Overview of PDF Export Changes due to the Aspose Components Upgrade made in 29.4.0 Release

Components Versions

Changes regarding the behavior of different types of form fields from MS Word documents

By default, during the conversion of DOC/DOCX files to PDF, most form fields, content controls, and ActiveX are preserved to maintain editable functionality in the exported PDF.

For detailed documentation on supported form fields: Supported Form Fields in DOC/DOCX Files Overview

Flattening of Rich Text fields

Starting with 29.4.0 Release, Rich Text fields are now automatically flattened during conversion.

• This ensures that their contents are rendered as static/read-only in the final PDF.
• The full content remains visible, preventing issues with hidden or clipped text.

Enhanced detection of Plain Text fields

The detection logic for Plain Text fields has been enhanced, particularly for fields containing numerical values.

• Previously, these fields were not always recognized correctly and could be excluded from the editable output.
• With this release, Plain Text fields, including those with numbers, are preserved as editable in the exported PDF.

Macro Buttons

Macro Buttons are interactive elements inserted into Word documents to trigger VBA macros when clicked. When converting .doc/.docx documents to PDF using Aspose.Words and Aspose.PDF.Drawing:

• MacroButton fields lose all interactivity during PDF export.
• The DisplayText inside a MacroButton field is treated as static document content.
• If MacroButton fields are not removed, their DisplayText — even if normally invisible or system-related (e.g., If MacroButton fields are not removed, their DisplayText — even if normally invisible or system-related (e.g., HTMLDirect) may appear unexpectedly in the final PDF, resulting in unwanted visual artifacts.

To prevent this, we explicitly remove all Macro Button fields before conversion.

Benefits of removal:

• Ensures clean, static PDF output.
• Prevents exposure of internal macro triggers or template artifacts.
• Eliminates user confusion by removing non-functional elements.

Additional Notes

• We preserve standard form fields (such as text inputs and checkboxes) where possible to maintain limited form functionality in the exported PDF.
• ActiveX Controls are rendered as static content, as dynamic behavior is not preserved in PDF output.

For detailed documentation on behavior of Macro Buttons, refer to: Guide about Macro Buttons in DOC/DOCX->PDF files

Updates in behavior of Dynamic Table of Contents

Dynamic Table of Contents fields should not have their content updated during conversion (just page numbers should be updated)

This change aims to make the final PDF match the original Word document's Table of Contents, addressing client complaints about discrepancies.

Before this update: When converting documents to PDF, the Table of Contents was intentionally updated with specific code. This was similar to opening the Word file, right-clicking on the Table of Contents, and selecting Update Field - Update Entire Table. This sometimes led to a mismatch between what you saw in the PDF (the updated Table of Contents) and what you saw in the original document (where the Table of Contents had not been updated).

After this update: if a user modifies a header in the original document but does not click Update Table of Contents before saving and uploading it as a revision in the ZenQMS app, we expect:

• The Table of Contents will not update with the new Header value.
• The Table of Contents will reflect the correct page number(s).

For a detailed overview of the behavior of Dynamic TOC and other dynamic references during PDF conversion of DOC/DOCX files, please check this article.

Corrected the behavior of Table Header Rows from MS Word documents

Previously, table headers marked as "Repeat as header row at the top of each page" in Word documents did not consistently carry over during PDF conversion.

• This resulted in missing headers on subsequent pages in the exported PDF.
• As of 29.4.0 Release, this issue has been resolved: headers now correctly repeat across all pages, mirroring the behavior of the original Word file.