[cw-discuss] MS word and pdf export

[Charles Johnson]

I hope I'm not misunderstanding this thread, but I believe that I can add 
something since in my work I regularly use PDF rendering of MSWord documents 
to add digital signatures.

Here is what I believe that I know:

- MS Word does not now support PDF export natively, so why should Crossover 
Office be expected to add a feature?

- However, at work we also use Adobe Acrobat, which adds a plugin to MS 
Windows XP (repeat, Windows XP) such that an  MSWord document can be 
"printed" (meaning exported) to PDF from the Windows Print menu.

- When I work from home or the road, I use my own Laptop which is GNU/Linux, 
where I regularly use my MSWord on Crossover Office to perform work. 
However, if I need a PDF, I simply open the document in OpenOffice.org 
Write, and save to PDF. OpenOffice.org does this flawlessly in my 
experience, searchable, with metadata intact.

- On my own system I mostly work in OpenOffice.org, then export the final 
back to MSWord as needed for interopreability. This has a couple of 
benefits. First, I am not subject to macroviruses from MSWord files that 
have been subject to multiples edits in the wild. Secondly, many times a 
long and complex MSWord document that has been edited numerous times becomes 
unstable from much hidden garbage, e.g., format codes, and data artifacts 
from multiple edits and the like. Opening to OpenOffice.org, saving backout 
to Open Document format (.ODT), reopening the ODT in OpenOffice.Org and 
saving back out to MSWord .doc formats (XP, etc) usually cures the 
instability by providing a relatively clean stable MSWord document.

These are just my observations. Hope they're useful.

Regards,

Chuck

C. W. E. Johnson
Maryland, USA