Q:
A quick question, I am confused as to what the “Convert Add-on” license actually does? Is this a separate DLL? Or does it just enable functionality of PDFNet.dll?
If I understand this correctly, the “Convert” feature is basically the ability to use the virtual print driver. Is that right?
Also this item concerns me: Support for high quality conversion from Word, Excel, Outlook, or PowerPoint via Office interop.
Does this mean I have to Word installed on my server to convert? Is it using Word automation?
A:
Most Add-ons simply unlock specific API-s/functionality within PDFNet.DLL (i.e. you don’t need extra DLLs).
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It MS Office is installed, MS Office files will be converted directly (via COM intretop) and not via the virtual printer driver.
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It MS Office is not installed, MS Office files will be converted indirectly via PDFTron PDFNet Virtual Printer.
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PDFNet Converter Add-on also includes a number of direct converters (e.g. PDF->XPS, XPS->PDF, PDF/XPS->SVG, TXT, to/from EMF/WMF, to/from images, to/from HTML, etc) that do not reply on either Office or virtual printer driver.
For more info please see pdftron.PDF.Convert namespace in PDFNet API Reference.