Export word document with high resolution PNG to PDF

I have a nice high resolution PNG. (Download from Dropbox) When I paste this into a new Word document, it looks good. I can't zoom in more than 500% but at that zoom level all lines are smooth, as expected.

Now I click File > Save as and select PDF from the Dropdown. From Tool > Compress Images (right next to the save button) I select "use document resolution". Then, I hit save.

Expected: The image in the PDF (viewed in Adobe Reader) should have a similar quality as the PNG.

Reality: The Image is much worse than the PNG. Maybe downsampled to 96ppi.

Notes:

When I am in the save dialog and I go again to Tools > Compress Images, the selected option is reverted to "E-Mail (96 dpi)"
I tried the same thing on a diffewrent computer with Word 2013, but no luck.
I tried a different PDF viewer - same image quality
I tried to encode normal 96 ppi within the PNG and resize the image in word.
The option "do not compress images in file" is enabled. This option: ()
This is a reduced problem, so please don't suggest GIMP. My real file has some text in it. Until now I am just reluctant of redoing it all in LaTeX.
The problem gets worse, when the image is further reduced within word. This points to a resampling going on when the pdf is created.

Additional thing I have tried:

When I use "Printing (220ppi)" instead of "document resolution" there is no discernible difference. (After all I thought that "document resolution" means that no resampling takes place and the full resolution is used.)
Exporting to XPS format has the same characteristics.

Question: How can I preserve the image quality when exporting to PDF?

DasKrümelmonster

Posted 2013-09-15T14:39:16.147

Reputation: 736

1OP, this now 2 1/2 year old question is still getting answers, some not-very-high quality. Please select an answer so this can close. – JoelAZ – 2018-02-18T20:21:25.133

Yes like yours JoelAZ was not very high quality in my experience today, it didn't work any better than the inbuilt windows option and installed unwanted software on my computer. – Christopher John – 2019-06-05T16:38:40.357

http://wordtopdfimage.blogspot.com/2012/02/preserve-image-quality-when-saving-from.html – StixO – 2019-12-10T20:09:53.157

4Compliments to this very accurate and neatly detailed question! I wished every question would be like this. What kind of Office are you running? I gave it a shot with Office 2007, Microsoft's PDF plugin, a high-res png and the pdf came out alright – Zerobinary99 – 2013-09-15T14:51:54.583

Thanks :-) I use Word 2010, but have the same issue with Word 2013 on my laptop. – DasKrümelmonster – 2013-09-15T14:53:22.727

1FWIW I don't know of a way other than using a 3rd-party PDF maker with the relevant higher-res settings. – None – 2013-09-15T15:32:45.323

I would use Ginmp to open the PNG files and then export each to PDF. Check the result for quality and see if it's up to your standard. :) – Darius – 2014-04-17T18:14:02.660

Answers

If you are using Windows 10 then you are lucky: you don’t need any third party PDF printer. Windows 10 comes with a PDF printer called Microsoft PDF Printer that you can make use of. I tried and it printed with decent resolution.

If running on Windows 8.1 or below, or requiring more functionality/better quality, JoelAZ’s answer is better. Just pay attention to where you download.

Franklin Yu

Posted 2013-09-15T14:39:16.147

Reputation: 413

6The "Microsoft Print to PDF" Printer retains the image quality better than the "Save as PDF" function, but looses quality nonetheless. The resolution is higher (maybe 600dpi?) but there are some JPEG artifacts visible. This uses no third party software and will be adequate for many use cases, therefore I'm marking this as answer for visibility. For getting the best image quality I'd recommend the answer from @JoelAZ. – DasKrümelmonster – 2018-02-21T09:35:03.450

Neither the windows PDF printer or the pdfcreator preserve high quality image resolution in the PDF for me. – Christopher John – 2019-06-05T14:34:54.927

@ChristopherJohn It has been commented above that Microsoft PDF Printer is expected to lose some quality. If you have question about pdfcreator, I recommend asking JoelAZ since I don't use it myself… Sorry. – Franklin Yu – 2019-06-05T15:07:12.107

OK I got it to work, basically you need adobe DC and to customise the settings for PDF printing so that there is no image compression. Now the PDF images are perfect. – Christopher John – 2019-06-05T16:34:09.117

1I'm baffled as to why this is the accepted answer. Today I'm specifically attempting to export a DOCX to PDF. It looks fantastic printed to an actual printer, but abysmally pixelated via the Microsoft PDF Printer. But I've been down this road before, and I've never seen good performance out of that "printer" with images containing detail or text. (E.g. with screenshots for software documentation in this case.) This answer even says that JoelAZ's answer is better, as the original question was indeed concerned with quality. – s.co.tt – 2019-09-26T18:29:48.017

And while it may provide better image quality, you lose functionality like hyperlinks to references. – TJJ – 2020-02-26T19:46:15.437

Any easier solution might be to forego the in-built pdf conversion and use a pdf printer (I use pdfcreator) You'll likely find finer grained control (including DPI settings of the printout - start w/ 600x600 but it supports up to 2400x2400 iirc).

