XPS stands for XML Paper Specification and is the electronic format of XML-based digital documents. This type of file was created by Microsoft to be an alternative to PDF and try, without success, to impose a new standard for electronic documents.
Since it is not widely used, you may find yourself stunned when an XPS file happens to open.
In addition, as well as the PDF, an XPS file cannot be modified because it was made specifically to facilitate the publication and dissemination of documents.
Let's see how to create them but above all how to open XPS on Windows and how to convert them to PDF or images .
Creating an XPS file on Windows Vista and Windows 7 is very simple and you don't need to download anything at all.
Whatever program you use to write documents, either with Word or with Openoffice or other text editors, just press the Print button and choose, among the printers, Microsoft XPS Document Writer .
In this way, the file is not sent to the printer but is converted into XPS and saved on the computer.
To create an XPS with Windows XP you must instead download and install the Microsoft XPS Essentials Pack which is included in the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 and whose download can be done from here.
If you receive an XPS file, to open it on Windows Vista and Windows 7 there is a program called XPS Viewer which should be present in the list of programs in the start menu.
This is a really basic software with which nothing can be done, just open and read the electronic document.
On any Windows version instead you can use an alternative program to the XPS Viewer called XPS Annotator .
With this tool you can view the XPS document, convert the pages into images, copy the selected text to the clipboard to be able to paste it into another document, add a digital signature, modify its properties and many other things that the Microsoft XPS reader cannot do.
Like the best PDF readers with XPS Annotator, you can also view documents in four different styles.
To open XPS files you can also use the well-known Universal Viewer program which opens and displays everything.
Converting an XPS to PDF is very easy following the same procedure seen to convert Word documents to PDF.
Using programs like DoPdf you can use the Print button, even from the classic XPS Viewer, to make a PDF copy of the document.
