Web Design & Hosting by Miguel Estrada
Tips & support for Web 2.0 design, web hosting and development
XPS vs PDF for Digital Documents
Author: developpeur14 Aug
Recently I decided to make my own library of web pages, actually of Digital Documents (or DigiDocs), some sort of encapsulated compilation for the pages that contain valuable info. Some people might say, well just bookmark the page in your browser or delicious (or similar)… well yes I do this as matter of fact, but sometimes web pages aren’t eternal and chances are that info won’t last a couple of years on line… and sure, I know I can print the web page… yeah sure… paper… who am I kidding, I already have literally tons of paper that I only wish I can digitize back some day.
So, for the sake of a paperless office, I’ll start compiling virtual documents with XPS instead of printing them, this of course when I’m unable to save them as MHT and convert them to PDF, because I still think XPS, as for august 2007, isn’t as developed as PDF, but I’m sure it will in a few years.
Nowadays document scanning is the zeitgeist, essentially a virtual archive is today’s choice since storage devices have become cheaper and smaller.
Said that, my choice for my DigiDocs will be the following:
- MHT (applies only to web pages, then convert to PDF)
- XPS
- JPG
How to Open/Read XPS
The XPS Reader (usually the same bad old Internet Explorer) comes active with Windows Vista, anyway you can also download here the XPS Reader & Essential Pack. But… the tricky side, as I just said, is that XPS Reader works together with Internet Explorer (IE), that is so very Microsoft, meaning that if IE is not your default browser it won’t work. As for August 2007, I haven’t found a Firefox extension to read XPS documents, I already tried with the IE Tab extension with no luck.
So the GOLDEN TIP would be to open your IE, and then go to File+Open and browse to the file from there, and it should work. Same thing if you open it by right-clicking the .xps file and go to the “Open with” option and choose IE.
How to make a XPS
This is the easiest part of all, especially in Windows Vista, all you have to do is Print the File (Word, Excel, PPT, etc.) or Web Page (my favorite part) you’re browsing and instead of your usual printer choose Microsoft XPS Document Writer. Click Ok, Choose a Destination, Name the file… and that’s it.
How to Convert XPS to PDF
So far, and that I’m aware of, to this date, only the windows version of Acrobat 8 has this feature.
More Resources on XPS format
Microsites & Profiles
Some of the above microsites might be unavailable depending on many things, ranging from redesign to current job restrictions, server downtimes or other internet mystics, anyway you can always e-mail me.
2 Responses for "XPS vs PDF for Digital Documents"
This is what I do for converting XPS to PDF, or converting PDF to XPS. You don’t need to buy some fancy converter. I already have “PDF ReDirect” which is one of those print-to-PDF software programs - get the free version or get any other free print-to-PDF software that you want to use. You don’t have to buy the full Acrobat software. When you are in ANY windows program and you want to print, you select “PDF ReDirect” instead of your regular printer. Get the free “Microsoft XPS Essentials Pack” download from Microsoft and that gives you the XPS reader and the XPS creator. Open up a .XPS file and the XPS Viewer opens up that .XPS file. Click File and Print from the menubar in the XPS Viewer, select the “PDF ReDirect” as the “printer” and “print” that .XPS file to a .PDF file. And you can do the same thing going from a .PDF file to a .XPS file. I use the “PDF-XChange Viewer” from “Tracker Software” to read .PDF files - I no longer use Acrobat Reader. When reading a .PDF file while using the “PDF-XChange Viewer”, I can simply click File, Print from the menubar, select the “Microsoft XPS Document Writer” as the “printer” and then print the .PDF to make/convert to a .XPS file. Simple. Easy. You don’t need any other fancy software stuff. I’m doing this in Windows XP. You don’t need Windows Vista. You don’t need Microsoft Office 2007. You can do this with any software so long as you have the “Microsoft XPS Essentials Pack” for making .XPS files and if you have any print-to-PDF software and you can do this from any software by “printing” to either a .XPS file or to a .PDF file. Personally I really prefer PDF and I think XPS sucks, but I know that there are now both of them out there that I have to deal with. For any .XPS files that I get, I’m “printing” (”converting”) those to .PDF files.
[...] If you want to know more about XPS files, I wrote a post about them last year: XPS vs PDF for Digital Documents. [...]
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