Why Do I Lose Bullets When Converting Word to PDF?
By Terry Lavender
Saving a Word document in PDF format is a relatively straightforward process. But special characters like bullets may cause problems because sometimes they are not part of the same font as the rest of the text.
Bullets in Word
Bullets in Microsoft Word may be part of the same font as the rest of the text, or they might be part of a special symbol font. If you use the default bullet (which looks like a large period) it will be part of your body text font. But if you select a special font (such as a hollow box or check mark), Word will use a symbol font.
Converting to PDF
When you convert your document to PDF format, the fonts you use will usually be included (or embedded) in the PDF. But if you use graphical bullets, there might be problems in converting them. For example, the font used for the bullets may be corrupted or be missing from your computer. Or the "embed all fonts" option may have been turned off.
Prevention/Solution
The easiest way to ensure your bullets appear in your PDF is to use text bullets, not graphic bullets in your Word document. If you need fancy bullets, make sure that "Embed Fonts" is selected in the Adobe PDF/Change Conversion Settings/Advanced Settings dialogue in Word.
References
Writer Bio
Terry Lavender has been a professional writer since 1981. He is the author of the popular Megabytes column in the "Vancouver Observer," and he writes most frequently about social media, video games, mobile devices and other aspects of technology. Lavender is a Ph.D. student at Simon Fraser University, where he studies video games.