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Usually, I would use the Microsoft Office Interop library, but it requires the use of COM objects, which (as far as I know) isn't possible if I'm developing a Windows Universal app. What are some alternative methods I could use to convert Word and PowerPoint files to PDF from a Windows Universal App? Thanks!

Gary Chien
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2 Answers2

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There are a number of 3rd party libraries that will do this for you pretty easily, I have used Synfusion (there's a free version) for a similar workflow with Word, Excel and PDF (not PowerPoint) and while not a huge fan overall of the Syncfusion library (version 11), the Office/PDF stuff has done its job well.

Alternatively, if you're sure you will only be using the latest version of Office docs (extensions ends in X) you should be able to use any of the open office libraries to open the file to read it and use something like itext to export back to PDF. That might be trickier for more complicated documents (like PowerPoint slides).

Tony Basallo
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  • Thanks! I'll give these a try. Are you sure they'll work in a Windows Universal project? – Gary Chien Jul 28 '15 at 16:01
  • I went to the site (using the link) and looked under PDF (to check one of them) and it says "Essential PDF is a .NET library that can create and modify Adobe PDF files. It does not have any external dependencies and can be used in Windows Forms, WPF, ASP.NET Webforms, ASP.NET MVC, Silverlight, WinRT, Windows Phone, Windows store Universal and Xamarin applications." ...So, yes, it seems like they do. – Tony Basallo Jul 28 '15 at 18:28
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The Syncfusion seems to be a good set of components even if in my projet i only wanted to print/convert office (.doc and .docx) documents.

Did you try this ? and what do you think of :

  • the speed of converting
  • the quality printing pdf files
  • the quality of converting Word file to pdf

Did you use the free "Community Edition", because i can really image we can use theses library with no cost ! What is the drawback ofusing it from free

sstassin
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  • Oke, there is no drawback, it is only a matter of the size of the company. Mine has a sale >10millions so i can not use it with no cost. – sstassin Nov 06 '15 at 10:09