Illustrator to Word to PDF

Question

Hi Everyone,
I need help publishing a PDF from a Word document full of diagrams created with Adobe Illustrator CS6. My diagrams are all vector. I am free to export them anyway I like. My Word doc has many cross-references, footnotes and Endnote references and a large table of contents. It is a few hundred pages long, with around 50 diagrams. I would like to preserve the original quality of the vector art and the intra-document clickable links.
Each step in the process has multiple possible paths, and each path often many options. There are 3 steps:
1) Export from Illustrator  to: .ai, .pdf, .eps, .wmf, .emf
          optional 1b) Convert (eg. use Acrobat to convert .ai to .doc, .eps or .ps)
2) Import to Word: drap and drop, file cut and paste,  insert picture, insert object, insert object linked to file, PDF Reflow (Word 2013). I tried them all.
3) Publish to PDF from Word. Many different paths...
  - Print to PDF:  I have AdobePDF, PDFCreator, NovaPDF printers installed
  - Save as... : Save as->AdobePDF or Save as->PDF or XPS
  - Plugin toolbars: Acrobat->CreatePDF, NovaPDF->Save as PDF, PDF Architect->Convert
or
  - Save as .doc and convert with Adobe Acrobat.
I have tried many different permutations. There are 4 possible errors:
E1 - The diagrams are converted into bitmaps.
E2 - The diagrams are 'linearised' - curves are converted into chains of linear sections
E3 - The diagrams are corrupted - text missing, characters changed, dotted lines become solid lines etc.
E4 - Hyperlinks are lost.
Here are some results of my tests.
I see no difference so far between Word 2007 and Word 2013. Results below stand for both.
There is no difference between Word->Acrobat->CreatePDF and Acrobat->Convert Word to PDF.
Illustrator -> AI -> Acrobat -> Word almost works, but diagrams are corrupted in various ways (eg. dashed lines become solid).
When export from Illustrator as EPS level 2, EPS level 3, EMF, WMF and PDF and get different results depending on the path to PDF:
No links preserved:
Word->Print to AdobePDF:    Good: eps2, eps3, emf    Bad: PDF (E1), wmf (E2)
Word->Print to PDFArchitect: Good: eps2, eps3, emf    Bad: PDF (E1), wmf (E2)
Word->Print to PDFCreator:  Good: eps2, eps3, emf    Bad: PDF (E1), wmf (E2)
Word->Print to NovaPDF:      Good: -  Bad: eps2 (E2), eps3 (E2/E3), emf (E3), PDF (E1), wmf (E2)
Word->Toolbar->PDFArchitect: Simply prints with current postscript printer. One of above.
Links preserved:
Word->Save as AdobePDF:  Good: -  Bad: eps2 (E2), eps3 (E2/E3), emf (E3), PDF (E1), wmf (E2)
Word->Save as PDForXPS:  Good: -  Bad: eps2 (E2), eps3 (E2/E3), emf (E1), PDF (E1), wmf (E2)
Word->Toolbar->Acrobat:    Good: -  Bad: eps2 (E2), eps3 (E2/E3), emf (E3), PDF (E1), wmf (E2)
Word->Toolbar->NovaPDF:  Good: -  Bad: eps2 (E2), eps3 (E2/E3), emf (E3), PDF(E1)
So, only the "Word->Print to PDF" pathways provide good quality vector diagrams, but none of these preserve intra-document links.
Please, anyone have a solution for this?
Kind Regards,
MM
ps. I have:
- Adobe Creative Cloud CS6 (Illustrator, Acrobat etc. all latest versions)
- Word 2007 (latest version (SP3 12.0.6683.5002))
- Word 2013 (Office 365 latest version)
- Access to a Mac with Word 2011.
- and I am happy to install any software that may help me achieve my goal.

Answer 1

Hi,
> This doesn't really have anything to do with what formats you use
How so? Every format produces different results. EPS level 3 is unusable, EMF is unpredictable, and EPS level 2 is consistent, but curves are converted into small line segments. If I have to choose one, then I need to understand the pros and cons of each.
Second, given that there's a difference between EPS level 2 and 3, it's clear that the export options in Illustrator do make a difference.
> it's simply inherent in how Word deals with this stuff based on its internal resolution handling.
I don't think it has anything to do with resolution. It is more a question of whether Word re-interprets the data, and in the process corrupts or alters it, or not. We can see that when a Print to PDF is performed, it passes the data through without alteration perfectly.
It's only when I use one of the Save to PDF paths that it corrupts the vector data.
If I didn't need hyperlinks, I wouldn't have a problem.
Essentially what I need is for the diagrams to be embedded as post-script in the Word document without being re-interpreted.
> PNGs for the diagrams would be much more reliable.
No thanks. I have created lots of lovely vector diagrams and I would like to keep them that way.
EPS level 2, even without true curves, still looks better than a bitmap.
> Otherwise you might consider using MS Publisher
I repeated the same tests above with MS Publisher. Everything was converted to bitmaps. This route is a dead-end.
So, for a 300 hundred page thesis, full of vector diagrams as well as cross-references, Endnote references and footnotes, what software do people recommend?
MM