This may be an easier solution as it won't force you to reformat existing docs. It's also free.

As discussed in comments, at some point pdfcreator was engaged in installing some unwanted software along with their package. I believe they have since stopped this practice but to ensure you do not ever have to deal with or think about this I suggest using Ninite to install. Ninite's installer will strip out all the BS (if any) and install silently for you, which is nice. You can also re-run the ninite installer any time to update the software, again without any BS. Just in case.

JoelAZ

Posted 2013-09-15T14:39:16.147

Reputation: 537

Thanks! Should be the answer IMO. When installing PDFCreator, I suggest using Expert Mode > Deselect PDFArchitect (60MB!) + help files/languages. When printing, default settings worked a charm for me. – Dunc – 2014-10-08T09:53:14.257

Wow. It might be free, but it has been a while that I saw so many spamware in a download. I thought I ticked everything off and now I still end up with my Chrome default search settings screwed up. – Dirk Boer – 2015-04-10T10:47:09.687

Well @JoelAZ, I don't know when it was the last time that you tried it, but nowadays the bundle comes with BingProtect. And that's a really horrible one. Even trying to set back your search engine in the settings is being overridden by this malware. Despite that, the uninstaller didn't work. http://blog.mitechmate.com/how-to-remove-bingprotect-virus/ I'd say that's pretty evil. Anyone who is not a nerd like us would be really screwed.

– Dirk Boer – 2015-04-11T08:21:35.643

@DirkBoer wow sorry to hear the trouble it's caused you. I actually use it still I just haven't installed without ninite in quite a while so haven't seen native installer lately. It's a shame they ruin a good product with such foolish shenanigans. Apologies my recommendation caused you grief or harm Dirk. – JoelAZ – 2015-04-11T14:45:19.300

Hi @JoelAZ no problem of course! You couldn't know what they would do with those installers. Just wanted to let people know that they should be really careful with this one. – Dirk Boer – 2015-04-11T14:49:25.263

And just to be clear: maybe I did screw up with one of the ticks, but I think BingProtect.exe is a really horrible type of Malware - and way worse than just a simple change of your homepage. – Dirk Boer – 2015-04-11T14:50:33.847

1@DirkBoer I'm not familiar with bingprotect but in the past it was either Ask toolbar or Yahoo toolbar. Annoying but not truly hurtful. This bingprotect thing sounds like they've crossed the bridge from tacky behavior to shady. Hopefully others users will take heed. – JoelAZ – 2015-04-13T02:58:38.240

I think recently Windows 10 comes with a printer called Microsoft Print to PDF.

– Franklin Yu – 2018-01-22T20:53:01.213

@FranklinYu seems you are correct. I had to check to see if there was such a thing :) Much more simplistic but I'm sure it's perfect for majority users and basic tasks. Fwiw, I'm still using pdf creator for sefl and all my clients. Works fantastic and flexibility is very nice. I think the devs ultimately came around on the spamming toolbars/shit-ware BS but I still install w/ ninite because why not so I'm insulated anyway. – JoelAZ – 2018-01-29T06:27:20.610

@JoelAZ You may as well mention it in the answer, so that people favoring built-in solution would appreciate it. – Franklin Yu – 2018-02-16T22:29:03.623

@FranklinYu I don't agree. My answer is a standalone answer for 3rd party software and relevant across any Windows platform where the in-built solution you're talking about is Win10 only (and not relevant to the OP.) If you believe it's important, maybe add it as a new answer and see if it gets some upvotes. – JoelAZ – 2018-02-18T19:45:19.267

@JoelAZ Good idea. – Franklin Yu – 2018-02-19T00:24:12.803

pdfcreator gave as bad results as the inbuilt word pdf printer and it installed unwanted software in the background which is a pdf viewer I didn't even want which is annoying. The only method that works for me is the adobe DC method. – Christopher John – 2019-06-05T16:36:52.573

