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Other programs that allow you to open the XPS file. XPS - what is this format? .XPS File Extension

Quite often, computer system users encounter unfamiliar file formats, one of which is XPS. Many people have no idea what this format is. And only a few people understand the issues of opening files of this type or editing them. However, there is nothing particularly complicated here. Let's try to figure out what these objects are and how you can work with them.

XPS: what is this format?

This file type can be associated not only with different programs, but even with operating systems, including Windows, Mac OS X and some versions of Linux. In all of them you can find objects with the XPS extension. Let's look at what this is next.

If you look at the history of this format, it was originally developed by Microsoft Corporation specialists. It is an open fixed graphics format created for the electronic representation of document layouts based on XML markup.

Actually, the abbreviation in the extension is derived from the term XML Paper Specification. Sometimes this format is compared to PDF files, since their organizational structure is essentially very similar to each other. But in general, it is generally accepted that this type of registered format is standard for all Windows systems, starting with the Vista version. Thus, when discovering the original structure of such objects, there should usually be no problems. But here you need to take into account some nuances.

How to open XPS in the simplest case

Now a few words about the issues of opening, viewing and editing such objects. How to open XPS? Everything is simple here. For now, we will not touch on the main program, but will consider more accessible tools and tools.

In fact, files of this type are unique containers containing settings for electronic documents, pages and fragments of original documents. Actually, such objects are very similar to the well-known ZIP archives.

Thus, to open such an archive, you first need to rename the original XPS file, changing its extension to ZIP, and then extract all its contents using any archiver program to any convenient location. The content can then be opened using native Windows programs.

Basic program for creating and editing XPS files

Now another look at XPS files. What kind of format is this, we figured it out a little. Let's see what program allows you to open and edit them (or even create them initially) without changing the main extension to an archive one.

In Windows systems, for this purpose, as a rule, the MS XPS Document Writer application is used, which is a virtual printer driver, which was initially included in the basic package of Windows operating systems, starting with the Vista modification.

For systems version seven and higher, a tool called MS XPS Viewer can also be used. If viewing is intended to be done on XP version systems, you will have to additionally download the Microsoft XPS EP package from the official Microsoft resource, since XP does not have its own tools, and if they are present, such files are often not opened due to their more recent modifications.

If we talk about browsing, you can use another simple and popular solution among users, which is to use the Internet Explorer web browser version 6 and higher. However, to display the contents of an XPS document correctly, it is necessary to have the .NET Framework third or later version installed on the system. Without such support, the object may even simply not open.

You can download all of the above software packages directly from the official website, completely free of charge, and for the main platform you can also use a web installer that does not require downloading the installer to your computer’s hard drive.

Converting to other formats

These are XPS files. What this is, I think, is already clear. But Windows systems, at least in the eighth version, also have their pitfalls.

The fact is that the default registered extension is the OXPS format, but third-party programs designed to view or edit the main format (XPS) may not open such objects.

Therefore, it is highly recommended to use a small utility called Microsoft XpsConverter for conversion. In principle, if such a program is not at hand, you can turn to no less effective conversion methods by using applications like Pagemark XPS Converter, Danet Studio, XPS Annotator and the like.

Other programs that use the XPS format

However, the XPS format may not refer exclusively to what was described above. Some third-party applications may also use the XPS extension for their files. What is it in this case?

We are talking about temporary files of a popular package for changing the appearance of Windows systems called WindowBlinds. In addition, objects of this format can also be found when working with the popular MonkeyJam package, in which files of this type are graphic images.

Opening XPS files on other systems

In principle, in both Mac OS X and Linux, you can use any web browser with the Pagemark XpsPlugin installed (most often this applies to Mozilla Firefox and Safari browsers) to view such files.

You can also use programs like Nuance PDF Converter to convert, or choose NiXPS Edit, a cross-platform application that can be installed on any OS. For Apple smartphones, tablets and players, you can use the MuPDF utility as an alternative solution. In general, there are enough options.

Conclusion

That's it for the XPS format. To summarize briefly, it can be noted that for normal viewing of file contents, the optimal solution (for any operating system) is to use the most common Internet browser, although sometimes it may be necessary to install additional plugins.

The same applies to changing the extension to an archive one and extracting content using archivers. True, this method is somewhat inconvenient in that the user will view individual elements of the main file, and not the entire document in its initial view. No less attractive is the use of various kinds of converters, which within a couple of minutes allow you to change the format of the original object to something else readable (for example, PDF).

The modern world is developing at an unimaginable speed. Almost every month we see the emergence of more and more new programs; operating systems are updated literally every year. Even serious companies are not able to keep up with every innovation, because it is not always easy - funds must be allocated for updating. There is no need to talk about ordinary users. For example, few people will be able to immediately say why an XPS file is needed, how to open one and what data is stored in it. And it is this format that we will talk about today.

