Convert XPS to PDF: The Ultimate Guide
15 February 2024 Senior Product Manager
Summary
Unlock the simplicity of transforming your XPS files into PDF format with our complete guide. Delve into the world of XPS documents and uncover both online and offline strategies for a hassle-free conversion. Get started on mastering the conversion process today!
Table of contents
XPS is the abbreviation of XML Paper Specification, an electronic file format developed by Microsoft Corporation. It is a specification for document storage and viewing, and a page description language that describes single pages or documents with multiple pages. It includes text, graphics, and tables displayed on the page. Like PDF, XPS defines page elements independently of the operating system, printer, or viewing application, ensuring consistent page appearance across devices. XPS files are commonly used for sharing and archiving various materials that require routine printing and saving, such as memos, contracts, reports, web pages, and online receipts. The XPS format, developed by Microsoft to replace PDF, has not received much attention since its introduction in Windows Vista. To open an XPS file in Windows, the fastest way is to use the XPS Viewer included in Windows Vista and newer versions. However, it’s important to note that XPS files are not supported on the Mac operating system and many programs. In comparison, PDF files are more widely supported, being accessible on Macs, mobile devices, and various programs.
PDF is a file format developed by Adobe Systems for file exchange. It is independent of applications, operating systems, and hardware. PDF files are based on the PostScript language image model, guaranteeing accurate colors and printing effects regardless of the printer used. PDF perfectly reproduces every character, color, and image of the original. It is commonly used for producing final documents such as financial reports, tax returns, legal documents, contracts, newsletters, and resumes. Both XPS and PDF formats embed fonts in the file, ensuring correct display and printing on other computers and printers.
XPS and PDF files have similarities in their technologies, developed for document sharing and preservation. However, there are some differences between them. For instance:
- PDF files are cross-platform and can be used on various operating systems, including
PDAs, Macs, PCs,andUnix/Linuxflavors. On the other hand, XPS files are limited to Windows operating systems.
- PDF has better development and technical support, while Microsoft has ceased updating and supporting the XPS format.
- PDFs offer more editing options compared to XPS files.
Converting an XPS file to PDF may not work on some devices. The following will introduce a variety of offline and online methods to convert XPS files. Their operations are relatively simple, and you can choose the method that suits you best.
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Universal Document Converter is a top-notch virtual printer tool that can easily convert any file to PDF. If you lack a virtual printer for generating PDFs, give the Universal Document Converter software a try. It not only converts
XPS files to PDF but also supports various other formats like BMP, DCX, GIF, JPEG, PCX, PNG, and TIFF. The software employs advanced image quantization algorithms to ensure the converted files maintain the original image quality.The specific operation steps are as follows:
① Download and install the Universal Document Converter software. Then open the XPS file to be converted to PDF, click (File) > (Print).
② In the opened window, select (Universal Document Converter), and click (Preferences).
③ Click (File Format) and select (PDF document). Here you can set the relevant properties of the PDF file, as well as set the paper size, page orientation, resolution, cropping and resizing, etc. Finally click (OK) > (Print) to complete the conversion from XPS to PDF file.
For converting multiple XPS files to PDF, choose DocuFreezer software. It efficiently converts numerous PDF documents simultaneously. DocuFreezer supports various document types, including
PDF, JPG, PNG, TIFF, and TXT. Additionally, it offers OCR text recognition for creating searchable PDF or TXT files. The software’s user interface is straightforward, making it ideal for beginners.The specific operation steps are as follows:
① Install and open DocuFreezer software, click (Add files) or (Add folder) to add XPS files, or directly drag and drop XPS files into the software window.
② Select (PDF) in “Output file type” and select a folder to save the output file in “Output folder”. Finally click the (Start) button to execute the format conversion command.
In the December 2018 release of Adobe Acrobat, the ability to convert XPS files to PDF was disabled for Acrobat DC, Acrobat 2017, and Acrobat 2015 Classic.
