Outlook to PDF: Converting Office Document File Attachments Into PDF Files

PDF is a good format for archiving email as it can embed the original look and formatting of an email message.  However, correctly handling a wide range of email file attachments when converting Outlook email to PDF files can be a difficult challenge. 

MessageExport add-in for Microsoft Outlook helps you overcome this challenge by providing selectable pdf export methods that help you achieve the desired end result.

Let's look at the different ways that MessageExport processes emails and file attachments to PDF documents.

Converting Document Email Attachments to the PDF image.

Using the export profile called "Export to PDF - Attachments converted/included" causes MessageExport to create PDFs that embed email file attachments as images within the PDF document. Conversion of most image and document file attachment is supported.

The original name of the file is placed vertically along the left page margin so that it's easy to identify the name of the file.  This is a method that is often used when preparing email for legal purposes. It's very convenient, as the documents are easily visible within the PDF, and no software other than a PDF viewer is needed to view the documents. The documents are "frozen" in their original state and cannot be readily altered.

What happens if an attachment is unable to be converted?  MessageExport will default to embedding the file within the PDF to preserve it's context.  This means that the file can later be extracted from the PDF and separately analyzed.

Embedding Outlook Email Attachments within a PDF

When it is necessary to keep all email file attachments as separate documents so that they may be extracted and later edited or manipulated with their native software application, MessageExport provides a profile called, "Export to PDF - Attachments Embedded." 

This profile will cause MessageExport to create PDF files that are not part of the PDF image, but rather embedded within the PDF document as separate files.  Using any standard PDF viewer, the documents can be later extracted and used.

This method works very well for personal email archiving, where it may be desirable to be able to have full access to the original documents  for editing or to continue working on them.

Extracting Outlook File Attachments

MessageExport makes it easy to save Outlook email file attachments to a Windows 10 folder, in bulk.  This process involves selecting the appropriate email messages in Outlook's message list (Control-A will select all emails in the list), then choosing the profile called, "Export to PDF - Attachments saved to disk."

MessageExport will leave the original email attachment within Outlook, so nothing is altered in Outlook's pst file.  A copy of the original file attachment is placed in the selected Windows folder, where it can be easily accessed. 


A free 15 trial of MessageExport for Outlook can be downloaded from the product home page.

Embedded E-Mail Processing: How to Convert Outlook Email With Email File Attachments to PDF?

MessageExport is a professional tool designed specifically for people who have important work to do with E-Mail.  It integrates tightly with Microsoft Office Outlook, enhancing the user experience with powerful new features designed to make their work life easier and more productive.

Today we released MessageExport 3.5, and we're excited about the new features it has.  One feature was requestd by several customers was to improve MessageExport's handling of .msg and .eml email file attachments (emails within emails).

In this release, we've improved how MessageExport handles E-Mail file attachments that are themselves E-Mails during the process of converting (or bulk converting)  E-Mails to PDF.

Say that you are working on a legal case, and you have just received a "smoking gun" E-Mail message as part of discovery.  This E-Mail that has a .MSG E-Mail file attached to it.  And inside that .MSG E-Mail attachment, is another E-Mail message, that contains yet another .MSG E-Mail file attachment.  And lets also say that each of these E-Mails contain other attachments, such as .jpg images.

If you are the lucky person who is responsible to convert this E-Mail message (which is actually four different nested E-Mails) into a PDF file, it may take you 30 minutes or longer to manually disassemble the entire E-Mail and attachments, re-organize them into a logical structure that preserves their context, and then convert them all into a single PDF file.

MessageExport 3.5 Exports E-Mails That Are Attachments Into PDF Files.

Or, you could just click on the main E-Mail message, choose "Export to PDF" from the MessageExport toolbar, and click "Export."  MessageExport will complete the entire E-Mail to PDF operation for you in less than a minute, including the processing of emails that are themselves forwarded email attachments.

MessageExport 3.5 also includes a re-vamped naming structure, which we call Breadcrumbs" for lack of a better term. Breadcrumbs help to orient the viewer to the content within the PDF.  For example, it may be important to know the order and the structure of the various E-Mails, otherwise how can you tell who sent which file to whom?

Embedded email processing is a powerful new feature for MessageExport. We hope it will help make you more efficient, and your work more delightful.

If you are already a MessageExport customer, you may be entitled to free upgrade.

If you have never tried MessageExport, take it for a 15 day spin. If it meets your needs, we'd love to have you as a customer. Click here to download a free trial of MessageExport.