XPS format

With the advent of Windows 7, new and advanced data formats gradually began to spread. Even if they have become familiar, many other data formats remain unknown to many. This includes XPS.

The XPS file format is a format that is used to sign, view, protect, and save documents. A document of this format is comparable to a sheet of paper. Just as the contents of a simple sheet cannot be changed after printing, it is also impossible to change the contents of an XPS file after saving.

How to open a document with XPS extension?

In case of the question “How to open XPS?” shouldn't appear to you. This OS makes it possible to create documents of this format in each of the programs where printing is possible.

The XPS viewer allows you to install, view permissions, and sign documents of this format. As a result, if you come across an XPS file, you will know how to open it. To open a file, just click on it twice. It will open automatically in the viewer. This application is very simple, as a result, you are unlikely to encounter any difficulties while working.

If you do not find the specified utility in your Windows 7, you need to enable it through the “Add or Remove Programs” snap-in, through the “Turn Windows components on or off” menu, where you need to select “XPS Viewer”.

If you are unable to print to XPS documents, check whether the corresponding XPS Services component is enabled.

Basic XPS Viewer Operations

The viewer, which allows you to solve the problem of opening XPS, has the following functionality:

  • search for phrases in files;
  • saving a copy of the document;
  • digital signature of a document;
  • changing the viewing scale;
  • access control, as well as access duration.

Other programs that can open the XPS file

1. NET Framework 4. This program is included in modern OS. Or you can install it yourself by downloading the package from the official Microsoft download center.

2. Microsoft XPS Essentials Pack freeware is a program that is officially recommended by Microsoft as a viewer. A good option for OS starting from Windows XP.

3. Microsoft XPS Viewer freeware is a viewer from Microsoft. The program works as an add-on for Internet Explorer.

4. STDU Viewer is a program used for non-commercial use and is also completely free. With it you can view , and XPS. But, the “XPS Viewer” itself is the simplest and best option.

This program, as already noted, makes it possible to determine who is allowed to copy, view, sign, or print documents. To increase security, you can set how much time each visitor can make changes to it and view the file.

To be able to set permissions on XPS documents, you must install an account certificate so that you can connect to rights management services. If the management system account has not been connected and a certificate has not been issued to it, then when you try to add or change the resolution, an error message will appear on the computer monitor.

XPS is an open XML-based markup format developed by Microsoft. Files with text content are usually saved in xps format. The resulting documents become lighter in volume than in pdf format. In our article we will tell you how to open the xps format and how to use it.

If you have a Windows operating system and use Microsoft Office, then you can easily create files with the xps extension. To do this, you need to click the file button in the top menu in the document you are editing.
Next, click “Save As”. In the file type menu, select the xps extension and click save.

An easy way to open a file with an xps extension is to double-click on it. In this case, the Windows system will select the desired program to open the file. If the system does not find the necessary software to open this extension, the universal PDFMaster will help you.

Download PDFMaster for free

Download the program from the official website PDFMaster includes a free PDF printer module. The website has instructions for installing the program. After installing the program, double-click the right mouse button on the file with the xps extension and open it using PDFMaster. This is what the document will look like when opened through PDFMaster.

Standard Microsoft Office packages open xps files without problems. Check if it is turned on. The default program is the program that Windows uses when opening a specific file type. To do this, click the “Start” button and select “Default Programs”.

Select the file type or protocol that you want this program to open by default. Now, you can double-click on a file with the xps extension and you will automatically open this type of file using standard Windows tools.

XML Paper Specification (XPS) is a document format that you can use to view, save, sign, and protect document content. An XPS document is similar to an electronic sheet of paper. You cannot change the contents of a sheet after printing, and you cannot change the contents of an XPS document after it has been saved in the XPS format. In Windows 7, you can create an XPS document in any program that has printing capabilities, but you can only view, sign, and set permissions for XPS documents using the XPS Viewer. An XPS document is any file saved in the XML Paper Specification (XPS) format.

If you double-click the left mouse button on an XPS document, it automatically opens in the XPS Viewer. The application is very simple and there should be no problems using it. In this article, I will talk about the basic operations that you can do with the XPS document viewer in the Windows 7 operating system. The XPS viewer has several options for viewing and managing XPS documents, these are:

  • Save a copy of the XPS document to your computer.
  • Use a search word or phrase in a document.
  • Change the scale to improve the readability of text and images.
  • Digital signature of an XPS document.
  • Control access to a document and the duration of that access by applying document permissions.

Using the XPS Viewer

You can create an XPS document in any program that has printing capabilities. To do this you need to do the following:

Create or open a document in any application that allows printing and select the command "Seal".

From the list of available printers, select "Microsoft XPS Document Writer".

