

[Rudi]

The company I work for has some stringent policy lock downs, but most users here have the option available, so I doubt it is a policy issue. Do other users at your place of work have the feature available? If so, it might mean that your PC needs some update or something?

[HansV]

Yes, there is a policy setting for this:

The policy value for User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Microsoft Office 2010 > Microsoft Save As PDF and XPS add-ins “Disable inclusion of document properties in PDF and XPS output” must be set to “Enabled”.

The registry entry for this is located in HKEY_Current_User\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Common\FixedFormat. If there is an entry DisableFixedFormatDocProperties with value 1, Document Properties cannot be saved with PDF. If the value is 0 or if it doesn't exist, Document Properties can be saved with PDF.

[Rubberduckone]

Hi Hans,

Thanks for the tip. sounds like a very good place to start.

[Rubberduckone]

Hi Hans and Rudi,

Here's an update and a tip on an 'old story' :)

We were to use this functionality as you suggested until a colleague of mine took a deeper dive into the details and came across the below:

Extract: When a Word document is saved as PDF, the PDF file will not take over the properties from the Word document. Only few properties like Tags, Subject, Title will be carried over.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/offi ... 5e6?auth=1


...and after further investigation we found the below:

Extract: Word cannot save a PDF and retain these properties. However, if you have Adobe Acrobat installed, choose the Acrobat tab on the Ribbon, then Create PDF. Your custom properties will be saved in the PDF.

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Fo ... forum=word


Hopefully this can be of help, should others encounter or have similar problems

[Rubberduckone]

...and then the interesting part will be as to what extent the last step into 'Adobe acrobat' can be automated

[HansV]

Adobe Acrobat can be programmed using VBA. See for example Adobe Acrobat and VBA – An Introduction.