Microsoft Word problem with PDF Mac OS

Question

Using Word from Office 2011 under Snow Leopard, if I use the normal 'Print>Save as PDF' the resulting PDF makes my Acrobat Pro 9 hang and I have to force quit it. Saving the files a .doc format makes no difference. I did not have this problem with Office 2004 and Snow Leopard.
If instead I open the resulting PDF in Preview and then run 'Print>Save as Adobe PDF' the file will work in Acrobat 9.
Excel does produce a working PDF via the  'Print>Save as PDF' route as does Mail.
Thanks in advance for any thoughts?

Answer 1

I, too unexpectedly ran into this problem yesterday while doing my [usually] routine client billing. I have an invoice template in MS Word (now version 2011), and I create PDF copies and email them to my clients.
I spent half the day yesterday trying to get to the bottom of this issue, and it was certainly comforting to see in the forum that at least a few other people are experiencing the same symptoms. I have now verified everything that others have reported in this thread:
1. The problem occurs when saving a text document (MS Word 2011 or Apple Text Edit in Rich Text mode) to PDF using the PDF conversion tools in the Mac OS Print dialog (Save as PDF or Save as Adobe PDF).
2. The problem only occurs when your document contains OpenType PostScript fonts (e.g Adobe's Myriad Pro, Minion Pro, etc.) The problem does not occur when you're document contains only Adobe PostScript Type 1 fonts, TrueType fonts, or OpenType True Type fonts from Microsoft (e.g. Calibri or Cambria)
3. Apple's Preview application is impervious to this problem, but Adobe Acrobat 9 (Mac or PC) chokes on files generated this way.
4. If you generate the PDF using the simple "Save as PDF" in the Mac OS Print dialog, the file will seemingly save ok, but Acrobat 9 will hang when it tries to open the file.
5. If you generate the PDF using the "Save as Adobe PDF" option in the Mac OS Print dialog, the PDF exporter will hang, and the file will not get generated.
6. If you generate the PDF by saving the PDF Preview from Word or by opening the "simply" generated PDF in Apple Preview and then re-save the PDF, Acrobat 9 will open the file but display alphabet soup wherever the OpenType PostScript font was used.
7. For some reason, neither Excel and PowerPoint 2011 seem to exhibit this problem when using OpenType PostScript fonts and exporting to PDF from the Mac OS Print dialog.
Now, here's the clincher: This problem DOES NOT OCCUR if your Mac is running the previous version of Snow Leopard (OS X 10.6.6).
I purchased a new MacBook Pro laptop a couple months ago, and about two weeks ago, Apple pushed out what they called the Mac OS X 10.6.7 update for "early 2011 MacBookPro computers." Naturally, I installed the updgrade back then, and this is the first time I've exercised the PDF export from Word since then.
I also have a MacPro tower, which is still running OS 10.6.6, and I can export PDF documents contaiing OpenType PostScript fonts with no problem in Acrobat from that machine.
Bottom Line: Apple's latest Snow Leopard upgrade to OS 10.6.7 is causing this problem, but getting it fixed is going to require cooperation between Apple, Adobe and Microsoft...
In the mean time, if you're using Apple's Time Machine and you want to revert your Mac OS to version 10.6.6, here's a link to an Apple Tech Note about how to do that: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/15216.html
I've contacted Tech Support at all three companies, and of course, each one thinks that it's the other comany's problem...but perhaps since this essentially an Adobe Acrobat issue, Adobe can take the lead in troubleshooting it.
Bob K