Why convert Word to PDF?
DOCX is a great editing format and a terrible distribution format. The recipient needs Microsoft Word or a compatible viewer, the file looks different across versions, and a stray Track Changes accept can wreck your formatting. PDF solves all three: it looks the same everywhere, opens in any browser, and can't be edited by accident.
How a2pdf converts DOCX
Behind the scenes, your .docx is run through pandoc to extract the content, then re-rendered with one of four typographic themes via headless Chromium. The result: a PDF that looks like it was designed, not exported. You don't get back the same fonts and exact pixel layout you had in Word — that's the trade-off for getting a result that's clean rather than faithful.
If you need exact fidelity
If you need the PDF to look exactly like your Word document — same fonts, same Track Changes markings, same custom corporate styles — use Word's built-in "Save As PDF" instead. a2pdf is for when you want the content in a polished, opinionated layout: think reports, drafts, AI-generated content that started life in Word, or any case where the source document's styling is forgettable but the content matters.
Themes that suit Word content
- Clean — the default. Sans-serif Inter, readable line length, comfortable margins.
- Academic — Source Serif, justified text, auto-numbered section headings. Great for whitepapers, research reports, or anything that should feel formal.
- Business — IBM Plex Sans with deep-navy accents. Suits memos, briefings, board packs.
- Dark — Inter on near-black. Ebook-reader friendly.
FAQ
Try it — pandoc accepts some .doc files. If the conversion fails, open the file in Word/LibreOffice and save it as .docx first. .docx is the modern Office Open XML format and is what a2pdf is optimized for.
25 MB. If you have a larger file, drop a line — we can raise the limit on a per-deployment basis. Most Word documents, even long ones with images, come in well under 25 MB.
Yes. Uploaded files live in server memory for the duration of the conversion. Generated PDFs are deleted after 10 minutes or after the first download, whichever is sooner. No accounts, no logs of file contents.