To convert XPS files to PDF using Adobe Acrobat, you can create a registry key (Windows) as described below:
script or console commands
The specific operation steps are as follows:
① First, install and open Adobe Acrobat software. Quit the Adobe Acrobat application if it is already running.
② Press (Windows+R) on the keyboard at the same time, enter (regedit.exe) in the opened input box, and click (OK) to open the Registry Editor.
③ In Registry Editor, depending on the version of the product you have installed, go to the following version-specific location and create the “FeatureState” key there; this registry key may not exist by default.
- For Acrobat DC (Continuous):
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\(Wow6432Node)\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\DC\FeatureState - For Acrobat DC (Classic – Acrobat 2017):
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\(Wow6432Node)\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\2017\FeatureState - For Acrobat DC (Classic – Acrobat 2015):
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\(Wow6432Node)\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\2015\FeatureState
④ Below FeatureState, create a DWORD type item and name it BlockXPSParsing. Change the value of this key to 0 (zero).
Note:
When the value of BlockXPSParsing is:
- 0: Enables XPS to PDF conversion in Acrobat
- 1: Indicates that XPS to PDF conversion is disabled in Acrobat
⑤ Finally, close the Registry Editor.
This is a bit more complicated than the other solutions, and editing your computer’s registry can be dangerous, so be careful when using this method. If you’re not sure how to do this, check out the other methods described above.
If you don’t want to download conversion software, you can choose online conversion. Online conversion tools can also convert XPS files to PDF, but the conversion speed depends on your internet connection speed and the size of the file. The following will introduce four common online conversion tools from XPS to PDF.
The operating interface of the XPStoPDF online conversion tool is relatively simple, which can help you quickly convert XPS documents to PDF format. This online conversion tool is free, requires no registration and installation, and the converted files will not add watermarks by themselves. It supports batch conversion, but each upload cannot exceed 20 files.
Online conversion link: https://xpstopdf.com/zh/
The specific operation steps are as follows:
① Open the conversion link in the browser, click the (upload file) button, and select the XPS file to be converted.
② After uploading, the file will be converted automatically. After the conversion is complete, you can click (Download) or (Download All) to download the PDF file to your computer.
Aconvert is a free online file converter that can be used to convert all kinds of documents, e-books, images, videos, audios and compressed files. The operation of converting XPS to PDF through this online conversion tool is relatively simple, supports batch conversion, and you can upload up to 10 XPS documents at a time. In addition, it should be noted that the size of each XPS document cannot exceed 40MB.
Online conversion link: https://www.aconvert.com/en/pdf/
The specific operation steps are as follows:
① Open the Aconvert conversion link in the browser and click the (File) or (Link) button, depending on whether the file to be converted is a local file or an online file. Then, click the (Choose File) button to upload an XPS local file or enter an online file link.
② Select (PDF) in the target format, and click the (Start Conversion) button to start converting the XPS file. After the conversion is successful, the output file will be listed under “Conversion Results”.
Zamzar online conversion tool offers a simple conversion process for XPS to PDF files. It supports various formats including EPUB, DOC, JPG, JPEG, CR2, CRW, HTML, ODP, TXT, PDF, CSV, DWG, GIF, etc. Batch conversion is supported. However, receiving the converted file via email may take a while.
Online conversion link: https://www.zamzar.com/
The specific operation steps are as follows:
① After opening the conversion link in the browser, click (Add Flies) to upload the XPS file to be converted.
② Then select convert to (pdf) in “Convert To”, and click (Convert Now) to start converting the file. Finally click (Download) to download the PDF file to your computer.
Online-Convert.com is a relatively comprehensive file format conversion website. In addition to converting XPS files to PDF format, it also supports converting audio, image and other various video files. The conversion website also provides OCR text recognition function, you can choose according to your actual needs.
Online conversion link: https://document.online-convert.com/convert/xps-to-pdf
The specific operation steps are as follows:
① After opening the conversion link in the browser, click (Choose Files) to upload the XPS file to be converted.
② Click (Start conversion) to start converting files. After the conversion is complete, the PDF file will be downloaded automatically.
