XML Paper Specification

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XML Paper Specification (XPS)

The XPS Viewer application displaying a printout of the Wikipedia front page
File name extension .xps
Internet media type application/vnd.ms-xpsdocument
Developed by Microsoft

The XML Paper Specification (XPS), formerly codenamed "Metro", is a specification for a page description language and a fixed-document format developed by Microsoft. It is an XML-based (more precisely XAML-based) specification, based on a new print path and a color-managed vector-based document format which supports device independence and resolution independence.

Contents

[edit] Technology

The XPS document format consists of structured XML markup that defines the layout of a document and the visual appearance of each page, along with rendering rules for distributing, archiving, rendering, processing and printing the documents. Notably, the markup language for XPS is a subset of XAML, allowing it to incorporate vector-graphic elements in documents, using XAML to mark up the WPF primitives. The elements used are described in terms of paths and other geometrical primitives.

An XPS file is in fact a ZIP archive using the Open Packaging Convention, which contains the files which make up the document. These include an XML markup file for each page, text, embedded fonts, raster images, 2D vector graphics, as well as the digital rights management information. The contents of an XPS file can be examined simply by renaming it as a ZIP file and then opening it in an application which supports ZIP files.

[edit] Features

XPS specifies a set of document layout functionality for paged, printable documents. It also has support for features such as gradients, transparencies, CMYK color spaces, printer calibration, multiple-ink systems and print schemas. XPS supports the Windows Color System color management technology for better color conversion precision across devices and higher dynamic range. It also includes a software raster image processor (RIP) which is downloadable separately.[1] The print subsystem also has support for named colors, simplifying color definition for images transmitted to printers supporting those colors.

XPS also supports HD Photo images natively for raster images.[2] The XPS format used in the spool file represents advanced graphics effects such as 3D images, glow effects, and gradients as Windows Presentation Foundation primitives, which are processed by the printer drivers without rasterization, preventing rendering artifacts and reducing computational load.

[edit] Similarities with PDF and PostScript

Like Adobe's PDF format, XPS is a fixed-layout document format[3] designed to preserve document fidelity, so that documents look the same and as they are intended on any device. PDF is based on PostScript whereas XPS is based on XML. XPS is also the spool file format for printers, like PostScript is. The filter pipeline architecture of XPS is also similar to the one used in printers supporting the PostScript page description language. PDF includes dynamic capabilities not supported by the XPS format.[4]

Microsoft has submitted the XPS specification to the Ecma.[5]

[edit] Viewing and creating XPS documents

Because the printing architecture of Windows Vista uses XPS as the spooler format,[3] it has native support for generating and reading XPS documents.[6] XPS documents can be created by printing to the virtual XPS printer driver. The XPS Viewer is installed by default in Windows Vista. The viewer is hosted within Internet Explorer 7. This Internet Explorer-hosted viewer and the XPS Document Writer are also available to Windows XP users when they download the .NET Framework 3.0. The IE-hosted viewer supports digital rights management and digital signatures. For users who do not wish to view XPS documents in the browser, they can download the XPS Essentials Pack which includes a standalone viewer and the XPS Document Writer. The XPS Essentials Pack also includes providers to enable the iPreview and iFilter capabilities used by Windows Desktop Search and shell handlers to enable thumbnail views and file properties for XPS documents in Windows Explorer. The standalone viewer however does not support digital signatures. [7] The XPS Essentials Pack is available for Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Vista.[7] Installing downlevel XPS support enables operating systems prior to Windows Vista to use the XPS print processor, instead of the GDI-based WinPrint, which can produce better quality prints for printers that support XPS in hardware (directly consume the format). [8] The print spooler format on these operating systems however remains unchanged.

