📄 Word to PDF Converter — DOCX to PDF
Convert Word documents (.docx) to PDF format. Extract content via mammoth.js, preview the result, then generate a downloadable PDF using pdf-lib.
How to Convert Word to PDF
Drop a .docx file onto the converter. The document is read using mammoth.js which extracts the content as HTML. A preview shows the extracted text and basic structure. Click "Convert to PDF" to generate a PDF document from the extracted content using pdf-lib.
The conversion process reads paragraphs, headings, lists, and basic formatting from the Word document. Each paragraph becomes a line in the PDF. Headings are rendered with larger font sizes. Lists are converted to bullet-point format. The output PDF is a clean, text-based document.
Supported Word Features
Mammoth.js supports many common Word features including headings (H1 through H6), bold, italic, underline, bulleted and numbered lists, and line breaks. The extracted HTML preserves the document hierarchy, which is then used to structure the PDF output.
Word to PDF Feature Comparison
| Feature | Supported | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Paragraphs | Yes | Each paragraph becomes a text line in PDF |
| Headings (H1-H6) | Yes | Rendered with larger font sizes |
| Bold / Italic | Yes | Text emphasis preserved |
| Lists (bulleted/numbered) | Yes | Converted to bullet format |
| Images | No | Not embedded in PDF output |
| Tables | Partial | Table text extracted row by row |
Word to PDF — Pros and Cons
Word vs PDF for Document Sharing
Pros of PDF: Consistent layout across all devices and platforms, reliable printing, smaller file size for text documents, cannot be easily edited, universal compatibility with all PDF readers.
Cons of PDF: Difficult to edit without specialized software, no track changes, no collaborative editing features, accessibility for screen readers varies.
Mammoth.js vs Direct Conversion
Mammoth.js Approach: Browser-native, no server uploads required. Extracts clean semantic HTML from DOCX. Best for text-heavy documents where perfect layout fidelity is not critical.
Server-based Conversion: Can preserve full layout including images, tables, headers, footers, and exact positioning. Requires uploading files to a third-party server with potential privacy concerns.
When to Convert Word to PDF
Ideal for: Distributing documents that should not be edited, submitting forms and applications, archiving text content, sharing documents across different operating systems, creating e-book content.
Not ideal for: Documents requiring strict visual fidelity with images and complex tables, documents with embedded charts or SmartArt, files needing password protection.