The purpose of converting XPS to PDF is to save or send the file better, but sometimes you need to modify the content in the PDF, then you need to convert the PDF to an editable document format. In addition, if you want to split, merge or encrypt documents, you can also use Renee PDF Aide to edit them.
To convert PDF to Word, Excel, JPG and other document or image formats, the best way is to use Renee PDF Aide , compared to other conversion software, its conversion effect is the best. Renee PDF Aide is a full-featured PDF conversion and editing software with a simple software interface and very simple conversion operations. When converting PDF format to Word, the conversion efficiency can be as high as 80 pages per minute. The software also supports conversion to other file formats, including Excel , PowerPoint, ePub, Text, HTML, Image formats.
The software’s built-in OCR text recognition function can help you quickly identify scanned PDF files or image content and convert them into editable document formats. In addition to format conversion, you can also use Renee PDF Aide to split, merge, optimize, repair, encrypt, and decrypt PDF files.
Supported operating systems: Windows 10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP/2000 (32-bit and 64-bit versions).
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Quick Edit/convert dozens of PDF files in batch
Compatible Convert PDF to Excel/PowerPoint/Text, etc.
Easy Use with simple steps
Functional Encrypt/decrypt/split/merge/watermark
Safe Protect PDF with AES256 algorithms
Free TrialFree TrialNow 800 people have obtained the free version!The specific operation steps are as follows:
① After installing Renee PDF Aide, open it. Select (Convert PDF).
② Take converting to Word as an example, please click (Word) in the top menu bar, and then select the save location of the target document.
③ Click the (Add File) button to add the PDF file to be converted. After the file is successfully added, the information of the file to be converted will be displayed in the conversion list, click (select page) to set the page for file conversion.
TipsIf you need to convert the scanned PDF to text format, you can choose (Enable OCR). The software provides three text recognition modes:
- A: Recognize the text in the picture or PDF scan: This option defaults that the text on the PDF page is on the picture/scanned picture, and the program will directly use the OCR function (selecting the corresponding language will be better) to recognize the text on the file and then turn output.
- B: Recognize built-in fonts (to avoid garbled characters): This option defaults to using embedded fonts for the text on the PDF page. The program will convert these fonts into pictures, and then use the OCR function (selecting the corresponding language will be better) to identify the file. Text conversion output.
- A+B (slower): The program automatically recognizes whether the font in the file is a picture or a PDF embedded font, and then converts and outputs. But the recognition is time-consuming, and the conversion time will be longer.
④ Finally, click the (Convert) button to convert. When the prompt conversion is over, the software will display the total number of converted files and the number of successfully converted files. At this time, the PDF has been successfully converted into a Word document.
You can complete some PDF editing operations without converting to Word. Sometimes, when you need to perform some editing operations such as optimization, splitting or merging on PDF, you can use Renee PDF Aide to solve it. This software is a collection of various editing functions, among which the “PDF Toolset” module can already meet most of your editing needs.
Open Renee PDF Aide, click (PDF Toolset) to access personalized editing options for PDF files. Choose functions like repair, optimization, split, merge, rotate, encrypt/decrypt, watermark, or convert image to PDF. Edit multiple PDF files simultaneously with batch operations for convenience and speed. The interface is simple, and editing functions are easily understood, reducing the learning curve. Export edited files to a specified folder by clicking (Convert).
Description of PDF toolset editing function modules:
- Repair: Repair damaged or unopenable PDF files.
- Optimization: Optimize PDF files that take a long time to load, and compress large PDF files.
- Split: Split a multi-page PDF file into multiple files or one as required.
- Merge: Merge and output multiple PDFs into one PDF, and you can also specify the pages to be merged.
- Rotation: Adjust the display angle of the PDF file.
- Encryption & Decryption: You can encrypt PDF files or decrypt password-protected PDF files.
- Watermark: Add foreground watermark/background watermark to PDF files, watermark can choose picture or PDF document.
- Image to PDF: You can choose to merge and convert images into one file, or generate a PDF file from one image.
Download Renee PDF Aide for free and try to convert and edit PDF files!
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