@ChristopherJohn it's been commented above to use Ninite to install PDF creator or be very careful when clicking through. The unwanted software is "offered" in the install but defaults to on. As for resolution/degradation, I have not had or seen that problem with pdfcreator. But I'm glad you found a solution that works for you. – JoelAZ – 2019-08-15T21:11:51.237

Thanks Joel so am I. Adobe DC seem to be in some kind of unholy relationship with Microsoft so you have to buy their pdf software to get the best resolution. The free pdf makers are not as good, I tried all of the ones recommended here pretty much I think. – Christopher John – 2019-09-30T06:43:49.210

While I had better results with pdfcreator than saving/exporting/printing to PDF from Word, it does not preserve links, which is a severe downside to be aware of! – Thomas K – 2020-01-24T20:36:51.247

None of the aforementioned solutions worked for me including enabling the "do not compress images in file" and "select ISO 19005-1 complaint" options. It did not matter if I saved-as a PDF or exported as a PDF.

What DID work for me, was to create the PDF using the MS Office Microsoft Print to PDF printer option.

Select Print from the File Options menu.
Select Microsoft Print to PDF from the Printer drop down menu.
Print. Specify where you want the PDF file to be created.

wrieedx

Posted 2013-09-15T14:39:16.147

Reputation: 148

1Do you mean you tried pdfcreator as I suggested and it too did not solve your problem either? I find that a little hard to believe. – JoelAZ – 2018-02-18T19:53:32.980

@JoelAZ Your solution involves downloading third party software that may possibly contain spyware. So to answer your question, I did not attempt your suggestion and won't in the future. – wrieedx – 2018-02-19T01:44:33.580

1Fair enough. However to say "NONE of the aforementioned solutions worked" without having tried them is disingenuous so perhaps your answer should reflect that. Also, it was a browser toolbar. Further, we've established that vendor has corrected their course and no longer does that and, finally, I've provided a clean alternate installer that isolates one from those worries now and in the future. Try or don't try, it's up to you, but don't represent that you tried my solution and it didn't work for you. – JoelAZ – 2018-02-20T04:06:07.847

@JoelAZ Look, I don't know who you are, but can you see how weird and petty it is to comment on a stranger's post in such an aggressive way? Maybe you should rethink what you are doing and try a different method in the future. – wrieedx – 2018-02-21T06:28:20.790

my apologies if you took some offense. I really don't see my post as being aggressive and certainly it wasn't meant to be. My intent was to point out that if you say none of the solutions worked for you, you're implying you tried them all. You then clarify that you didn't. So the point was asking you to not represent having tried a solution that you hadn't and your answer would serve better without that implication. Again, my apologies if you're offended by my words or tone. There was no intent to. – JoelAZ – 2018-02-21T19:30:04.310

1work for me! thanks! P.S. adobe pdf printer results in much worse resolution than microsoft one – fzyzcjy – 2019-05-11T13:00:09.730

1Worked for me! Other solutions did not! – TheSciGuy – 2019-07-30T17:59:52.757

I discovered the trick: when you save as PDF, go to Options (under the PDF) and uncheck ISO19005-1 Compliant Problem solved!

Ludmila

Posted 2013-09-15T14:39:16.147

Reputation: 47

I did this and the picture is quite clear even at 200% resolution in PDF – Firee – 2015-10-16T11:14:45.250

2for me this made no difference (Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2013) – neotryte – 2018-02-05T14:50:42.947

This worked for me in Office 2016 32 Bit :) – z2z – 2018-07-31T07:37:13.010

I know this is a really old post. But I have a working solution (for me anyway).

I converted the png online to an EMF (enhanced metafile). When I use this in word and export to PDF it keeps full resolution.

Hope this helps some.

Alex Harrison

Posted 2013-09-15T14:39:16.147

Reputation: 11

Just for completeness (because it hasn't been excluded in the question): with SVG graphics you no longer have to worry about "preserving quality" concerning the resolution. It scales in arbitrary sizes. This only works for graphics consisting of forms, not for photos, though.

