Getting Word Documents to Print Correctly: Easy As 1-2-3

When you use a font in just about any word processing or design application, it doesn't actually copy or embed the font into the document. And when you place a photo in a Word document, it embeds it in a way that's impossible to extract the photo if it needs modification. These issues can cause a problem when working with Microsoft Word. Luckily it is a problem that's easy to fix.

You see, MS Word does not support gathering elements, unlike some graphics applications such as InDesign. That means it uses what’s on the customer’s computer and does not warn us if it is missing any fonts. Also different versions of Word handle fonts differently. This has been a problem for a long time, yet we can solve it very easily.

There is a quick function in Word that allows the user to save a PDF right out of the application without any problems. When you go to print there is a PDF function tab on the lower left hand side. You can save the document as a PDF right there.

1. Open the Print dialog box in Word:

2. Choose the PDF menu from the lower right corner:

3. Save your Word document as a PDF document and send us the PDF instead: