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I have just installed the free version of BullZip PDF Printer and I want to send .docx documents to this printer without Word installed and it must be free using managed .NET code.

The reason for this is that I have an AngularJS web application and a REST back end that I am developing for a personal project so commercial alternatives are out of the window for cost reasons.

My web application basically generates invoices from a Word .dotx template and I'd like these sent to the BullZip PDF printer where I can monitor the output folder and grab the PDF file before sending it to the browser via REST.

Most examples and suggestions all seem to lean towards using Word installed on the server, or purchasing commercial software and none of these are suitable for me.

There must be some free library in existence these days that can do this without having to buy expensive software for such a simple task.

Intrepid
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You can't send a .docx to the Bullzip printer, because it does not accept .docx as a format. It accepts PostScript. In order to get PostScript you open the .docx file in an appropriate application and print it to the printer, the application draws the document content onto the context, and Windows takes care of converting that into PostScript.

The task may seem simple to you, it isn't.

If you don't want to use word then try OpenOffice or LibreOffice instead. Those are the only decent applications I know of which are free and can read .docx files.

KenS
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  • Thanks for the comments. It seems strange that Microsoft don't recommend using Office automation on a server and don't even provide any alternatives to do this. Being forced to use other third party software is plain ridiculous as they probably don't offer automation. – Intrepid Mar 23 '15 at 19:49