PDF & docx in .NET. Using two different tools to create PDF and Docx or buy one that does both?

Question

I have a ASP.net 4.0 which has to generate a PDF and docx file with the same content. Ofcourse the conversion will take place on server so Office Automation is not an option (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q257757#kb2)

Im faced with the following descision: Use OpenXML SDK to create the docx and some other free tool to create the PDF.

OR

Buy a SW like Aspose so I only will have to create the docx and then generate a PDF from the docx.

What is your opinion about this? Aspose Word costs $900, will I save as much time with it to be worth it?

If I choose the free option will I have a hard time getting the docx and pdf to look exactly the same?

Answer 1

How about giving ABCPDF a try? It's free. We've used it to do a broad array of PDF and Word related things.

Answer 2

I wouldn't completely count out Office on the server as long as it is done well, see this discussion on ServerFault.

Answer 3

I think the real question for you is "what source format do you want to use"?

By source format, I mean the canonical single version of the truth, used to generate the other formats.

Once upon a time, the answer would have been an XML format such as DocBook or DITA.

Nowadays, if Word output is important to you, it makes sense to use docx as your source format, and generate PDF as necessary from there.

You can use whatever tools you prefer to create/read/edit/update your docx file. And whatever tool works for you to create PDF output.

For web centric workflows, there's an argument for using HTML as your source format, and going from there to docx and PDF as necessary.