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#1 2009-04-09 5:04 am
- ctopfel
- Member

- From: Land of Cheese
- Registered: 2002-04-19
- Posts: 399
PDF Export of Word 2008 text box with drop shadow
Hi All
I have a nasty problem with word 2008 (it wasn't there in word 2004).
When I create a textbox, give it a drop shadow, and write text in it, and then export it as pdf (or print, as pdf, same effect), not only my textbox gets a drop shadow, but also the text inside (the effect is only visible when you have a dark drop shadow, but, the guy who needs this feature wants dark drop shadows so...).
This effect is IMO not desirable. To reproduce the effect, please make sure to use black as drop shadow color.
Does anyone have a solution to this problem?
Thanks in advance
ctopfel
"One Chillion Dollars" - "Sir, that's not a number" - "Oh in that case, 50 million dollars"
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#3 2009-04-09 12:04 pm
- Graphic Autist
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Re: PDF Export of Word 2008 text box with drop shadow
almaink wrote:
Use something other than a word processing application.
Specifically, page layout software.
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#4 2009-04-09 1:29 pm
- ctopfel
- Member

- From: Land of Cheese
- Registered: 2002-04-19
- Posts: 399
Re: PDF Export of Word 2008 text box with drop shadow
Well, these worksheets are meant to be sold (so the buyer can also make changes). They, however, cannot be sold if they are made in a program which 5% of the computer users have. I basically agree with you that such things should be done in quark/indesign, but the market "dictates" the app in that case.
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#5 2009-04-09 4:13 pm
- sturner
- Royal High Poobah
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- From: Carrollton, TX USA
- Registered: 2000-01-31
- Posts: 13818
Re: PDF Export of Word 2008 text box with drop shadow
In which case the guy who wants this feature is smurf out of luck.
The answer is not to use Word. End of solution.
If your end product is a PDF and that is what the customer wants to sell, which makes more sense than a word document, then what does he care what tool you use to produce the end product?
It's like coming to a civil engineer to have him build a building, but specifying that you only want to use cardboard as a building material, or you want to dig a canal, and only want to use hand tools to do it.
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#6 2009-04-09 4:14 pm
- dv
- Negusa Negest
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- From: Minneapolis, MN
- Registered: 1999-08-30
- Posts: 18100
Re: PDF Export of Word 2008 text box with drop shadow
If they're meant to be changed, why are you making them into PDFs?
More the the point, couldn't you create them in ANY application and export to a PDF?
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#7 2009-04-09 4:16 pm
- sturner
- Royal High Poobah
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- From: Carrollton, TX USA
- Registered: 2000-01-31
- Posts: 13818
Re: PDF Export of Word 2008 text box with drop shadow
Are you making forms? If so then you could do it in any competent page layout program and add the bells and whistles in the PDF.
I'm not dead yet.
There are 3 types of people, those who can count and those who can't.
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#8 2009-04-09 4:59 pm
- ctopfel
- Member

- From: Land of Cheese
- Registered: 2002-04-19
- Posts: 399
Re: PDF Export of Word 2008 text box with drop shadow
So there's probably no solution yet.
PDF is for website (free), doc is for sale. That's why we need to pdf them.
But thanks for the input.
ctopfel
"One Chillion Dollars" - "Sir, that's not a number" - "Oh in that case, 50 million dollars"
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#9 2009-04-10 12:21 am
- dv
- Negusa Negest
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- From: Minneapolis, MN
- Registered: 1999-08-30
- Posts: 18100
Re: PDF Export of Word 2008 text box with drop shadow
Short of trying a different PDF export program, there isn't really a way to tell Word to not make a PDF "that way." It does what it does the way it's supposed to do. Same with the "Save as PDF" in the print dialog. Very simpleminded.
But there are at least a few PDF writers out there. Ghostscript would the first one I'd try.
"Now commences the process of cutting off the head, which generally takes from an hour to an hour and a half by an expert workman with a sharp blade." -Reuben Delano, Wanderings and Adventures
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#10 2009-04-10 9:03 am
- user
- Your plastic pal who's fun to be with

- From: I'm not getting you down, am I
- Registered: 2001-10-15
- Posts: 16035
Re: PDF Export of Word 2008 text box with drop shadow
Would Acrobat Pro give you better results? You can test it with a trial version.
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