Karl Richter

Posted 2013-09-15T14:39:16.147

Reputation: 1 641

But Word doesn't support SVG images. – Andreas Rejbrand – 2014-07-31T23:40:56.823

You're right, wouldn't have thought about it in my worst nightmares... what a lack of feature! – Karl Richter – 2014-08-01T01:05:28.387

You can convert SVG files to EMF format (vector image format from Microsoft), which is supported by Word. – Iván Pérez – 2014-09-19T14:08:06.433

1Note that in later versions of Word 2016, SVG support has been added, so this can be used. – Erik A – 2018-05-31T08:54:35.767

The results of exporting using the "Save As" dialogue are different to the results when exporting using File->Export->Create PDF/XPS.

I found that exporting using the latter method is far higher quality by default.

Ben Sewell

Posted 2013-09-15T14:39:16.147

Reputation: 19

3doesn't work for me (in word 2010). resulting pdf is bad quality. – nassimhddd – 2016-06-17T08:32:15.413

for me this made no difference (Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2013) – neotryte – 2018-02-05T14:50:47.867

I had been facing the lose of image quality when converting from Word to PDF. I found that in addition to the advanced settings, we need to check the following option:

The standard option must me selected while saving.

Ginu Jacob

Posted 2013-09-15T14:39:16.147

Reputation: 321

If you are using the Adobe PDF Printer (i.e. not Word -> Save As PDF), you should be able to change the settings related to Images (such as downsampling or compression). Make sure you turn them off from Word (they should be in Preferences in the ACROBAT tab) and also uncheck Allow PostScript file to override Adobe PDF settings.

You might need to click on Save As in the Adobe settings. This will create a new preset that will be used to create the pdf.

This worked nicely for me.

Advanced settings in Adobe PDF Settings

Images settings in Adobe PDF Settings

nvn38h

Posted 2013-09-15T14:39:16.147

Reputation: 9

The OP specifies using "Save As -> PDF" built into Word. Suggesting settings for a paid solution you don't know the user has access to is not useful here. I suggest you edit or consider pulling the answer as imo it merits down-voting. – JoelAZ – 2018-02-18T19:51:26.800

I literally tried everything on this page and unfortunately the only one that gives high res images from a word file with png images embedded in it, is adobe DC. – Christopher John – 2019-06-05T16:35:09.633

If you have also access to a MAC, then another solution would be to open it in Microsoft Word for MAC (e.g., 2011). Then 'File' -> 'Save As' and select 'Format:' PDF.

This one is the only practical solution for me that worked in the end.

ttq

Posted 2013-09-15T14:39:16.147

Reputation: 531

I stumbled over this problem using Word 2010. In my opinion any solution that tries to solve this while creating the PDF will fail. The problem is: as soon as you store your word document word scales the image down - regardless of the options set.

I was able to print (PDFCreator - my prefered printer driver for HR-PDF) a QR-code (png, 1000x1000pixel, final size approx 10mm x 10mm) before saving the document in a good quality. Howerver, the moment I saved in Word, it became visibly unsharp.

For this I think the only solution to work is the one proposed by Zerobinary99 - using a larger format and to scale down. However for practical reasons this is feasible only for small graphics. Word will soon tell you that it does not support your paper size. Further you have to recreate the whole content...

I helped myself by using a .PDF-Editor and inserted the QR code after creation of the .PDF. again. Not a real solution as well....

I learnt: Don't use WORD for this... Most users with a licence for word will have a licence for MS-Publisher as well. I think I did exactly the same thing 2 years ago in Publisher without this problem...

TerraD

Posted 2013-09-15T14:39:16.147

Reputation: 1

If you are placing images in your document that originate in vector format, you can use SVG files instead of JPG or PNG files - Word 2010 will read them. This may be obvious to most, but it wasn't to me.

The print-to options, including using PDFCreator, brute-force the result, and even if your placed PNG has insane pixel size and looks great in Word, in the PDF it'll still be pixelated and yield a massive PDF size. At least it did with all permutations I tried. Finally I generated a bunch of different formats of vector files and found that Word could work with SVGs. And the resulting PDF looked good, even when using Adobe's Save-as-PDF file-save option - benefit of that to printing was a vastly smaller file size that looked clean.

