.pub to Word
Convert .pub to Word and keep editing
Need to update last year’s newsletter or reuse a flyer? A Word file keeps your text editable and your boxes and pictures where they were, so you don’t start again from a blank page.
Built from the layout, not from a PDF
The usual trick is to make a PDF and then let Word guess where the text was. That tends to give broken lines, text boxes in odd places and paragraphs you can’t edit properly. We build the Word file straight from the layout of the .pub file instead:
- Every text box becomes a Word text box in the same place, with real paragraphs: fonts, sizes, colours, bold and italic, spacing, tabs, bullets and numbering.
- Articles that flow from box to box stay linked. Type more text in the first box and it flows on into the next, just like in Publisher.
- Pictures keep their original quality and cropping.
- Tables become real Word tables, with their lines and cell colours.
- WordArt stays text, and arches and waves use Word’s own text effects, so you can still change the words.
- Each page keeps its exact size, from business cards to posters.
How to convert
- Get a licence on the converter page (€19 / $19 for one person, €69 / $69 for a whole organisation, paid once) and paste the key you receive by e-mail.
- Choose “Word (.docx)” above the drop area.
- Add your .pub files or a whole folder, then download the Word files one by one or all at once in a ZIP.
Your files are still never uploaded. Only the licence key is sent to our payment provider, to check it.
Good to know
- Fonts: the Word file asks for the same fonts the .pub used. On a computer without them, Word picks other fonts that take more or less room: text near the end of a box can then run past it, or be cut off in a box with a background, border or fixed size. The converter names the fonts each file needs, so you can install them or check those pages.
- Check before you print: Word lays out text slightly differently from Publisher, so a line may wrap differently or a box may need to grow a little. The PDF from the same file is the closest copy of the original.
- Other editors: Word is the target. We check the files in LibreOffice, which opens them too. Word on the web, Google Docs and Pages are not tested yet, and they may not handle floating text boxes the way Word does, so busy layouts can move around there.
Questions
Is converting to Word free?
No, Word files come with a licence: €19 / $19 once for one person, or €69 / $69 once for all staff and volunteers of one organisation. There’s no subscription. PDF and PNG stay free.
Will the Word file look exactly like the .pub?
Close, with boxes, pictures and tables in place, but Word isn’t Publisher. Expect to nudge a line or a box here and there. If the file’s fonts are missing on your computer, text can run past the end of a box or be cut off, so check every page; the converter tells you which fonts the file uses.
Can I edit the text in the Word file?
Yes. All text is real, editable text inside text boxes. Linked articles stay linked, so text flows on into the next box as you type.
Why not just convert the PDF to Word?
A PDF has already lost most of the structure: which lines belong to which paragraph, which boxes are linked, which text is WordArt. Starting from the .pub keeps all of that.
Can I try it before buying?
Convert the file to PDF first, for free. That shows how well we read your file. The Word file is built from the same reading.