LibreOffice Document Conversion in ViewCompanion Pro and Premium
LibreOffice is a free and open-source office productivity suite developed byThe Document Foundation. It includes applications for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, drawings, databases and mathematical formulas.
ViewCompanion Pro and ViewCompanion Premium can use LibreOffice as a document conversion engine to convert supported office documents to PDF. This makes it possible to include many common office document formats in your normal ViewCompanion conversion workflow.
LibreOffice supports many common and legacy document formats, including Microsoft Office, OpenDocument, Microsoft Visio, WordPerfect and Lotus Word Pro files.
Why does ViewCompanion use LibreOffice?
Many office document formats are proprietary and normally require the original application to be installed. LibreOffice provides broad support for Microsoft Office, OpenDocument and several legacy office formats, making it a useful conversion engine for ViewCompanion.
By using LibreOffice, ViewCompanion Pro and Premium can convert a wide range of office documents to PDF without requiring Microsoft Office, WordPerfect, Lotus SmartSuite or other original applications to be installed.
This allows organizations to archive older documents, standardize document storage, automate PDF creation and handle mixed document collections more efficiently.
Examples of supported document types
The exact list of supported formats depends on the installed LibreOffice version, but common examples include:
- Microsoft Word documents, including DOC and DOCX
- Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, including XLS and XLSX
- Microsoft PowerPoint presentations, including PPT and PPTX
- Microsoft Visio drawings, including VSD and VSDX
- Microsoft Publisher documents, including PUB
- Microsoft Works documents, including WPS
- OpenDocument text files, including ODT
- OpenDocument spreadsheets, including ODS
- OpenDocument presentations, including ODP
- Rich Text Format documents, including RTF
- WordPerfect documents
- Lotus Word Pro documents
| Document type | Common extensions |
|---|---|
| Microsoft Word | DOC, DOCX |
| Microsoft Excel | XLS, XLSX |
| Microsoft PowerPoint | PPT, PPTX |
| Microsoft Visio Drawing | VSD, VSDX |
| Microsoft Publisher | PUB |
| Microsoft Works | WPS |
| OpenDocument Text | ODT |
| OpenDocument Spreadsheet | ODS |
| OpenDocument Presentation | ODP |
| Rich Text Format | RTF |
| WordPerfect Document | WPD |
| Lotus Word Pro | LWP |
How do I install LibreOffice?
You can download LibreOffice free of charge from the official LibreOffice website:
We recommend using the standard installation options suggested by the LibreOffice installer unless you have special requirements.
After LibreOffice has been installed, ViewCompanion Pro and Premium will normally detect it automatically and enable the features that depend on LibreOffice.
What can LibreOffice be used for in ViewCompanion?
LibreOffice support in ViewCompanion Pro and Premium can be used to convert office documents to PDF. This is useful when you need to archive documents, distribute files in a format that is easier to view, or prepare documents for printing and sharing.
This functionality is especially useful when working with mixed document collections containing both technical files and office documents. ViewCompanion can already view, print and convert many CAD, plotting, raster and PDF formats. With LibreOffice installed, office documents can also be included in PDF conversion workflows.
Why convert office documents to PDF?
PDF is a practical format for sharing, printing and archiving documents. A PDF file is usually easier to distribute because it preserves the visual layout of the original document and can be opened on many different systems.
Converting office documents to PDF can help ensure that recipients see the document as intended, even if they do not have the original office application installed.
Batch conversion and automation
In addition to converting single files, ViewCompanion Pro and Premium include batch conversion features. When LibreOffice is available, office documents can be included in larger document conversion tasks.
This can be useful for companies that regularly receive documents in different formats and want to convert them to PDF for storage, distribution or further processing.
Supported Office Formats for PDF Conversion
Many organizations maintain archives containing documents created with older office applications. LibreOffice support allows ViewCompanion Pro and Premium to convert both modern and legacy document formats to PDF, helping preserve important information and simplifying document management.
Whether you need to convert a single document or thousands of files as part of an automated workflow, LibreOffice integration extends ViewCompanion's document conversion capabilities to a broad range of office formats.
More information about LibreOffice
You will find more information about LibreOffice here:
Frequently asked questions
Is LibreOffice included with ViewCompanion?
No. LibreOffice is a separate open-source office suite and must be installed separately. ViewCompanion Pro and Premium can use LibreOffice if it is installed on the same computer.
Can ViewCompanion convert Word, Excel and PowerPoint files to PDF?
Yes. If LibreOffice is installed and the file format is supported by LibreOffice, ViewCompanion Pro and Premium can use LibreOffice to convert these documents to PDF.
Can ViewCompanion convert Visio files to PDF?
Yes. When LibreOffice is installed, ViewCompanion Pro and Premium can convert supported Microsoft Visio drawings, including VSD and VSDX files, to PDF.
Can ViewCompanion convert WordPerfect documents to PDF?
Yes. LibreOffice provides support for several legacy office document formats, including WordPerfect documents.
Does ViewCompanion modify the original office document?
No. The original document is used as input, and a new PDF file is created as output.
Can this be used together with batch conversion?
Yes. LibreOffice support can be useful when converting many office documents to PDF as part of a batch conversion workflow.
Related Information
ViewCompanion Pro and Premium
ViewCompanion Pro and ViewCompanion Premium are Windows applications for viewing, printing, converting, comparing and annotating many different file formats, including PDF, DWF, PLT, CGM, TIFF, CALS and other technical document formats.
By adding LibreOffice support, ViewCompanion can also be used in workflows where office documents need to be converted to PDF together with technical documents.
Learn more about ViewCompanion Pro
Learn more about ViewCompanion Premium
