Frequently Asked Questions
Licensing & Open Source
What license does Aspose.Words FOSS for Python use?
Aspose.Words FOSS for Python is released under the MIT license. You can use, modify, and distribute the library in both personal and commercial projects. The only requirement is to include the original license text in copies of the software.
Can I use Aspose.Words FOSS in a commercial product?
Yes. The MIT license permits commercial use, modification, and distribution without purchasing a separate license or activation key.
Installation & Requirements
How do I install Aspose.Words FOSS for Python?
Install via pip:
pip install aspose-words-foss>=26.4.0The package installs its dependencies (olefile, fpdf2, pydantic) automatically.
What Python versions are supported?
Aspose.Words FOSS requires Python 3.10, 3.11, or 3.12. Earlier Python versions are not supported.
Are there any native or system dependencies?
No native extensions or system-level dependencies are required. The package installs all runtime dependencies (olefile, fpdf2, pydantic) as pure Python packages automatically.
Format Support
Which document formats can Aspose.Words FOSS read?
The library reads DOCX, DOC, RTF, TXT, and Markdown input formats. Load any supported file by passing the file path to the Document constructor:
import aspose.words_foss as aw
doc = aw.Document("input.docx")Which output formats does Aspose.Words FOSS support?
Documents can be exported to PDF, Markdown, and plain text using SaveFormat constants:
SaveFormat.PDF— PDF exportSaveFormat.MARKDOWN— Markdown exportSaveFormat.TEXT— plain text export
Can I control output formatting?
You can pass PdfSaveOptions or MarkdownSaveOptions objects instead of SaveFormat constants. However, most PdfSaveOptions properties (compliance, JPEG quality, font embedding, etc.) are defined for API forward-compatibility and are not yet consumed by the PDF writer — setting them currently has no effect on output. For MarkdownSaveOptions, only export_underline_formatting is currently applied.
API Usage
How do I convert a DOCX file to PDF?
Load the document and call save() with SaveFormat.PDF. PDF is an export-only format — documents cannot be loaded from PDF.
import aspose.words_foss as aw
doc = aw.Document("input.docx")
doc.save("output.pdf", aw.SaveFormat.PDF)How do I extract text from a Word document?
Use Document.get_text() to extract all text content:
import aspose.words_foss as aw
doc = aw.Document("input.docx")
text = doc.get_text()How do I convert a document to Markdown?
Use SaveFormat.MARKDOWN to export a loaded document to Markdown format:
import aspose.words_foss as aw
doc = aw.Document("report.docx")
doc.save("report.md", aw.SaveFormat.MARKDOWN)Input formats that can be loaded include DOCX, DOC, RTF, TXT, and Markdown.
Known Limitations
Does Aspose.Words FOSS support all features of the commercial Aspose.Words?
No. Aspose.Words FOSS is a separate open-source library with a focused feature set: document loading, format conversion, and text extraction. It does not include the full feature set of the commercial Aspose.Words product.
Are there any format conversion limitations?
The library reads DOCX, DOC, RTF, TXT, and Markdown as input, and exports to PDF, Markdown, and plain text. DOC and DOCX are input-only formats — there is no DOC or DOCX writer. Complex document features like macros, embedded OLE objects, or advanced typography may not be fully preserved during conversion.
