Word-to-LaTeX is a program for converting Microsoft Word documents into LaTeX and XML formats (additional formats can be easily added through the configuration). XML output can be later transformed to whatever format you need (transformation stylesheet from XML to XHTML is included).
Note: Sometime the converter is also referred as Word-to-XML for its capability of transforming Microsoft Word documents into a clean XML format (much cleaner then the new Open Document (docx) format).
Word-to-Latex Features:
- The conversion can be run from the command-line (can be used for batch-processing), through the graphic interface, or directly from Word. The latter way of running is the fastest and most convenient.
- The convertor is not limited only to LaTeX format (configuration (XML) for LaTeX output). The program can be easily customized by changing a configuration file or through the graphic interface. The configuration (XML) for XML output is an example of such a customization. Additional XSL stylesheets can be created to have Word documents in your own format. Sample stylesheet (XSL) generating XHTML MathML CSS documents has been tested and the output looks very nice. See samples. Another example of a customization is the configuration for ConTeXt output.
- Equations inserted by Equation Editor, MathType and Word EQ Fields are converted if you have MathType installed (there are a couple of predefined equations output formats, e.g. LaTeX, MathML). Otherwise they can be exported as PNG or EPS images. Numbered equations are also converted. Optionally, references to numbered equations can be automatically recognized in input documents.
- Both raster and vector images, and even embedded objects like Excel graphs are converted to Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) format or to bitmaps (PNG format).
- Paragraphs marked as headings using the Word built-in styles are properly converted to sections (the default mappings can be changed).
- Ordered and unordered lists (even nested), and complex tables with merged rows and columns are converted.
- Footnotes and endnotes are properly converted. Bibliography items can be optionally created from endnotes. They're in fact the only way how users can insert bibliography and citations into Word documents.
- The program converts table and figure titles, index, table of contents, multicolumn sections, hyperlinks.
- Bookmarks, references and page references to bookmarks are also converted.
- Mappings between user styles (both paragraph and character) and LaTeX commands can be defined (e.g. style named "preformated" to verbatim environment). A special command for each style can be optionally created to make later changes in documents easier
- Converts various font styles - bold, italic, small caps, subscript, superscript, uppercased, underlined, strikethrough, and hidden. Text written in basic fonts from sans-serif and courier families is also marked in output documents
- Colored text, highlighted text, and colored backgrounds of table cells can be converted. Borders (even colored) applied to portions of text are also taken into account.
- Paragraphs are converted even with alignments and indentations.
- Line breaks and page breaks are correctly converted.
- Page size and page margins can be converted.
- Special and national characters (e.g. Greek, Russian or Hebrew) are con- verted, even those from the Symbol font.
- Editable document preamble; macros like @WL-DOC_AUTHOR used in the preamble are replaced with the respective information from Word documents.
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