Possible Bug: PDF-Tools Word Add-In Not Converting A4 Word Docs to A4 Sized PDF Docs

[mCHSNUg5Pz8cPap]

This zip file contains a Word file with a single A4 page in it:

Test.zip

(16.76 KiB) Downloaded 42 times

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I use the Word Add-in from PDF-Tools to convert the Word file to an A4 pdf file. Here is a screenshot of the settings I'm using:

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The problem is that the resulting pdf file is not quite A4 size. It is close (20.997 cm X 29.701 cm) but not A4 size. This is a problem because it has to be exactly A4 size or the government entity where I file it will reject it. Here is the pdf file.

Test.pdf

(9.59 KiB) Downloaded 36 times

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If I perform the same conversion but with a letter file (Word file is letter page and PDF-Tools Word Add-in is set to letter), then the resulting file is exactly letter sized.
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Can you reproduce this ... or am I doing something wrong?

BTW, I'm on build 389.

[Vladimir G - Tracker Dev]

Hello mCHSNUg5Pz8cPap,

Actually, I'm not sure if this is a bug or not, but I suggest specifying the 'Sheet size' option as A4.

Best regards,

[mCHSNUg5Pz8cPap]

That worked. However, it does the raise the question of what it means when the Layout is set to "Auto." If the Word document is letter size it produces a letter size pdf file. If the Word document is A4 size it produces a document that is almost A4 size but not quite.

Edit to add: I confirmed that the original issue also occurs using print to pdf so it's not limited to the Word addin. Also, according to the help manual (https://help.pdf-xchange.com/pdfxp9/ind ... ngs_s.html), setting the sheet size to auto sets the sheet size automatically, which doesn't shed much light on how it is supposed to work.

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I find it hard to believe that the intended sheet size for A4 paper is something is just a whisker off from being actual A4 size.

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, mCHSNUg5Pz8cPap

Thank you for that, I wonder if there is some discrepancy in the size Word is providing which causes a mismatch here. Technically, PDF's A4 isn't always the same as normal A4, since PDF is a "point based" coordinate system (1pt = 1/72 of an inch) its size can sometimes be a little bit off (upwards of +/- 0.04mm) when compared to normal "metric" based page measurements. Generally a PDF's "A4" sheet is considered to be 595x842 pt; However, the 210x297mm that A4 standard is physically, would actually translate to a few decimal points off from those values. A side effect of being "too precise" I suppose.

Hopefully we can add in some soft constraints for A4 to allow it to catch properly in cases where one dimension is "very slightly" larger than expected in this way.

Kind regards,

[mCHSNUg5Pz8cPap]

This problem is still causing friction for me. If I set the sheet size to A4 instead of Auto, then PDF-XChange correctly creates an A4 sized document (I still think what I reported in the original post needs to be fixed, but it can be overcome by setting the sheet size to A4).

The PDF-XChange word add-in allows me to save conversion settings. The problem is that the sheet size setting does not persist when Word is closed. For example, I can set the sheet size to A4 and save the settings as a new profile. However, if I close Word and reopen it, the add-in will be on the saved settings profile, but the sheet size has reverted back to Auto. If I change the profile to another one and back to the one with the A4 sheet size, then it will correctly change the sheet size to A4.

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Hello mCHSNUg5Pz8cPap,

Please tyr to set the sheet size in the driver outside of work. Locate our printer in your "Printers and scanners" -> PDF-XChange Printer Standard -> Printing Preferences -> and then change the value from Auto to A4 in there. Click OK to close this and save your desired default there, then start word and see if A4 is now the default.

Kind regards,
Stefan

[mCHSNUg5Pz8cPap]

I set the sheet size in the printing preferences of Windows. It didn't persist. The setting is back to Auto (after shutting my computer down and restarting it for a Windows update) even though the Word Add-on shows the profile as the one in which I saved it to A4.

I should note a few additional oddities I've noticed. When I initially changed the sheet size in the printing preferences, it didn't persist to the settings in the Word Addon meaning the profile in the Word Addon in which I explicitly set the sheet size to A4 would revert to Auto when I closed and then reopened Word.

At time, I decided to try and capture a gif showing that setting the printing preferences to A4 did not change the behavior. However, it took me multiple times to get the windows arranged correctly, etc., which I meant I was repeatedly changing the settings. Eventually, the A4 setting did persist in the Word Addon even when Word was closed and reopened. This is when I gave up on making the gif.

Fast forward to today. I open Word and check the settings for the Addon. It shows that it is using my A4 settings profile (the profile I have for A4 sized documents, which is the one in which I tried to save sheet size to A4) but the sheet size is back to auto. If I change the profile from the A4 settings profile to my Letter settings profile and back to the A4 settings profile, then it will change the sheet size to A4.

One more thing to note in case it might affect things is that I also have custom profiles set for the settings available by going to Printing Preferences. I have a profile for A4 sized documents and another setting for Letter sized documents. I only mention this because maybe there is some interaction between the two that is messing things up.

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, mCHSNUg5Pz8cPap

Just a stray thought on this topic, I wonder if this setting in MS Word is having an impact on the output you are seeing:

It is a setting which often causes us some grief with various paper sizes/selections in MS Word, and one that is often overlooked because it is so out of the way. Can you try a print/conversion each with this option enabled and disabled, and let me know if you see a difference in the output while our settings are left on Auto?

Kind regards,

[mCHSNUg5Pz8cPap]

The "scale content for A4 or 8.5 x 11" paper sizes" setting in Word had no effect. The setting was enabled so I disabled it. I then tried converting the Word document I provided in the first post to pdf using the addon with "Auto" set as the sheet size. It produced an A4 sized document that is slightly off from actually being A4, which is what I reported in the first post.

I then tried to see if it had any effect on whether the sheet size setting persists when Word is closed and reopened. It does not have any effect.

However, I did learn something new, which is that the sheet size setting will persist when Word is closed and reopened as long as Excel remains open. The sheet size setting does not persist if all M365 apps are closed. In that case, the sheet size always reverted back to Auto even though I previously saved it to A4 in the active Word Addon profile.

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, mCHSNUg5Pz8cPap

Thank you for checking that, in the meantime I spoke with the Dev team at length and we did agree that this needs to be addressed, even if the issue is in how Word is conveying the paper size, there should be some exception for edge cases like this.

As such a ticket has been made to try and find a workaround for this issue:
RT#7187: Bug: Word gives "slightly off" a4 size when conversion is set to auto
I cannot guarantee that this will result in a fix, but this is a promise to dig further into it and see what we can do.
In the meantime, you will still want to continue manually setting A4, or using the "resize pages" function we offer in the Editor, after printing, to get the correct size.

Kind regards,

[mCHSNUg5Pz8cPap]

Thanks Daniel. Should another bug report be opened due to the sheet size setting nor persisting for a profile when M365 is closed?

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Hello mCHSNUg5Pz8cPap,

Allthe information from this topic is included in the above ticket, so no separate one is needed for now.

Kind regards,
Stefan