Using PHP to convert DOCX to HTML
Use the sample PHP code below to easily and quickly convert DOCX files to the HTML format. Transforming Microsoft Word documents into well structured HTML which can be displayed online, get started converting DOCX files in minutes and integrate directly into your PHP application to save time and effort. We provide a free Test account to try the service out, comprehensive documentation and support from developers.
PHP Code Sample
1. Install the Zamzar SDK
composer require zamzar/zamzar-php2. Convert a file
<?php
// Signup for a Zamzar API Account or retrieve your existing API Key from https://developers.zamzar.com
$zamzar = new \Zamzar\ZamzarClient('YOUR_API_KEY_GOES_HERE');
// Converts /tmp/example.docx to /tmp/example.html
$zamzar
->jobs->create([
'source_file' => '/tmp/example.docx',
'target_format' => 'html'
])
->waitForCompletion();
->downloadTargetFiles('/tmp/');
->deleteAllFiles();Why Use Zamzar?
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We support a huge range of conversions - over 1,100 in all. Including documents, videos, images, audio, eBooks, CAD files and more.
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Our API uses strong encryption of data in transit (and at rest), firewalls, process isolation and state of the art data centers. We are fully GDPR compliant.
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We have found our experience with Zamzar over the years we have used it to be fantastic.
They were receptive to a tiered pricing structure as our requirements changed, have a friendly support team that is always helpful and their API that we use daily to send documents to for conversion has always been available and had no issues.
Robin L
The service just works. We've tried other file conversion services in the past, and the results were very disappointing.
With Zamzar, the results are consistently good. Also, their support is friendly and responsive.
Bruno D
We needed a product to upload HTML content, convert and download as a PDF. Zamzar's API provided not only the service required but easy to understand stepped-process to implement.
This business process was critical - but I don't believe we ever had a failure over years of daily use.
Davd M
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Using DOCX with PHP
You could consider using an open source library (licensed under LGPL version 3) – PHPWord. This is a widely used tool online with fairly detailed documentation. In terms of manipulation of the documents it is a good solution, but does have some limitations when converting into other formats. It is certainly a tool that is worth trialling, as is quite widely used and updated regularly.
Another open source option is to use LibreOffice Writer. It offers both a graphical and a command line interface for manipulation and conversion. It is unfortunately fairly limited in its support for PHP, but you could consider utilising both LibreOffice and Unoconv. There is a good sample article on how you could combine LibreOffice and Unoconv using a PHP wrapper. There maybe some accuracy issues if you add complex tables and images, but is worth testing on your files to see if it suits your needs.
If you need commercial software that renders as accurately as the native Microsoft Office tooling you could consider using the Zamzar API. With a dedicated support team, code examples in many of the major languages including PHP, simple low cost conversion credits and support for direct import and export to S3, it may cover most of the use cases you require. Feel free to reach out to our support team with any questions or dip into the getting started guide in our docs.
Resources:
- Use a PHP wrapper to convert from DOCX to PDF using Unoconv and LibreOffice
- PHPWord a PHP library used to manipulate Microsoft Word Documents
Related StackOverflow Questions:
Using HTML with PHP
There are a number of open source tools for creation of HTML files from a variety of different source file formats. Often the rendering of the outputted HTML file can be very heavyweight or difficult to edit, so it is worth reviewing the various different programs on offer to see which suits your needs. If you have a fairly simple source format such as a Microsoft Word document that is not too complex then you could consider using a tool such as Unoconv which converts between formats that OpenOffice supports and can output to HTML, the results however can be a little mixed if you have more complex documents.
Another option is to use another open source tool - Poppler. A number of developers have created PHP libraries that utilise Poppler for converting from PDF into HTML, so one option would be to convert the file into PDF then use a Poppler PHP library to convert that resulting PDF file into HTML - see PDF to HTML PHP Library using Poppler. Poppler is known to have some rendering issues, so it is certainly worth testing on a wide variety of files before deciding on this as a solution.
If you need a commercial solution with the benefit of the support that comes with that you could consider the Zamzar API. With a dedicated team on hand to help, code examples in many of the major languages including PHP, simple low cost conversion credits and support for direct import and export to S3, it may cover most of the use cases you require. Feel free to reach out to our support team with any questions or dip into the getting started guide in our docs. You can see a full list of supported input formats here.