It's hard to make a diagnosis of what's happening without the .pdf file to also look at. Have you tried using a virtual printer, such as PDFCreator or Cute PDF?
A virtual printer is a small program that uses data that normally gets sent to a printer to create PDFs and, sometimes, other image files. To create a PDF from a Word.doc, you select Print in word, then select the virtual printer to create the PDF.
While I have been using Adobe Acrobat Standard (the expensive one, not the free Reader) for making and editing my more complex PDFs, such as ones with odd sized pages or are being made from multiple file formats, I often use PDFCreator to make simple PDFs of full page online receipts. etc. that will not require any editing since it is faster than Acrobat.
Samsung 128GB 840 Pro SSD (1),
Samsung 4TB 850 EVO SSDs (4)
Samsung 4TB 850 EVO SSDs (16) external backup drives used in 2.5" hot swap bays in the computer.
PSU
Corsair HX750w
Case
Antec Two Hundred v2 (modified)
Cooling
Cooler Master GeminII S524 120mm (fan replaced with a 140mm)