Word to PDF: What Carries Over -- Links, Headings, Comments and Photos (With Test Results)
A Word document holds more than the words on the page: links, heading structure, comments, full-size photos. We tested which of these make it into the PDF our tool creates.
What we tested
We created a four-page Word document with two main headings and one sub-heading, a page header, a web link, a comment in the margin, and a 4000 x 3000 pixel photo placed 6 inches wide. We converted it with the same code and fonts our server uses (LibreOffice 24.2, October 2026) and examined the PDF.
| Part of the document | In the PDF? |
|---|---|
| Text | Yes - real, selectable and searchable text |
| Web link | Yes - still clickable |
| Page header | Yes - on the pages |
| Headings (Heading styles) | Yes - also turned into PDF bookmarks |
| Comment in the margin | No - comments are not included |
| Photo | Yes - resized to 300 dpi for its printed size and saved as JPEG |
Links and headings
The web link stayed clickable in the PDF, so readers can still follow it.
Our headings, formatted with Word's built-in Heading styles, also appeared as bookmarks: the clickable outline most PDF readers show in a side panel, with each sub-heading nested under its main heading. This makes long documents much easier to navigate. In a second test, a line we had simply made large and bold did not become a bookmark -- so use Word's Heading 1 and Heading 2 styles if you want them.
Page numbers and tables
In a second test we put an automatic page number in the footer (Word's PAGE field) and added a table. The six-page PDF showed the correct number on every page -- Page 1 to Page 6 -- and the table came through as a table, with its cell text still selectable.
Automatic fields like this are calculated during conversion, so they match the PDF's pages. If a page number or date was typed in by hand, it stays exactly as typed.
Comments are left out
The comment we added in the margin did not appear anywhere in the PDF. For most people that's what they want: a PDF sent to a client shouldn't carry internal review notes.
If you do need the comments, for example to share a review, keep sending the Word file, or print the document from Word with its markup shown and choose a PDF printer.
Leaving comments out of the PDF doesn't remove them from your Word file, so don't send the .docx itself if the comments are private.
Photos are resized -- usually a good thing
Our 4000 x 3000 photo was placed 6 inches wide on the page. In the PDF it was stored at 1800 x 1350 pixels -- exactly 300 pixels for every inch it occupies on the page -- and saved as a JPEG. The JPG photo file itself was 5.4 MB; in the PDF it took up 518 KB.
300 dpi is a common standard for sharp printing, so the photo still looks sharp on paper and on screen at normal zoom. The benefit is size: the whole four-page document was 5,510 KB as a Word file and only 544 KB as a PDF.
If you need the original full-resolution photo -- for example for a print shop -- send the image file separately instead of relying on the copy inside the PDF.
Fonts: the one thing to check
Text is converted as real text, but in the fonts available on our server. Calibri and Arial are replaced by metric-compatible twins, so the layout stays the same. Aptos, the newer Microsoft 365 default, is not, and in our test the same document grew from four pages to five. Our guide on why a PDF's layout sometimes shifts explains this in detail.
Checklist before converting
Use Word's Heading styles if you want bookmarks, use a common font such as Calibri or Arial, remember that comments won't appear, and keep the original photos if anyone needs them at full size. Then open the PDF, check the page count and click a link or two. Our Word to PDF tool accepts both .doc and .docx, and your upload and the PDF are deleted from our server as soon as your download is ready.