To open "XPS Viewer", you need to do the following:

  1. Click on the button "Start" to open the menu, open "All programs", then open the folder "Standard" and from the list of standard programs select "XPS Viewer";
  2. Click on the button "Start" to open the menu, enter in the search field xpsrchvw.exe and open the application from the found results.

After this, the application will open, which is shown in the following screenshot:

The application toolbar contains the following elements:

File menu

Using the menu "File" Can:

Permissions menu

With help "XPS Viewers" now lets you decide who can view, print, copy, or digitally sign XPS documents. To improve security, you can also decide how long each person can view and make changes to a document. "XPS Viewer" uses Windows Rights Management Services (RMS) technology to enforce permissions. Permission-based RMS are stored with the document and operate regardless of where the documents are located.

Before you can set permissions on XPS documents, you must download and install a Windows Rights Account Certificate (RAC).

If your account is not connected to the rights management service and there is no certificate issued for it, then when you try to add/change permissions you will see the following error:

Using the menu "Permissions" Can:


Signatures menu

A digital signature is used for two purposes. First, it allows you to check whether the document has been modified since it was last signed, and also allows you to check the other publisher of the XPS document to ensure it comes from a trusted source.

On the menu "Signatures" Can:

Buttons located on the toolbar

- Structure panel

After clicking on this button located on the toolbar, the document structure panel area becomes available. You can also open it using the key combination Ctrl+U. In the Document Structure pane, you can view document search results and digital signatures.

Some documents may not have a structure panel.

- Seal

This button is similar to the command from the menu "File" and can be called using a key combination Ctrl+P. After clicking on this button, select the printer in the dialog that appears and click on the button "Seal".

Printing an XPS document. If permissions apply to your document, make sure you have the necessary permissions before printing.

- View

By clicking this button you can select the size to view the document. The following options are available:

  • 100% - used to set the actual document size. This can also be achieved using a keyboard shortcut Ctrl+L.
  • One page- when selecting this option in the window "XPS Viewers" one entire page is displayed. The same result can be achieved using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+N.
  • Page width- stretches the document to fit the width of the page. You can do this using the keyboard by executing the combination Ctrl+W.
  • Sketches- displays page thumbnails. This operation can also be done by pressing the buttons Ctrl+H.
  • Full screen- expands the program to full screen. You can also do this by clicking on the button F11.

Moreover, in all cases, except "100%" when changing the program size "XPS Viewer", the scale changes automatically.

- Search field

Program "XPS Viewer" Allows you to search for words or phrases in a document. By clicking on the drop-down menu, you can switch the search direction, select some search settings, and clear the current search and history.

Search options are shown below:

The search results are displayed in the structure panel area:

Conclusion

In this article, I talked about using the XPS Viewer application. The options for the “File”, “Permissions” and “Signatures” menus of the program, viewing and printing the document are described in detail.

In simple terms, XPS is a format similar in functionality to PDF. It is designed to display electronic documents that are easy to create, transfer from device to device, and print. You've probably encountered more than once that a Microsoft Word document opens differently on different devices: images may shift, the computer may not have the required font, and so on. This won't happen with the XPS. The advantage is that the new vector color-managed formatting will allow you to open the document on most devices and on screens with almost any resolution. In addition, it is due to the use of vector graphics that printed XPS files are of much better quality than DOCX.

Considering that Microsoft was one of the developers of this format, the XPS reading utility usually included inWindows. But even here there are some nuances. For example, the eighth version of the Microsoft operating system now uses the OXPS format, which is unlikely to open in outdated versions of the utility. You can update or download it again on the official Microsoft website, just by typing its name into the search on the site: Microsoft XPS Viewer. The program is also available on third-party sites. However, the most reliable resource will be the official Microsoft resource. Then we simply launch the installer, select the path and wait for the installation to complete. Everything is elementary simple.

Working with Microsoft XPS Viewer

Let's start with how to create a document of this format. Any program from which you can print a file will help us with this: notepad, Microsoft Word or any other. For example, I'll take Word. For any program, the translation mechanism will be approximately the same.

Remember that once a document is converted to this format, you can no longer edit it. Therefore, this should be done as a last resort.

Although this is not very convenient, files of this extension, printed using printers that support this format, turn out much clearer and brighter than Word.

Now let's go through the menu items Microsoft XPS Viewer, which allows you to view this format.

File Tab

And in the section " Safety» You can limit the rights to this file for different device users.

  1. Exit. Closes the utility and the file.

Permissions Tab

If in the “Properties” section you can configure permissions for different accounts of this device, the “ Permissions» will allow you to configure access to this file outside the computer: who can watch, who cannot, for how long, and so on. This is actually a very convenient feature that will be useful to many.

Captions Tab

Here you can put your digital signature, which guarantees that the document has not been changed since signing and is an original.