Member Avatar for ggeoff

Hi

I have two desktops one has Office 2003 and the other my "graphics and video PC" has Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium. Both use XP Pro. I can't use Adobe Acrobat as MS Word is installed on my other PC. There are a few other issues, that lead me to realise that I should also install Office on my Graphics PC. I am reluctant to do that as I feel it will slow it down. Has anyone any advice as to how I can access the Office applications from my Graphics PC? Or whether I shoud just install Office on both PCs?

Thanks

Geoff
PS I also have Expression Web on my Graphics PC.

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Short answer: Acrobat’s Office integration (PDFMaker) is an add-in that runs inside Word/Excel/PowerPoint, so the “Create PDF from Office” toolbar requires Office to be installed on the same PC. Acrobat will still create PDFs from any application that can print (via the Adobe PDF printer or Distiller), so you don’t strictly need Word on the graphics box—but you will lose the PDFMaker-specific features (bookmarks, styled bookmarks, better link/tag handling) unless Office is present. .

Practical options (pick one that fits your workflow):

  • Install Office (or just Word) on the graphics PC if you want full, seamless PDFMaker output inside Word. That is the simplest way to get the Acrobat toolbar and full feature set.
  • Use any program that can open the .doc and print to “Adobe PDF” (Expression Web, WordPad, MS Works, etc.). That is what discovered: open the file locally in a viewer/editor and print to Adobe PDF. Note: WordPad/Works may not preserve all Word formatting. (See Microsoft guidance on WordPad/file associations.)
    (Microsoft: WordPad behavior and associations) (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5009592/wordpad-to-word).
  • Use a free office suite (LibreOffice/OpenOffice) on the graphics PC and Export/Save as PDF — no Word required and good control over PDF options. (LibreOffice export to PDF documentation.) (https://documentation.libreoffice.org/assets/Uploads/Documentation/en/GS5.2/HTML/GS5210-PrintExportEmail.html)
  • If you want a central automated workflow, Distiller watched folders can be used, but be aware of licensing and user-access limits: every user who creates PDFs this way must have an Acrobat Pro license. (Acrobat Distiller watched-folders notes.) ()

Notes tied to thread: ’s USB/flash-drive idea or ’s SynchToy approach are perfectly fine quick workarounds for occasional conversions. For frequent, production-level PDF creation (preserving bookmarks, tags, links), installing Office on the graphics machine or using a server licensed for Distiller is the more robust solution.

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Member Avatar for caperjack

I can't use Adobe Acrobat as MS Word is installed on my other PC

that should not happen ,what error if any do you receive when you try to use acrobat

Member Avatar for ggeoff

I can't use Adobe Acrobat as MS Word is installed on my other PC

that should not happen ,what error if any do you receive when you try to use acrobat

Hi Caperjack,
I can use Acrobat but if I try to open a Word file using Acrobat it does not recognize the file. In Acrobat's Open file dialog window a MS Word doc file is shown as a Wordpad document. On trying to open it I get this: . . .could not open "the file" becuse it is either not a supported file type or because the file has been damaged . . . To create an Adobe PDF document, go to the source application. then print the document to Adobe PDF or use the Acrobat toolbar found in Microsoft office applications."

Curiously, I can open the Word file in Expression Web 2

Member Avatar for caperjack

Hi Caperjack,
I can use Acrobat but if I try to open a Word file using Acrobat it does not recognize the file. In Acrobat's Open file dialog window a MS Word doc file is shown as a Wordpad document. On trying to open it I get this: . . .could not open "the file" becuse it is either not a supported file type or because the file has been damaged . . . To create an Adobe PDF document, go to the source application. then print the document to Adobe PDF or use the Acrobat toolbar found in Microsoft office applications."

makes sense as acrobat is for PDF files and not Word text doc's,isn't it ! mine is anyway

Edited by caperjack because: n/a
Member Avatar for ggeoff

makes sense as acrobat is for PDF files and not Word text doc's,isn't it ! mine is anyway

I thought that if someone buys Adobe Acrobat Professional they wouldn't be buying it for opening PDF files but to make PDF files from other documents, in particular MS Word docs.

I was hoping that someone would respond to my problem with the suggestion that it is possible to add a path in the Adobe software to those applications that are not on the computer that has the Adobe software installed.

This issue is important in that surely one does not have to have all one's software on one single computer?

Member Avatar for caperjack

I thought that if someone buys Adobe Acrobat Professional they wouldn't be buying it for opening PDF files but to make PDF files from other documents, in particular MS Word docs.

you didn't say it was full pro and that you bought it ,i made a bad assumption ,thought you were referring to adobe acrobat reader free program ! Acrobat reader sorry ,

why not just use a flash drive to take the word documents from one computer to the other to create the pdf file .i also think office 2003 can save word files as pdf file if im not mistaken ,good luck

Edited by caperjack because: n/a
Member Avatar for ggeoff

you didn't say it was full pro and that you bought it ,i made a bad assumption ,thought you were referring to adobe acrobat reader free program ! Acrobat reader sorry ,

why not just use a flash drive to take the word documents from one computer to the other to create the pdf file .i also think office 2003 can save word files as pdf file if im not mistaken ,good luck

Hi no problem Caperjack,

I have used Synch toy 2 to enable me to access any files I like on either PC. So maybe Adobe has neglected to entertain the possibility of the source software being installed on another PC.

Member Avatar for ggeoff

Hi no problem Caperjack,

I have used Synch toy 2 to enable me to access any files I like on either PC. So maybe Adobe has neglected to entertain the possibility of the source software being installed on another PC.

Update: I have contacted Adobe Support with this issue and will report back later.

Member Avatar for ggeoff

Update: I have contacted Adobe Support with this issue and will report back later.

Adobe Support have confirmed that I can't use Adobe Acrobat on my "Graphics" computer unless I also install Microsoft Office. But Adobe Support are wrong. The opening screen of Acrobat states that one can: "Create an Adobe PDF file from Office, email, web site file, or from any file that prints" The way that is done in windows is to "open the file in it's authoring application, and choose file Print". The "it's authoring program" is wrong, as if one can open the file in any application then one can choose Adobe PDF as the printer. I have opened a Word file with MS Works which came with my PC so, it maybe a roundabout way of getting Acrobat Pro to work but it does.

Member Avatar for ggeoff

Adobe Support have confirmed that I can't use Adobe Acrobat on my "Graphics" computer unless I also install Microsoft Office. But Adobe Support are wrong. The opening screen of Acrobat states that one can: "Create an Adobe PDF file from Office, email, web site file, or from any file that prints" The way that is done in windows is to "open the file in it's authoring application, and choose file Print". The "it's authoring program" is wrong, as if one can open the file in any application then one can choose Adobe PDF as the printer. I have opened a Word file with MS Works which came with my PC so, it maybe a roundabout way of getting Acrobat Pro to work but it does.

Update: It would seem whatever Adobe documentation says I'll need to have MS Office installed on the PC that has the Adobe Pro software.

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