RE: OOXML to PDF Converter
Are you doing very custom conversion or using any platforms like SharePoint? Michael Nemtsev Microsoft MVP B: http://msmvps.com/blogs/laflour S: http://www.sharepoint-sandbox.com From: ozdotnet-boun...@ozdotnet.com [mailto:ozdotnet-boun...@ozdotnet.com] On Behalf Of Matt Siebert Sent: Thursday, 1 July 2010 3:58 PM To: ozDotNet Subject: OOXML to PDF Converter Hi all, Does anyone know of a cheap / free OOXML to PDF converter program / library? I'm working on an app where we'll be producing .docx and .xlsx files and we then need to convert these to PDF. I'm considering using the OpenXML SDK to create the OOXML files and it would be nice if we didn't have to depend on MS Office to turn those into PDFs. Having said that, this is just a 'nice to have' - the reality is that most (if not all) of our user base will have MS Office so we're not keen on spending a lot of money for this functionality. A quick google revealed Aspose.Words http://www.aspose.com/categories/.net-components/aspose.words-for-.net/defa ult.aspx but it's a bit pricey and we're only interested in a fairly small subset of it's functionality. Cheers, Matt.
RE: OOXML to PDF Converter
SharePoint 2010 standard and above will do this for you using Word Automation Serviceshttp://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee558278.aspx. One alternative to the Apose.Words server I've played with is Ericon's XF Rendering Serverhttp://www.ecrion.com/Products/XFRenderingServer/Overview.aspx, but it's also a little pricey. A major consideration is how much your generated docs will require some client-side rendering before they're converted. Are you using fields and/or tables (like tables of contents or references etc)? Are you using AltChunks to compose documents? If so, you need to use some kind of rendering engine (preferably Word itself or the SharePoint Word Automation Services engine) to get full fidelity. Remember that the OOXML SDK doesn't do any rendering, it simply provides the markup for the rendering engine to consume. If you want a full-fidelity fixed-format document (pdf or xps) then you need a good rendering engine first, and the one that's going to do the job that's closest to what Word does is Word itself (in either client or [Word Automation] server form). Cheers Andrew Coates, ME, MCPD, MCSD MCTS, Developer Evangelist, Microsoft, 1 Epping Road, NORTH RYDE NSW 2113 Ph: +61 (2) 9870 2719 * Mob +61 (416) 134 993 * Fax: +61 (2) 9870 2400 * http://blogs.msdn.com/acoat From: ozdotnet-boun...@ozdotnet.com [mailto:ozdotnet-boun...@ozdotnet.com] On Behalf Of Michael Nemtsev Sent: Sunday, 4 July 2010 9:10 PM To: 'ozDotNet' Subject: RE: OOXML to PDF Converter Are you doing very custom conversion or using any platforms like SharePoint? Michael Nemtsev Microsoft MVP B: http://msmvps.com/blogs/laflour S: http://www.sharepoint-sandbox.com From: ozdotnet-boun...@ozdotnet.com [mailto:ozdotnet-boun...@ozdotnet.com] On Behalf Of Matt Siebert Sent: Thursday, 1 July 2010 3:58 PM To: ozDotNet Subject: OOXML to PDF Converter Hi all, Does anyone know of a cheap / free OOXML to PDF converter program / library? I'm working on an app where we'll be producing .docx and .xlsx files and we then need to convert these to PDF. I'm considering using the OpenXML SDK to create the OOXML files and it would be nice if we didn't have to depend on MS Office to turn those into PDFs. Having said that, this is just a 'nice to have' - the reality is that most (if not all) of our user base will have MS Office so we're not keen on spending a lot of money for this functionality. A quick google revealed Aspose.Wordshttp://www.aspose.com/categories/.net-components/aspose.words-for-.net/default.aspx but it's a bit pricey and we're only interested in a fairly small subset of it's functionality. Cheers, Matt.
Re: OOXML to PDF Converter
Thanks for the info Andrew. I was a little concerned about the rendering but wasn't sure how much of an issue it would be. I'll probably use Word / Excel to open the generated documents and print / export to PDF. Cheers. On Mon, Jul 5, 2010 at 7:57 AM, Andrew Coates (DPE AUSTRALIA) andrew.coa...@microsoft.com wrote: SharePoint 2010 standard and above will do this for you using Word Automation Serviceshttp://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee558278.aspx . One alternative to the Apose.Words server I’ve played with is Ericon’s XF Rendering Serverhttp://www.ecrion.com/Products/XFRenderingServer/Overview.aspx, but it’s also a little pricey. A major consideration is how much your generated docs will require some client-side rendering before they’re converted. Are you using fields and/or tables (like tables of contents or references etc)? Are you using AltChunks to compose documents? If so, you need to use some kind of rendering engine (preferably Word itself or the SharePoint Word Automation Services engine) to get full fidelity. Remember that the OOXML SDK doesn’t do any rendering, it simply provides the markup for the rendering engine to consume. If you want a full-fidelity fixed-format document (pdf or xps) then you need a good rendering engine first, and the one that’s going to do the job that’s closest to what Word does is Word itself (in either client or [Word Automation] server form). Cheers Andrew Coates, ME, MCPD, MCSD MCTS, Developer Evangelist, Microsoft, 1 Epping Road, NORTH RYDE NSW 2113 Ph: +61 (2) 9870 2719 • Mob +61 (416) 134 993 • Fax: +61 (2) 9870 2400 • http://blogs.msdn.com/acoat *From:* ozdotnet-boun...@ozdotnet.com [mailto: ozdotnet-boun...@ozdotnet.com] *On Behalf Of *Michael Nemtsev *Sent:* Sunday, 4 July 2010 9:10 PM *To:* 'ozDotNet' *Subject:* RE: OOXML to PDF Converter Are you doing very custom conversion or using any platforms like SharePoint? *Michael Nemtsev* Microsoft MVP B: http://msmvps.com/blogs/laflour S: http://www.sharepoint-sandbox.com *From:* ozdotnet-boun...@ozdotnet.com [mailto: ozdotnet-boun...@ozdotnet.com] *On Behalf Of *Matt Siebert *Sent:* Thursday, 1 July 2010 3:58 PM *To:* ozDotNet *Subject:* OOXML to PDF Converter Hi all, Does anyone know of a cheap / free OOXML to PDF converter program / library? I'm working on an app where we'll be producing .docx and .xlsx files and we then need to convert these to PDF. I'm considering using the OpenXML SDK to create the OOXML files and it would be nice if we didn't have to depend on MS Office to turn those into PDFs. Having said that, this is just a 'nice to have' - the reality is that most (if not all) of our user base will have MS Office so we're not keen on spending a lot of money for this functionality. A quick google revealed Aspose.Wordshttp://www.aspose.com/categories/.net-components/aspose.words-for-.net/default.aspx but it's a bit pricey and we're only interested in a fairly small subset of it's functionality. Cheers, Matt.
