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
• Markdown Import: .md is parsed into the document model, not read as literal text — headings, bold/italic/strikethrough/inline code, ordered and nested lists, tables, block quotes, fenced code blocks, links, and base64-embedded images all become proper nodes, so Markdown converts to DOCX and PDF like any other input
• Plain Text Input: Read .txt files
• File or Stream Input: DOCX, DOC and RTF are auto-detected from magic bytes (anything else falls back to plain text); LoadOptions.load_format overrides the guess
• 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()

Load from a stream

import io
import aspose.words_foss as aw

with io.FileIO("input.docx") as stream:
    doc = aw.Document(stream)              # DOCX / DOC / RTF from magic bytes

opts = aw.LoadOptions()
opts.load_format = aw.LoadFormat.MARKDOWN  # needed for .md, which has no magic bytes
with io.FileIO("input.md") as stream:
    doc = aw.Document(stream, opts)

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 >= 2.7.5
• pydantic >= 2.0.0

API Examples

Runnable examples demonstrating the aspose.words_foss API live in the ApiExamples/ folder.

The examples are written against the API both libraries share, so the same sources run on aspose-words too — replacing aspose.words_foss with aspose.words in the imports is the only edit needed.

Files

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