[edit] Third-party support

[edit] Hardware

XPS has the support of printing companies such as Sharp,[9] Canon, Epson, Hewlett-Packard[10] and Xerox[11] and software and hardware companies such as Software Imaging,[12] Pagemark Technology Inc.,[13] Informative Graphics Corp. (IGC),[14] NiXPS NV,[15] Zoran[16] and Global Graphics.[17]

Devices that are Certified for Windows Vista level of Windows Logo conformance certificate are required to have XPS drivers for printing as of June 1, 2007.[18]

[edit] Open Source Software

  • GhostXPS - an XPS viewer developed by Artifex[19]
  • Okular - a document viewer for KDE 4 that supports XPS files.

[edit] Commercial Software

  • ExpertXPS - a .NET library for developers, developed by Outside Software Inc., that can generate XPS files.[20]
  • NiXPS - supports viewing and printing of XPS files on Mac OS X and Windows.[21]
  • Nuance - a Windows application for converting between PDF and XPS.[22]
  • pdftron - command-line application for converting and publishing PDF files as print and web-ready XPS[23]

[edit] Rendering (RIP) Software

  • Global Graphics - XPS renderer and eDoc conversion library[24]
  • Pagemark Technology - XPS renderer SDK[25]
  • Pagetech - Conversion of PCL to XPS[26]
  • Software Imaging - XPS renderer[27]
  • Zoran - XPS renderer[28]

[edit] Licensing

In order to encourage wide use of the format, Microsoft has released XPS under a royalty-free patent license called the Community Promise for XPS [29] [30], allowing users to create implementations of the specification that read, write and render XPS files as long as you include a notice within the source that technologies implemented may be encumbered by patents held by Microsoft. Microsoft also requires that organizations "engaged in the business of developing (i) scanners that output XPS Documents; (ii) printers that consume XPS Documents to produce hard-copy output; or (iii) print driver or raster image software products or components thereof that convert XPS Documents for the purpose of producing hard-copy output, you covenant that you and your affiliates will not sue Microsoft or any of its licensees under the XML Paper Specification or customers for infringement of any XML Paper Specification Derived Patents (as defined below) on account of any manufacture, use, sale, offer for sale, importation or other disposition or promotion of any XML Paper Specification implementations." The specification itself is released under a royalty-free copyright license, allowing its free distribution.[31]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Reference Raster Image Processor (RIP)
  2. ^ HD Photo information on Microsoft Photography team blog
  3. ^ a b Microsoft Readies New Document Printing Specification
  4. ^ Comparison of PDF, XPS and ODF by an ISV providing PDF solutions
  5. ^ War and PDF: Microsoft submits XPS to standards body
  6. ^ XPS Documents in Windows Vista
  7. ^ a b View and generate XPS
  8. ^ XPSDrv Filter Pipeline: Implementation and Best Practice
  9. ^ Sharp Open Systems Architecture supports XPS in multi-function printers
  10. ^ IT Week 10 November 2006, Canon, Epson and HP support for XPS
  11. ^ Fuji Xerox and Microsoft Collaborate in Document Management Solutions Field
  12. ^ Software Imaging :: XPS & Windows Vista
  13. ^ Pagemark Technology
  14. ^ Informative Graphics Announces Brava! Annotation, Redaction Support For Microsoft XPS Format
  15. ^ NiXPS
  16. ^ Ips Xps
  17. ^ Solutions for XPS document sharing and native XPS printing
  18. ^ Windows Logo Program Requirements and Policies
  19. ^ GhostXPS website
  20. ^ ExpertXPS .NET Library
  21. ^ NiXPS Macintosh/Windows Cross-platform Software
  22. ^ PDF Converter
  23. ^ PDF2XPS
  24. ^ XPS solutions
  25. ^ XPS renderer
  26. ^ PCL2XPS
  27. ^ XPS renderer
  28. ^ XPS renderer
  29. ^ Community Promise for XPS
  30. ^ Community Promise for XPS FAQs
  31. ^ XML Paper Specification Licensing, Microsoft. Retrieved on June 8, 2006.

[edit] External links

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