This won't help you if you're using photos, but if it's just a logo or graphic, this is worth a look.

xitixen

Posted 2013-09-15T14:39:16.147

Reputation: 1

If you have MS Publisher in your office suite, it gives you much greater control over the print quality of published PDFs. Where the best save option in Word is to 'Optimize for: Standard (publishing online and printing)', in Publisher you get standard, high quality, and commercial printing options with a selection of dpi tweaks available. The file size rockets, but the quality is superb!

doggyTourettes

Posted 2013-09-15T14:39:16.147

Reputation: 136

Try this:

By default, MS Word compress images which can reduce the image quality when converting to PDF. You can turn off this setting as follows:

In Word, click File, Options.
Click Advanced, scroll down to Image Size and Quality.
Turn off Discard editing data.
Select Do not compress images in file.
Select Set default target output to 220 ppi.
Save the changes.

ivan walsh

Posted 2013-09-15T14:39:16.147

Reputation: 31

I tried this option already (see question), to no avail. – DasKrümelmonster – 2015-10-21T08:08:43.430

Try this:

Open the Word 2013 document with the images inserted.
Click File, Save As, and PDF from the drop-down menu. The Options button is displayed at the bottom of the window.
Click Options.
On the Options dialog box, select ISO 19005-1 complaint (PDF/A) in the PDF options section.
Save the changes.

There are other workarounds over here in this tutorial

http://wordtipsandtricks.com/2015/10/21/how-to-improve-image-quality-ms-word-pdf-conversions/

ivan walsh

Posted 2013-09-15T14:39:16.147

Reputation: 31

Does not work for me. Same low resolution and the option makes virtually no difference. – DasKrümelmonster – 2015-10-21T08:06:35.953

Have you tried using EPS files instead of Jpg/Gif? – ivan walsh – 2015-10-22T12:57:11.640

-1

Another solution would be edit your pdf with an editor and replace the low-res picture with a high-res version. There are free editors available. There's even one that allows you to edit pdf-files online in your browser if you don't mind the lack of data security.

Salman Munsif

Posted 2013-09-15T14:39:16.147

Reputation: 1

3Welcome to Super User. This is more of a hint of something to explore than an actionable solution. Can you expand your answer to provide more detail of how to accomplish this? Thanks. – fixer1234 – 2016-10-23T20:42:54.917

-1

Word scales the image automatically depending on the paper size, so you need to increase it to increase the PDF's resolution.

The PNG you want to turn into pdf has a resolution of 1600x1600, so use a paper size that reflects this aspect ratio. Set your paper size to 55.87cm x 55.87cm (biggest Word 2007 supports)
Import the PNG and stretch it out to the maximum size the page supports.
Export it to PDF and enjoy your high res pdf :)

Zerobinary99

Posted 2013-09-15T14:39:16.147

Reputation: 1 651

The real document should be 85mm by 55mm, and the image is 10mm by 10mm. Changing that is not really a solution imho. The printer supports something like 600dpi, so 96dpi will definitely look blurry. – DasKrümelmonster – 2013-09-15T15:04:10.087

You can print the PDF in any size you want. Downscaling is preserving the quality. Try my solution and adapt it to a multiple of your expected resolution like 51cm x 33cm. Printing it to a smaller sheet with the same aspect ratio will preserve the image's quality. You could also get a proper pdf-plugin for Word that offers more options than the rudimentary built-in pdf support. – Zerobinary99 – 2013-09-15T15:15:09.313

1I am trying. Ans while this solves the problem for a single image, it is not easy for an existing dicument. Scaling all the font sizes as well as the coordinates of tables, textboxes and images by 6 is a PITA. I consider this more of a workaround than a solution - after all, resampling still takes place. – DasKrümelmonster – 2013-09-15T15:45:34.293

You wrote in your description that you "use document resolution" as a setting for the file. Using the original sheet measurements of 85mm x 55mm will thusly result in pixelation as the document resolution is just too low. I agree that adjusting the font sizes this way is a pain, but other than using third party add ons there's probably little you can do. You could try installing the pdf-update for Office 2007 since it doesn't have the options you described and may be allows for what you want. Other than that I can only recommend using Nitro PDF or something similar. – Zerobinary99 – 2013-09-15T15:50:13.950

1Another solution would be edit your pdf with an editor and replace the low-res picture with a high-res version. There are free editors available. There's even one that allows you to edit pdf-files online in your browser if you don't mind the lack of data security. – Zerobinary99 – 2013-09-15T15:51:34.470

-1

A workaround is to install doPDF. You'll get crisp images, no file degradation, and easy to change dpi and small output files. Another alternative is PrimoPDF which is also a PDF Printer like doPDF, but it may generate huge files, and it does have a problem that the font looks OK on screen but jagged when printed, even with fonts like Arial.

raven

Posted 2013-09-15T14:39:16.147

Reputation: 1