{"id":9269,"date":"2019-07-23T22:32:39","date_gmt":"2019-07-24T03:32:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/?p=9269"},"modified":"2019-07-25T05:29:23","modified_gmt":"2019-07-25T10:29:23","slug":"fix-ms-word-table-text-icons-have-white-background","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/2019\/07\/23\/fix-ms-word-table-text-icons-have-white-background\/","title":{"rendered":"Fix: MS Word Table Text Icons have White Background"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How To Fix: Font Icons Export from Office Word to PDF with Opaque Backgrounds when Inside a Table<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I had this issue: Upon export of a PDF from Word with text in a table, some of the glyphs had white backgrounds. Or their cells where white. Or they looked like they were highlighted with a white highlighter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"MS
MS Word doc with a table; Upon export text has white background.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So what’s going on? Font Awesome<\/a> and other icon fonts<\/a> were exporting with white backgrounds when they were in a table, even though I’d done everything to make both the table cells and <\/em>text transparent. Plus, I made sure the text was not highlighted. This was noticeable because the table was floating over a dark-colored shape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Solution: Untick the PDF standard <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

What finally worked was going into the menu File > Save As > PDF > Options (button) > (untick checkbox) PDF\/A Compliant<\/code>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"untick<\/a>
untick bitmap text for fonts when exporting PDFs from Word with tables showing white backgrounds<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I also: (untick checkbox) Export Bitmap text when fonts may not be embedded<\/code> but maybe I should leave that ticked. I like embedding fonts in PDFs, so that everyone who views it sees the same thing, even if they don’t have your fonts installed on their device. I worry that ticking the bitmaps bit will make Word automatically convert text icons to images on PDF export, but the alternative is worse: your PDF just has a rectangle or crazy nonsense glyphs in place of a bitmap. So maybe experiment with this checkbox, or leave it checked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It Worked! No More White Background Table Cell.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"MS<\/a>
MS Word doc with icon text in tables exporting to PDF correctly–without white backgrounds<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What I Think is Happening:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Apparently, when word converts a glyph into a bitmap image to export it, it doesn’t convert it to a PNG file with transparent background, but a JPG or something with white background. Or maybe it’s just giving vectorized text a solid background without converting it to a bitmap. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So why does just one glyph have a white background? Why are the other icons exporting correctly?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

It’s because for the first 3 glyphs, I used the built-in Word Icons in the ribbon menu bar Insert > Illustrations (section) > Icons<\/code>, and they don’t have a problem exporting to PDF. But for some reason, those icons don’t include social media icons…seems like a major oversight in this day and age. Anyway, I had to get the twitter bird from an installed icon font family–and that’s the only glyph that exports incorrectly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"MS<\/a>
MS Word built-in icons export to PDF correctly, but doesn’t have social media<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By The Way, Do You Know How To Insert a Font Icon Symbol in Microsoft Word?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I guess… while you’re here… Not everyone knows how to do this. <\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Ever been frustrated by inability to get your icon font to insert the symbols into Word? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"MS<\/a>
MS Office Word – get your font icon to insert and appear – when typing unicode version does not work<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For example:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n