MS Word: Preserving vector graphics (SVG) when saving document as PDF [closed]

Question

Microsoft recently added SVG support to Word 2016. But when trying to save a document containing a SVG vector graphic as PDF the graphic will be converted to a raster image.

I tried to change the Image Size and Quality Options (-> "do not compress images in file" and "high fidelity") but this had no effect whats-o-ever. My second approach was to use the "Microsoft Print to PDF"-printer but this didn't preserve the graphics either.

Is there a way to preserve the scalability of my graphics when saving to document as pdf? Is there somewhere an option in the settings that I haven't discovered yet?

If this is only a SVG issue: Which other vector graphics format will work better?

Stephen

FWIW, newer versions of Word (2019+) seem to do a good job of preserving SVG in PDF files. – Silvern

@bfris, how do you preserve the SVG? I'm using MS Word version 2304, and have an SVG image with text that is crystal clear when zoomed to 1000%, but when I save to PDF it converts to raster and the text becomes unreadable. – Rase

@Joe, I just made file using Version 1808 and a few SVGs. Doing File....Save As.... or File...Export seem to use the same command and there are really no options. I used some test files from here and most things worked, EXCEPT gradient fills. When Word encountered a gradient fill it converted to raster. PDF files opened in Inkscape preserved paths and solid fills. – Silvern

@bfris, I've tried every online solution I can find: saving as Adobe PDF, changing Advanced File>Options about image quality, changing the Options under File>Save As, but no matter what my SVG gets rasterized. I would have given up by now if it weren't for claims that Word does preserve SVG now. However, I'm just going to assume that there are only random magical versions like 1808 for which this works, while I'm stuck on version 2304. – Rase

Answer 1

Microsoft seems to have improved SVG support in Word. SVG vector graphics are now perfectly preserved when saving the document as PDF.

(I'm using Office version 1806)

Stephen

Some SVGs generated by matplotlib (python) are still not saved as SVG (saved as images) – Swagerty

They are not perfectly preserved for my here in 2023 on MS Word version 2304. The vector graphics which scale perfectly in the word doc get converted to blurry raster graphics when saving to PDF. – Rase

They are not preserved. Version 2202 Build 16.0.14931.21000) 64-bit. Printed using Microsoft Print to PDF. – Felike

Answer 2

In response to your final question:

"If this is only a SVG issue: Which other vector graphics format will work better?"

For years the only vector format that Word supported was Microsoft's proprietary .emf file format. If you encounter further issues, you can always try converting your .svg to .emf. Inkscape can export as .emf, and in my experience it's a much more accurate conversion than Adobe Illustrator.

Incidentally, the workaround that Andrew posted - copying the SVG to clipboard and using "Paste Special" to paste it into Word as a "Picture (Enhanced Metafile)" - works by converting your clipboard data into an .emf file. However there are a few times when exporting the image as .emf from Inkscape directly would be preferable, for instance when you want to preserve a buffer of blank space around your graphic (using the clipboard method will not select blank space).

Atlantean

Converting SVG to emf causes loss of details. I had an SVG graphic with dashed lines and they disappeared when I converted to emf using inkscape. – Felike

Loss of detail is, unfortunately, par for the course when converting between file formats. I've managed to convert smaller/less detailed vector files without significant issues, but in cases such as you describe, you will surely have to engage in "cleanup" after the conversion. Clearly, whenever possible, the better option is to leave as SVG. However at least initially, SVG support was limited to Office 365 (now Microsoft 365) versions, so .emf was the best/only option for standalone licensees. I do not know if this is still the case. – Atlantean

Answer 3

Ran into this issue today also. SVG seems to be broken in Word. One way I have found to preserve the scalability of graphics in PDF output from Word is:

1. Open the SVG in Inkscape
2. Select all and Copy to Clipboard
3. Using Paste Special in Word (Alt+E,S) paste it into the document as a "Picture (Enhanced Metafile)"

I believe this also works in previous versions of Word at least as far back as 2013 and 2010.

Cyma

Thanks for this workaround! It does work with Adobe Illustrator as well. Still, the paths of the vector graphics in the resulting PDF are slightly distorted and not exactly at their original position. The shortcut for Special Paste should be Ctrl+Alt+V – Stephen

I confirm it works in 2010, make sure to copy as enhanced metafile else you can get strange results (some text disappear in my case) – Scullery

I can confirm @Peter's response that SVG support has much improved. I'm currently using Version 1902. – Spock

Answer 4

I have Adobe Acrobat X Pro 10.1.16.13 installed, which gives me a Save as PDF file option in Word 2016 that does put the SVG graphic into the PDF file as a vector graphic.

I user Insert|Picture to get the SVG graphic files into word.

A 70K SVG file, for example, slows down the editing in Word significantly, so I put placeholder JPG or PNG graphics in the Word file until the final draft, then I replace them with SVG files as the last step before saving as PDF.

Braxy

Answer 5

I just solved the problem by doing export directly from OneDrive online. Probably it happens because online word version is html-based and it has better treatment for svg.

Spermatid

Answer 6

I solved this yesterday and hope the answer works for you.

The graphic was cropped at first in your Word (my version is 2019)? In my case, if I insert the SVG graphics without cropping, the SVG graphic works well in PDF. While if the SVG graphic was cropped before converting to the PDF, it will collapse. It has nothing to do with the resolution.

Besides, my SVG graphics were generated by Python. If you need to crop the images to adjust the size, "Inksacpe" software is a good choice.

Impossibility