OmniFormat is a Windows utility for converting documents and images through a watched folder. It can change file formats, adjust images during conversion, extract text with OCR and generate documents from XML data and a Word template. Its folder-based operation lets incoming files enter a configured conversion process without opening each document separately.
OmniFormat is free to use with sponsor pages that open in a browser when the program starts. Paid license keys disable its sponsor pages. Conversions involving Office files, text or HTML also involve Pdf995, whose sponsor pages require a separate key to suppress.
How OmniFormat processes a watch folder
OmniFormat monitors a folder and processes files placed inside it. The conversion can include image adjustments such as resizing and rotation, together with changes to brightness, saturation, hue and contrast. These operations can be combined so that a file changes its appearance and format in the same processing run.
Original files placed in the watch folder are deleted during processing. The folder therefore acts as an input queue, and files that must be retained need a copy outside it. OmniFormat can also operate as a Windows system service for a conversion workflow based on incoming files.
File formats
Accepted inputs span office documents, page descriptions and raster images. They include Word documents, Excel workbooks, PowerPoint presentations, HTML, PDF, PostScript, JPEG, TIFF and PNG, along with less common image formats. Input support and output support differ: the export choices include PDF and image formats such as BMP, JPEG, GIF, PNG and TIFF.
Some conversions use the application associated with the source document. Word handles Word document input, Excel handles workbook formats and PowerPoint handles presentations. PDF-to-Word output is also available through Word’s conversion capability. Pdf995 supplies a required part of OmniFormat’s conversion setup.
Text extraction
Selecting TXT as the output format lets the OCR module turn scanned images into text files. This changes the output from a picture of writing into text that can be opened in a text editor or used by another application. The module accepts the import formats handled by OmniFormat and can also extract text from PDF files.
OmniFormat’s OCR module can run from the command line. This lets a separate process request text extraction without using the watched folder.
Filling Word templates from XML data
OmniFormat can use structured XML values to produce a formatted document. A Word file supplies the page layout and fields, while the XML identifies that template, names the output file and supplies the values to insert. OmniFormat substitutes those values into the fields before converting the assembled document to the selected output format, including PDF.
For an invoice, the template can hold the layout while XML supplies a company name, address, item quantities and total. The same layout can therefore be filled from different data without changing the original template file.
HTML conversion
HTML and MHTML conversion uses Word by default. The included HTML2PDF995 utility offers an alternative path built around the Internet Explorer rendering control. OmniFormat can be configured to use that renderer instead of Word for these inputs.
HTML2PDF995 can also be called from another application or the command line. It accepts the full path to an HTML file or its URL and converts the content to PDF. That interface allows a program that creates HTML to hand the file to a conversion utility without using the watched folder.
PDF permissions
OmniFormat works with the separate Signature995 utility to produce PDFs with passwords and usage restrictions. These controls cover printing, copying text and images, and modifying the document.
