aspose-words-foss 26.5.0

Lightweight free open-source alternative to Aspose.Words — convert DOCX, DOC, RTF to Markdown, text, and PDF

Aspose.Words FOSS

A lightweight, open-source Python library for converting DOCX, DOC, RTF, TXT, and MD files to DOCX, Markdown, plain text, and PDF without requiring Microsoft Word.

A free, lightweight version of Aspose.Words for Python via .NET with a compatible API (Document, SaveFormat, SaveOptions).

Features

• DOCX Read/Write: Pure Python reader using only the standard library (zipfile, xml.etree)
• DOC Support: Word 97-2003 binary format reader via olefile
• RTF Support: Rich Text Format reader via OLE2 delegation
• Plain Text & Markdown Input: Read .txt and .md files
• Markdown Export: Rich formatting — headings, bold/italic/strikethrough/underline, ordered and unordered lists (including nested), tables, block quotes, code blocks, and hyperlinks. Encoding and paragraph break sequence are configurable
• PDF Export: Generate PDF output via fpdf2. Applied PdfSaveOptions fields: compliance, image_compression, jpeg_quality, outline_options, export_document_structure, export_bookmarks_outline, zoom_behavior, zoom_factor, display_doc_title
• Plain Text Export: Extract document text content

Installation

From PyPI:

pip install aspose-words-foss

Nightly (latest from GitHub):

pip install git+https://github.com/aspose-words-foss/Aspose.Words-FOSS-for-Python.git

Quick Start

Convert a document to Markdown

import aspose.words_foss as aw

doc = aw.Document("input.docx")  # or .doc, .rtf, .txt, .md
doc.save("output.md", aw.SaveFormat.MARKDOWN)

Export to PDF

import aspose.words_foss as aw

doc = aw.Document("input.docx")
doc.save("output.pdf", aw.SaveFormat.PDF)

Export to DOCX

import aspose.words_foss as aw

doc = aw.Document("input.docx")  # or .doc, .rtf
doc.save("output.docx", aw.SaveFormat.DOCX)

Extract plain text

import aspose.words_foss as aw

doc = aw.Document("input.docx")
text = doc.get_text()

Save with options

import aspose.words_foss as aw
from aspose.words_foss.saving import (
    MarkdownSaveOptions,
    OoxmlSaveOptions,
    PdfSaveOptions,
    CompressionLevel,
)

doc = aw.Document("input.docx")

# Markdown: underline, encoding, paragraph break
md_opts = MarkdownSaveOptions()
md_opts.export_underline_formatting = True
md_opts.encoding = "utf-8-sig"        # write a UTF-8 BOM
md_opts.paragraph_break = "\r\n"      # CRLF between paragraphs
doc.save("output.md", md_opts)

# DOCX: compression level
ooxml_opts = OoxmlSaveOptions()
ooxml_opts.compression_level = CompressionLevel.MAXIMUM
doc.save("output.docx", ooxml_opts)

pdf_opts = PdfSaveOptions()
doc.save("output.pdf", pdf_opts)

Requirements

• Python 3.10 or higher
• olefile >= 0.46
• fpdf2 >= 2.7.0
• pydantic >= 2.0.0

API Examples

Runnable examples demonstrating the aspose.words_foss API: ApiExamples folder

Files

File	What it shows
convert_document.py	Every input format (DOCX, DOC, RTF, TXT, MD) to every output format (Markdown, PDF, TXT)
working_with_markdown_save_options.py	MarkdownSaveOptions — export_underline_formatting, encoding, paragraph_break
working_with_ooxml_save_options.py	OoxmlSaveOptions for DOCX export — pretty_format, compression_level
working_with_pdf_save_options.py	PDF export from all input formats
working_with_txt_save_options.py	Plain-text export and get_text()
working_with_images.py	Image-containing documents to all output formats

Running

# Individual scripts
python ApiExamples/convert_document.py

# All via pytest
python -m pytest ApiExamples/ -v --rootdir=ApiExamples -c ApiExamples/pytest.ini

Input / Output

• Input: tests/data/input/ (shared test fixtures)
• Output: ApiExamples/output/ (git-ignored)

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Support

• Issues: GitHub Issues