PDF differences (Microsoft and Adobe)

Question

Hi,
Can anyone tell me what the differences are between PDFs generated by the normal Microsoft Office, File --> Save As --> PDF option and those generated by Acrobat (e.g. from the Office Acrobat menu, or by dragging the Office document onto Acrobat)?
Rgds
Mike

Answer 1

Hi,
We had done some analysis and following are the specific areas where Acrobat PDFMaker outdoes MS “Save as PDF” functionality –
Word
Comments are retained as annotations in PDF, which can be exported back to the original Word document later.
Word Headings, Styles and Bookmarks can be retained in PDF using PDFMaker. MS “Save as PDF” provides the option to retain either Word Headings or Word Bookmarks, only one option at a time.
Retains intra/inter-document links, cross-references, endnotes and footnotes as links.
Creates rich accessible PDF(s).
Retains embedded Flash as RichMedia in PDF.
Mail Merge: Merge mail templates to Adobe PDF and optionally, mail them to recipients.
Import Comments: Import comments from the corresponding PDF back to the original Word document.
Convert signature fields specified by PDFMarks.
[Common to Word, Excel, PowerPoint]
Provides a list of Conversion Settings including –
PDF/A, PDF/X standards to choose from.
Various Joboptions to modulate the quality of output PDF.
Advanced Settings option to create customized Joboptions to control PDF compatibility, image compression algorithms, etc.
Option to secure output PDF with open password and/or password for editing PDF. Compression algorithms used depends upon the compatibility level set in the JobOption used:
Acrobat 4 – 40-bit RC4
Acrobat 5/6 – 128-bit RC4
Acrobat 7/8 – 128-bit AES
Option to attach source Office document.
Retains document information, including custom information.
Options to – a) Create and attach to Email, b) Create and Share for Review c) Create PDF and Run action
Excel
Provides option to either a) choose sheets to convert, b) selection or c) Entire Workbook.
Comments are retained as annotations in PDF.
Retains intra-document references as links in PDF.
Bookmarks worksheets.
Creates rich accessible PDF(s).
Provides options to: “Fit Worksheet to a single page”, “Fit to paper width” that helps preserve the look-and-feel of the source Workbook.
PowerPoint
Retains embedded Video, Audio and Flash as RichMedia in PDF.
Converts hidden slides as PDF pages.
Preserves slide transitions.
Creates rich accessible PDF(s).
Preserves Speaker Notes as annotations in PDF.
Bookmarks slides.
Retains intra/inter-document links.
Outlook
[Please NOTE, MS does not have a “Save as PDF” functionality for Outlook.]
Archive email conversations to structured PDF Portfolio(s), retaining folder/message information.
Retains attachments.
Creates indexed archives for faster search.
Let’s archival to be automated, providing options for it to be Daily, Weekly or Monthly.
Attach as Adobe PDF:
Attach as Secured Adobe PDF:
Thanks to my colleague who provided this info months ago. Hope this help.