Anyone know how to convert word files (.doc) to PDF using the command line in Windows?
We were using the service of OpenOffice, but in documents that have many tables and images, it ends up ruining much formatting.
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hate to ask, but why cli specifically? scripting? – Journeyman Geek♦ Feb 23 '12 at 11:40
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what exactly you want to know – Xosler Feb 23 '12 at 12:12
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Well, i can invoke printing off CLI, but it'll open windows for it, apparently – Journeyman Geek♦ Feb 23 '12 at 12:22
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"winword.exe" "C:\My Files\doc1.doc" /mFilePrintDefault Provided you have quiet PDF printer as default.
Also try libreOffice offspring od OpenOffice.org. It is based of go-ooo which had no problems with OLE metrics in office.
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I can do something like: winword.exe 'c :/ file.doc' '/ printer' 'c :/ arquivo_de_saida.pdf'? – Xosler Feb 23 '12 at 11:13
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currently use the service openoffice / LibreOffice, but the conversion spoils the original formatting of the file, and if we can not lose any formatting. Part of the files are. Docx with many tables, headers and footers, we must keep the original formatting – Xosler Feb 23 '12 at 11:23
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I am just wondering if "docx files" still have Word 6.0 compatibility attributes? Libre/OpenOffice parser does not have means to deal with them because "standard" from microsoft does not describe exact metrics. – ZaB Feb 23 '12 at 16:48
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In W7 I get:'winword.exe' is not recognized as an internal or external command. Will see what directory it is in. – KAE Jun 22 '16 at 18:30
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if you have Microsoft Word installed, you can use DocTo:
https://github.com/tobya/DocTo
batch operation is supported, all files in directory can be converted from doc to pdf:
docto -f "C:\Dir with Spaces\FilesToConvert\" -O "C:\DirToOutput" -T wdFormatPDF -OX .pdfanother option is to use the following powershell script: https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/office/Script-to-convert-Word-f702844d
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I found this site, and by testing OfficeToPDF, it is apparently working well. Example:
OfficeToPDF "c:\help.doc" "c:\output\help.pdf"
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2Under the hood, it use MS Office to convert the files (see requirement part). Don't pay for this and use open source solution : OfficeToPDF (it does exactly the same) – tigrou May 22 '17 at 14:11
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Wondeful! The binaries (.exe) are there: github.com/cognidox/OfficeToPDF/releases – Basj Apr 4 '18 at 13:01
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We use the BCL easyPDF SDK for that purpose in our application. It provides much more control over how the conversion looks (e.g. how to handle Track Changes annotations).
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wouldn't that mean actually having to write the application from scratch? – Journeyman Geek♦ Feb 23 '12 at 11:40
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In theory, although the OP mentioned this being used as part of a custom Java app. For our use it was convenient to have the conversion happen on the commandline so I wrapped more or less the sample code provided on the website in a tiny executable. – Kit Grose Feb 23 '12 at 12:14
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I know the question is old, but the best solution to convert any kind of file to PDF is to use the PDFCreator. It is free, and has a command line EXE file you can use to convert any file to PDF. The application to read the file type has to be installed on the PC of course (you need office installed to convert an office document and Autocad to convert a CAD file). PDFCreator can run in the background and output files to a specified folder with no user interaction required. Sadly you cannot specify in the command line where to output the PDF. PDFCreator always output to the same folder specified in the settings. But knowing this, you can pick up the converted file in that folder and move/rename to wherever you want.
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Download the free PDFTOOFFICE FROM http://officetopdf.codeplex.com/releases/view/118190
:: PURPOSE: convert word_file to pdf_file
:: DEFINE VARS
set WORD_FILE="C:\var\anc\issues\BDCTBA-12\docs\BDC-ISG\BDC-ISG.docx"
set PDF_FILE="C:\var\anc\issues\BDCTBA-12\docs\BDC-ISG\BDC-ISG.pdf"
:: REMOVE FIRST THE FILE
DEL /Q "%PDF_FILE%
:: CONVERT THE WORD FILE TO A PDF FILE
:: REMEMBER TO CTRL + S , while writing ...
:: NOTE IF THE FILE IS OPENED IN WORD YOU WOULD HAVE TO USE READ ONLY COPY
:: ACTION !!!
"OFFICETOPDF.EXE" "%WORD_FILE%" "%PDF_FILE%"
:: REQUIREMENTS
:: DOWNLOAD OFFICETOPDF FROM [http://officetopdf.codeplex.com/releases/view/118190][2]
:: OTHER GOODIES - call from cygwin
:: PATH=/cygdrive/c/WINDOWS/system32:$PATH
:: cmd /c convert-BDC-ISG.docx-to-BDC-ISG.cmd
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fyi, this project uses Word Interop. So Word is required to be installed. – jltrem Jul 22 '14 at 2:37
