Conversion Troubleshooting Guide

Solve common DOC/DOCX conversion problems with proven solutions and expert tips

📄

Formatting Issues

Document looks wrong after PDF conversion

📦

Large File Size

PDF too big after conversion

🔤

Text Encoding

Strange characters appear

⚡

Conversion Fails

Large files crash or timeout

🔒

Password Protection

Converting protected documents

📄

Document Looks Wrong After PDF Conversion

Formatting, fonts, images, or layout issues in converted PDF

🔍 Common Causes

  • Missing or non-embedded fonts
  • Complex layouts with text boxes or shapes
  • Incompatible image formats or resolutions
  • Unsupported Word features (SmartArt, WordArt)
  • Different page margins or paper sizes
  • Track changes or comments still visible

🛠️ Step-by-Step Solutions

Check Font Compatibility

Ensure all fonts used in your document are common system fonts or properly embedded. Replace unusual fonts with standard ones like Arial, Times New Roman, or Calibri.

Word → File → Options → Save → Embed fonts in the file

Optimize Images and Graphics

Compress images and ensure they're in compatible formats (JPEG, PNG). Avoid using Word's built-in drawing tools for complex graphics.

Use PDF Export Settings

In Word, use File → Export → Create PDF/XPS and click "Options" to configure:

  • Optimize for: Print or Minimum size
  • Include: Document structure tags
  • PDF options: ISO 19005-1 compliant (PDF/A)

Clean Up Document

Remove track changes, comments, and hidden content before conversion:

Review → Track Changes → Accept All Changes Review → Delete → Delete All Comments File → Info → Check for Issues → Inspect Document

💡 Pro Tip

Create a test PDF with just the first page to quickly identify formatting issues before converting the entire document. This saves time when troubleshooting large documents.

🚀 Quick Fixes

Font Issues: Replace custom fonts with Arial or Times New Roman
Layout Problems: Convert text boxes to regular paragraphs
Image Quality: Compress images to 220 DPI for print, 150 DPI for web
Table Issues: Simplify complex table layouts and borders
📦

Reduce PDF Size After DOCX Conversion

PDF file is too large for sharing or storage

🔍 Size Culprits

  • High-resolution images and graphics
  • Embedded fonts (especially custom ones)
  • Uncompressed content
  • Multiple revisions and tracked changes
  • Hidden objects and metadata

🛠️ Size Reduction Methods

Optimize Before Conversion

In Word, compress images before creating PDF:

Select image → Picture Tools → Compress Pictures Choose resolution: Email (96 DPI) or Web (150 DPI) Check "Delete cropped areas of pictures"

Use Minimum Size PDF Settings

When saving as PDF, select "Minimum size (publishing online)":

  • Images compressed to 150 DPI
  • Automatic font subsetting
  • Structure optimization enabled

Post-Conversion Compression

Use PDF compression tools:

  • Adobe Acrobat: File → Save As Other → Reduced Size PDF
  • Online tools: SmallPDF, PDF Compressor
  • Free software: PDFtk, Ghostscript

✅ Target Size Guidelines

Email: Under 10MB | Web: Under 5MB | Mobile: Under 2MB

⚡ Advanced Compression

# Using Ghostscript (command line) gs -sDEVICE=pdfwrite -dCompatibilityLevel=1.4 -dPDFSETTINGS=/ebook \ -dNOPAUSE -dBATCH -sOutputFile=compressed.pdf input.pdf # Settings explained: # /screen - Lowest quality, smallest size # /ebook - Medium quality, good for viewing # /printer - High quality, larger size
🔤

Text Encoding Problems

Strange characters, symbols, or garbled text appear

🔍 Common Encoding Issues

  • Non-Latin characters (Cyrillic, Asian, Arabic)
  • Special symbols and mathematical notation
  • Smart quotes and dashes
  • Legacy document encoding (ANSI vs UTF-8)
  • Font substitution problems

🛠️ Encoding Solutions

Check Document Encoding

Verify your document uses proper encoding:

File → Options → Advanced → Web Options → Encoding Select "Unicode (UTF-8)" for maximum compatibility

Embed Fonts for Special Characters

Ensure fonts containing special characters are embedded:

File → Options → Save → Embed fonts in the file Check "Embed only the characters used in the document"

Convert Smart Quotes

Replace smart quotes with standard ones if causing issues:

Find & Replace (Ctrl+H): Find: " (smart quote) Replace: " (standard quote) Repeat for other smart punctuation

Use Unicode-Compatible Fonts

For multilingual documents, use fonts with wide Unicode support:

  • Arial Unicode MS (comprehensive)
  • Times New Roman (good for most languages)
  • Calibri (modern, wide support)
  • Noto fonts (Google's Unicode fonts)

⚠️ Prevention Tip

Always use UTF-8 encoding and Unicode-compatible fonts when creating multilingual documents. Test conversion with a small sample before processing large documents.

⚡

Conversion Fails for Large Files

Crashes, timeouts, or errors with big documents

🔍 Why Large Files Fail

  • Insufficient memory (RAM) for processing
  • Software timeout limits
  • Too many high-resolution images
  • Complex formatting and embedded objects
  • Network timeouts (online converters)
  • File corruption or damaged content

🛠️ Solutions for Large Files

Split the Document

Divide large documents into smaller sections:

  • Create separate files for each chapter/section
  • Convert each part individually
  • Merge PDFs using tools like PDFtk or Adobe Acrobat

Optimize Before Conversion

Reduce file complexity:

# Compress images Select all images → Format → Compress Pictures → Use best compression # Remove unused styles Home → Styles → Manage Styles → Remove unused # Clear formatting Select all text → Clear Formatting

Use Desktop Software

Desktop applications handle large files better than online services:

  • Microsoft Word (native conversion)
  • Adobe Acrobat (professional features)
  • LibreOffice (free alternative)
  • Pandoc (command-line, very efficient)

Increase System Resources

Optimize your system for large file processing:

  • Close other applications to free RAM
  • Increase virtual memory/swap file
  • Use SSD storage for faster processing
  • Process during off-peak hours

💡 File Size Guidelines

Online converters: Usually limited to 25-100MB
Desktop software: Can handle GBs but may be slow
Optimal size: Under 50MB for reliable conversion

🔒

Converting Password-Protected Documents

Handling documents with read/write protection

🔍 Types of Protection

  • Password to open the document
  • Password to modify content
  • Read-only recommendation
  • Restricted editing (forms, comments only)
  • Information Rights Management (IRM)

🛠️ Handling Protected Documents

Open with Password

If you have the password, open the document normally:

1. Double-click the protected document 2. Enter the password when prompted 3. Convert as usual once opened

Remove Protection (If Authorized)

Remove protection before conversion if you have rights:

File → Info → Protect Document → Encrypt with Password Clear the password field and click OK OR Review → Restrict Editing → Stop Protection

Save as Unprotected Copy

Create an unprotected version for conversion:

  • File → Save As → new filename
  • Choose different format (DOCX to DOC or vice versa)
  • Convert the unprotected copy

Use Specialized Tools

Some tools can handle protected documents directly:

  • Adobe Acrobat (can convert some protected files)
  • Able2Extract (handles various protections)
  • Pandoc (may bypass some restrictions)

⚠️ Legal Notice

Only remove protection from documents you own or have explicit permission to modify. Bypassing security measures may violate copyright laws and organizational policies.

🔐 Adding Protection to Converted Files

Protect your converted PDFs:

Password Protection: Add open/modify passwords in PDF export options
Printing Restrictions: Disable printing in PDF security settings
Copy Prevention: Restrict text copying and content extraction
Digital Signatures: Add certificates for authenticity