Convert from Merged Word document to PDF

[Bob Darlington]

I have a couple of applications which prepare Word merge documents from
within Access (2002) and email them to various addressees.
Some clients have now requested that the documents be converted to PDF
format before emailing. Thedocuments contain terms and conditions which they
don't want changed by their clients.
I know that the PDF solution isn't perfect for this type of security but
it's what they want anyway.
I have previously converted Access Reports to PDF, but not Word documents.
Has anyone done this?

 

[PvdG42]

I have a couple of applications which prepare Word merge documents from
within Access (2002) and email them to various addressees.
Some clients have now requested that the documents be converted to PDF
format before emailing. Thedocuments contain terms and conditions which
they
don't want changed by their clients.
I know that the PDF solution isn't perfect for this type of security but
it's what they want anyway.
I have previously converted Access Reports to PDF, but not Word documents.
Has anyone done this?

I guess you don't have Office 2007. If you do, there is a free download that
allows you to save a Word document as a PDF:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...3C-6D89-4F15-991B-63B07BA5F2E5&displaylang=en

There are also several low cost solutions available. Here are a couple:

http://www.pdf-format.com/pro/defau...2ebf82f96394&gclid=CLz80PfWlZUCFQJvswodEAglhA

http://www.fineprint.com/products/pdffactory/?gclid=CP37na3XlZUCFQGbnAod-nBhfQ

 

[Bob Darlington]

Thanks for the reply.
I am looking for a way to do this from within Access, so that the user can
select options and dump the merged document (as a PDF) directly into an
email drafts folder.
I can do this for Access reports using Acrobat and ACG's PDF & Mail Library
mda.
But I want a similar solution for Word documents.
Word 2007 isn't an option unless I want to force all my clients to upgrade
and I can't see myself doing that any time soon (I won't even use it
myself!).

 

[Tom Wickerath]

Hi Bob,

I believe you can use Win2PDF (http://www.win2pdf.com/) to accomplish your
goal. While I have not used it myself, I know of another Access MVP who has
high praises for this software. I'm fairly certain you can use it with VBA
automation, such that you would first create your merged Word document as
before, and then use VBA code within your Access application to convert this
new Word document to a .pdf file.

You might find that simply creating a new report in Access, and then
exporting that as a .pdf file, as a much simplier path to the end goal
instead of having to deal with Word automation code. The professional version
of Win2PDF includes the ability to password protect documents, and disable
the ability to modify the .pdf file. This may be an important feature for
your customers.

If you want to create a new report in Access to handle this, I believe you
can use Access MVP Stephen Leban's Report2PDF solution
(http://www.lebans.com/reporttopdf.htm) and still have the security and
permissions properties.


Tom Wickerath
Microsoft Access MVP
http://www.accessmvp.com/TWickerath/
http://www.access.qbuilt.com/html/expert_contributors.html
__________________________________________

 

[Albert D. Kallal]

My first choice would be to use a report formatted like the document, and
then use Stephens free pdf creator

Stephens solution is really nice because then you don't have to install a
printer driver, don't have to install a pdf printer system, or even "switch"
printers to create a pdf report. In other words, it makes distribution of
your software to machines VERY nice as you don't have to require the user to
install some pdf system......

However if users need to "edit" the word document, then you have to stick to
word.

There is 100% free pdf system that supports object automation, allows you to
set the output document name (pdf), and thus you can use the following
solution to achieve your goal.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/

 

[Bob Darlington]

Thanks Tom,
I've had a look at the trial version and it looks perfect for what I need.
The reason I'm using Word templates instead of reports is to give the
different clients complete control over the look of the documents.
There are 15 basic templates, and many clients want to include special
clauses, logos etc. Using Word, I can step back and leave them to it.

 

[Bob Darlington]

Thanks Albert,
Have you used the PDF Creator with automation from Access?
The web site doesn't seem to refer to this aspect.
I've had a look at Win2PDF, as recommended by Tom, and the web page seems to
cover what I need with code snippet to boot.
My only concern would be if some of my client systems prevented the registry
editing which seems to be part of these products.

 

[Tony Toews [MVP]]

Have you used the PDF Creator with automation from Access?

I have. Works great.

My only concern would be if some of my client systems prevented the registry
editing which seems to be part of these products.

PDF Creator doesn't require any registry editing or registering of the
DLLs. Just place Leban's DLLs in the same folder as your FE and
that's it.

Tony
--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can
read the entire thread of messages.
Microsoft Access Links, Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at
http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm
Tony's Microsoft Access Blog - http://msmvps.com/blogs/access/

 

[Bob Darlington]

Tony,
Sorry about the delay replying, but I've been off the air for a couple of
weeks.
PDF Creator seems to do the job fine, except that I can't see a way to avoid
the 'Save As' dialog.
I'm using the following:

Dim WdApp As Object
Set WdApp = CreateObject("Word.Application")

With WdApp
.Documents.Open FileName:=strPath
.Options.PrintBackground = False
.ActivePrinter = "PDFCreator"
.Visible = False
.ActiveDocument.PrintOut
.Documents(1).SaveAs FileName:=strDestPath
.Documents.Close savechanges:=False
End With

Can yopu help?

 

[Tom Wickerath]

Hi Bob,

What happens if you try using:
.Documents.Close savechanges:=True

instead of False? Does that help?


Tom Wickerath
Microsoft Access MVP
http://www.accessmvp.com/TWickerath/
http://www.access.qbuilt.com/html/expert_contributors.html
__________________________________________

 

[Bob Darlington]

Thanks Tom.
Tried that but the SaveAs dialog still comes up.