Anonymized case study
Thesis formatting repair: TOC, figures, footnotes, and PDF export
This case study describes a formatting repair pattern from an anonymized thesis document. It focuses on document structure and output quality only. No academic content, private data, or unpublished research details are included.
Initial formatting problems
- The table of contents and sommaire were not organized reliably.
- The list of figures and list of tables looked handmade and did not navigate correctly.
- Images and figure placements were at risk during DOCX rebuild and PDF export.
- Footnotes were oversized, and URL footnotes needed to remain real Word footnotes.
- Visible section headers had to be removed while footer page numbers stayed in place.
- Page numbering needed front matter and body numbering rules checked.
Audit findings
The audit found that formatting could not be treated as a simple visual cleanup. The Word package needed preservation checks for images, footnotes, page fields, headings, and generated navigation pages.
| Area | Risk | Repair rule |
|---|---|---|
| Footnotes | Markers or URL notes could disappear. | Preserve real Word footnotes and normalize style only. |
| Images | Figures could be lost during rebuild. | Preserve media files and drawing placement order. |
| Navigation | TOC and lists could remain empty or handmade. | Generate structured navigation pages from headings and captions. |
| Headers | Visible section titles appeared in page headers. | Remove visible headers while keeping footer page numbers. |
Repair approach
- Use the original DOCX as the source of truth.
- Preserve academic text, images, footnotes, references, and captions.
- Normalize body formatting separately from footnote formatting.
- Generate non-empty sommaire, table of contents, list of figures, and list of tables.
- Export PDF and check that final output opens correctly.
- Keep the job in human QA instead of automatic delivery.
What changed after repair
The repaired document had cleaner navigation pages, preserved footnotes, smaller footnote styling, visible headers removed, footer page numbering retained, and a final PDF check. The formatting repair did not rewrite or change the academic content.
Lessons for students
- If a list of figures is not clickable, it is probably not generated from real captions.
- If footnotes become large, the footnote style may be inheriting body text settings.
- If Word warns about unreadable content, the DOCX package needs inspection before delivery.
- If a PDF looks different from the DOCX, export validation is part of formatting, not an optional extra.