Why convert Word to PDF before sending?
Recruiters, schools and offices often ask for PDF, for good reasons:
- It opens without Word. Every phone and computer can show a PDF with built in software.
- It stays the same. Fonts are embedded and pages are fixed, so nothing shifts on the reader's screen.
- It is harder to change by accident. Nobody slips a typo into your text while scrolling.
- It prints predictably. What you see on screen is what comes out of the printer.
Keep the DOCX as your editable master and send the PDF once the document is final.
What converts well, and what may change
| Usually kept | Will or may look different |
|---|---|
| Text, headings and paragraphs | Your fonts: all text uses DejaVu Sans |
| Bold, italic and lists | Page size: the PDF is always A4 portrait |
| Tables | Headers, footers and page numbers |
| Images | Text boxes, columns, footnotes, tracked changes |
Accept or reject tracked changes before converting. If you need an exact copy of your Word design, the program itself does that best: in Word on Windows or Mac, choose File, then Save As, and pick PDF as the format. In Google Docs, use File, then Download, then PDF Document.
Only DOCX is supported. Open an old .doc file in Word, Google Docs or LibreOffice and save it as DOCX first.
After converting
Attaching the PDF to an application with a size limit? Shrink it with Compress PDF. To add a certificate or a scanned page behind your CV, join the files with Merge PDF. Going the other way later? PDF to Word pulls the text back into an editable file.
Open the PDF once before sharing it. Check that tables have not split awkwardly across pages and that images sit where you expect.