XPS File Converter for Mac

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Question: Where are those XPS file converters you wrote about?

Answer: This reader’s question alludes to my August 2007 WorkFlow column in Graphic Arts Monthly (the print companion to the Graphic Arts Online website), entitled “XPS Is In The House. So What?”  My promise of a brighter future for prepress departments forced to deal with the occasional XPS file can be found near the end of the story, where I confidently predicted “We’ll soon see the arrival of XPS-to-PDF conversion utilities.”  

Days of Future Passed
It’s been a long, dark six months since I promised that bit of software, a product that I personally had no conceivable way to produce. My advice during that period was less than graceful: use a Windows computer (either Vista, or XP with the Microsoft Core XML Services 6.0 add-ins); download Microsoft’s XPS Viewer application to open the XPS document, then print to PDF using the Adobe PDF printer driver (assuming that you already have Acrobat Professional installed on that PC).

The downside? Microsoft’s XPS Viewer will only provide a bitmap for output (all text converted to pixels), although you can set the resolution to a crisp 2400 DPI by clicking the “Advanced” button within the Adobe PDF printer driver’s Preferences. Select “Press Quality” as your PDF Creation setting and you’ll even get CMYK output!

If all you wanted was to send that XPS file to an output device unaltered (and unimposed), that solution might be adequate. Sadly, however, most XPS files are likely to contain a few errors (“Consider the source,” as my dear Mother always said), so a solution that mandates pixilated text feels like no solution at all… 

A Promise Made, A Promise Kept (By Someone Else)
Fortunately for me and my bold shot in the dark, this prediction has turned out more successfully than some of my previous prognostications (I still don’t understand why concrete tires on a rubber highway hasn’t caught on!) thanks to the innovative developers at NiXPS.

Mac users rejoice! Yes, I was able to use my MacBook Pro to open an XPS document, view the pages in accurate color, then convert that XPS file into a fully editable PDF document. The tool that made it possible was NiXPS Edit 2.0, which looks surprisingly similar to Microsoft’s XPS Viewer but with one crucially important difference: the “Export PDF” option, which produces a PDF with intact vector content, including subsetted fonts! 

There are also some surprising features within NiXPS Edit 2.0, including the option to export an embedded font as a real live font file and some basic personalization capability. While this tool might not be something you’ll need every day, it’s reassuring to know that NiXPS Edit is available for download whenever an XPS file lands on your desk.