Executive Summary
Searchable Word→PDF retained all key markers in the semantic, layout, and pagination fixtures, but a three-page semantic source became two pages and a four-page mixed-section source became three portrait pages. PDF→Word Editable retained all five key markers, fixed-width table structure, reading order, three page boundaries, and the landscape final section. Layout-aware retained the text but expanded the three-page source to four pages.
- Best default for Word→PDF: Searchable text. It kept lists, table content, the chart, hyperlink, headers, footers, and selectable text in the semantic fixture.
- Best default for PDF→Word: Editable document. It produced a cleaner three-page result than Layout-aware on this fixture.
- Best appearance: Visual replica. Both visual tests retained the rendered appearance, but their text was image-based and not editable/searchable.
- Important Unicode limit: searchable Word→PDF preserved Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic exactly; Arabic, Hebrew, and part of the symbol line were replaced or changed by the PDF font path.
- Safer failure: Visual Word→PDF refused the unsupported multi-section stress file rather than downloading a deceptively incomplete PDF.
Mode tradeoffs in the controlled checks
How to read this chart: Content/editability combines published content and structure checks. Layout/visual uses the applicable layout or visual checks for that mode. These are transparent fixture-specific pass rates, not a claim about every document.
Source: GoPDFConverter summary results and check-level evidence, conversion build v87, Chromium browser run, July 10, 2026.
All ten production outcomes
| Direction / fixture | Mode | Pages | Markers | Result | Output |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Word→PDF · semantic | Searchable | 3 → 2 | 3/3 | Content retained; manual break reflowed | |
| Word→PDF · mixed layout | Searchable | 4 → 3 | 4/4 | Content retained; columns/landscape reflowed | |
| Word→PDF · pagination | Searchable | 5 → 5 | 40/40 detailed markers | No clipping, overlap, or orphaned heading observed | |
| Word→PDF · Unicode | Searchable | 1 → 1 | 6/6 labels | 3/6 exact script lines | |
| Word→PDF · Unicode | Visual | 1 → 1 | 0/6 searchable | 6/6 script lines visible | |
| Word→PDF · mixed layout | Visual | 4 → — | — | Explicit refusal; no output | — |
| PDF→Word · reconstruction | Editable | 3 → 3 | 5/5 | Best editable result in this fixture | DOCX |
| PDF→Word · reconstruction | Layout-aware | 3 → 4 | 5/5 | Text retained; source page 2 expanded | DOCX |
| PDF→Word · reconstruction | Visual replica | 3 → 3 | 0/5 editable | Appearance retained as page images | DOCX |
| PDF→Word · reconstruction | Editable, boundaries off | 3 → 1 | 5/5 | Continuous-flow control behaved as selected | DOCX |
Rendered evidence
Every source and output page was rendered before scoring. These contact sheets show the tradeoff directly; full files are linked in the table above.
Download the fixtures, outputs, and schema
The fixtures are deterministic and contain no personal data. DOCX archive timestamps and document metadata are fixed, and the PDF generator uses invariant output. The manifest records SHA-256 checksums. The dataset and fixtures are licensed CC BY 4.0.
Download fixture bundle Download output bundle
Fixture manifest · Results CSV · Detailed checks CSV · JSON Schema · Dataset README
Method
- Generate controlled sources.
Four DOCX fixtures isolate semantic structure, mixed portrait/landscape sections, long pagination, and six script families. One PDF fixture isolates paragraphs, styled lists, a table, an image, two-column reading order, headers, footers, and a landscape page.
- Run the production browser paths.
The public Word→PDF and PDF→Word interfaces processed every supported mode. The unsupported multi-section visual case was recorded as an explicit refusal.
- Inspect outputs independently.
PyPDF checked PDF text, annotations, images, pages, and geometry. ZIP/XML inspection checked DOCX text, relationships, tables, fixed widths, media, sections, and reading order.
- Render every page.
Poppler rendered PDFs. LibreOffice rendered DOCX files to PDF, then Poppler rendered those pages. Every rendered page was visually checked for clipping, overlap, page breaks, columns, tables, images, and orientation.
- Publish check-level evidence.
No single opaque “fidelity score” grades unlike features as if they were interchangeable. The CSV records each check, method, evidence, denominator, and output checksum.
What changed because of this test
- PDF→Word reconstructed tables now use fixed document-width columns instead of browser-dependent percentage widths.
- Turning off “Preserve PDF page boundaries” now produces a true continuous-flow document instead of inserting hidden page breaks.
- Editable document remains the recommended PDF→Word default; Layout-aware is now described as a specialized line-preservation mode that can add pages.
- Marketing copy no longer implies universal pixel-perfect fidelity, guaranteed seconds, unlimited file size, or offline conversion before dependencies are cached.
Caveats and assumptions
This is a controlled challenge, not a population estimate for all Word and PDF documents. It does not cover tracked changes, comments, equations, embedded spreadsheets, macros, floating text boxes, complex footnotes, right-to-left paragraph layout beyond short lines, accessibility tags, or password-protected inputs. LibreOffice supplied the DOCX reference renders; Microsoft Word can paginate differently.
Visual inspection checks are disclosed separately from automated checks. A pass means the named condition passed on the published fixture and output, not that every similar document will pass. Browser, font availability, memory, and third-party library versions can change results.
Next steps
- Add embedded-font support or a Unicode-capable searchable PDF font path for Arabic, Hebrew, and broader symbols.
- Improve PDF image extraction so editable PDF→Word can retain source images without requiring full-page snapshots.
- Replace Layout-aware’s per-line paragraphs with compact grouped lines while preserving form and invoice spacing.
- Expand fixtures to tracked changes, footnotes, equations, text boxes, and multiple fonts.
Further questions
- Can a browser-only searchable PDF path embed a compact multilingual font without making every conversion download unreasonably large?
- Which PDF image-placement heuristics preserve charts and logos while keeping surrounding text editable?
- Can multi-section visual Word→PDF paginate safely enough to remove the current refusal?