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Save as pdf not working on Office 2003 and Windows 10

I am using MS Office 2003 running on Windows 10.  When I click "save as" in a Word file I am not offered pdf in the drop-down list of formats. When I use the print to pdf facility and click "save as pdf" I just see a flashing message telling me it's printing but no saved pdf file of that name appears anywhere in my system as far as I can see - just the original Word document. The only add-in facility offered by Microsoft for this is for Office 2011 not 2003.  I have tried downloading and installing that one but it makes no difference. I have read countless exchanges on many forums about this problem; none of the solutions suggested work for me - in fact usually I don't even see on my screen the buttons suggested for clicking on - I suspect because they are all operating different versions of Office and Windows, or are working on Macs.  Anybody had this problem on Office 2003 and Windows 10 and solved it?
You can add one of those freeware PDF converters that install as virtual PDF printers. That should do the trick. One example is PrimoPDF; another is CutePDF. Which one you prefer is a matter of taste.
Stefan Blom
Microsoft 365 Word MVP since 2005
Volunteer Moderator (Office)
MS 365, Win 11 Pro
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Please note that I do not work for Microsoft
MVP program info: https://mvp.microsoft.com/
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Office 2003 does not include PDF as one of it's save formats. That didn't become standard until 2010. So you'll have to use a third-party package to do this conversion for you. PrimoPDF is free and works fairly well, though it's file sizes can be quite large.
Author of "OOXML Hacking - Unlocking Microsoft Office's Secrets", ebook now out
John Korchok, Production Manager
production@brandwares.com

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Thank you Stefan. Most useful.

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Thank you John. Very useful to know that I must find an external solution. Could I do any better than this one by paying for a solution? I see lots of them offered for sale for just a few pounds on eBay.

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Inexpensive software may not be any better then free versions, but the only way to really find out is to pay, install and try them out. When I pay, I buy Adobe Acrobat, because it offers a lot of control and is the gold standard for compatibility.
Author of "OOXML Hacking - Unlocking Microsoft Office's Secrets", ebook now out
John Korchok, Production Manager
production@brandwares.com

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Thank you again John. Adobe Acrobat seem to charge just under £4 a month - nearly £50 a year.  Pretty expensive considering I have to keep paying them that forever if I don't want my system to revert to being useless for creating pdf files, isn't it?

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Freeware converters do the job sufficiently well in most cases, if you don't want to purchase Adobe Acrobat.
Stefan Blom
Microsoft 365 Word MVP since 2005
Volunteer Moderator (Office)
MS 365, Win 11 Pro
~~~~
Please note that I do not work for Microsoft
MVP program info: https://mvp.microsoft.com/
~~~~

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Last updated March 27, 2024 Views 2,434 Applies to: