Apache OpenOffice Community Forum

We get a lot of questions asking how to open Microsoft Publisher files in OOo. OOo cannot open Publisher files. There doesn't seem to be anything out there that will open Publisher files apart from Microsoft Publisher (there isn't even a Microsoft Publisher Viewer in the same way there is a Word Viewer or a PowerPoint Viewer).

However, you can convert Publisher files to Microsoft .doc files using Zamzar. This is a free on-line service.

Once you have the file(s) in .doc format you should be able to open them in OOo Writer. I have tried some experiments and the conversion to Word works pretty well, but opening that .doc file in Writer is sometimes less successful, and requires some tidying-up. However, at least you have access to your information again.

On Windows at least, you can also open the .doc file in WordPad and then copy all of the text and images and paste them into a new OOo document. It is sometimes quicker to do this and reformat your new OOo document than try to re-work the imported .doc.

Thanks very much for all the information. I tried Zamzar before my post, and for some reason, I get a "there was a problem converting your file" email. Nothing specific, just that the support team has been notified and is looking into the problem. I suppose it's possible that they're having technical issues right now, but it's been several hours since my first attempt, and I continue to receive the error.

I was able to create a .pdf file with another free service, but it's a flat image, so there's no way for me to manipulate the content. If you (or anyone) have any other suggestions, please advise. Otherwise, I'll try Zamzar again tomorrow and see if I have better luck.

Thanks,
Sam

How about installing Publisher using Wine,
(assuming you've got a licenced copy of the software) ?

Or install VirtualBox for Linux,
then setup your preferred version of Windows
and install Publisher...

The Draw application is very simular to Publisher though. Perhaps you could have Draw be compatible with Publisher files in the future.

There is no developer here. If you want such feature, you've to ask for it: [Tutorial] Reporting bugs or suggestions.

More information here: http://fridrich.blogspot.ch/2012/06/lib ... ilter.html

I too heard of this. I believe LibreOffice may be beating OpenOffice by a long run as far as features goes. Did you also know they have been nominated in the People's Choice Awards. :O