Publisher to AVI Converter

Convert Publisher to AVI: What This Tutorial Covers

This walk-through is for anyone who needs a Microsoft Publisher (.pub) document turned into an AVI video clip — usually to play a flyer, newsletter, or certificate on a screen or signage system that accepts video but not documents. Before you start, it helps to know exactly what this conversion produces, because the result is not a "movie" of your publication: each page is rendered to a still image and held on screen as a motionless frame. By the end you will know how to set the frame duration, whether AVI is the right target, and when a different format is the smarter choice.

How to Convert Publisher to AVI

1. Upload Your Publisher File: Drag and drop your .pub file onto the page or click "+ Add Files" to browse. You can queue several Publisher files at once.
2. Choose Merge images or Video per image: Open Advanced Options. "Merge images" combines every rendered page into one continuous AVI; "Video per image" outputs a separate AVI for each file.
3. Set the Duration and Quality Preset (Optional): Use "Duration" to control how many seconds each page holds on screen (5 seconds per frame by default), and set "Quality Preset" (Very High is the default) to balance sharpness against file size.
4. Convert and Download: Click "Convert" and download your AVI file. No sign-up, no watermark, no Publisher license required.

Walk-through: A Page Becomes a Still Video Frame

The single most important thing to understand is what comes out the other side. AVI is a video container, but your Publisher document has no motion and no soundtrack, so the conversion does two things in sequence: it renders each page to a flat image, then holds that image on screen as a static frame for the duration you set. The output is silent — there is no audio track because there is nothing in a .pub file to play. Think of it as a slideshow burned into a video file rather than an animation.

A few settings control how that slideshow behaves:

• If your publication has several pages, keep "Merge images" selected so each rendered page becomes its own frame, shown one after another in page order inside a single AVI.
• If you want each page to linger longer, raise the "Duration" value — for example 8 or 10 seconds per frame for a flyer people need time to read, or drop it to 2 seconds for a quick page-flip effect.
• If file size matters more than crispness, lower the "Quality Preset" or pick a smaller "Preset Resolutions" target; rendered pages are raster images, so a 1080p frame is much larger than a 480p one.

For AVI specifically, the output is encoded with the MPEG-4 video codec by default, which plays in VLC, Windows Media Player, and most desktop video software. There is no audio codec involved because the source has no sound.

Publisher Export Targets Compared

Video is the unusual choice here, and it is worth seeing it next to the alternatives before you commit:

Common Errors and How to Fix Them

• "My video is silent" — That is expected. A Publisher document contains no audio, so the AVI has no sound track. If you need narration or music, add it afterward in a video editor.
• "Every page flashes by too fast (or sits too long)" — Adjust "Duration". It sets how many seconds each rendered page stays on screen; the 5-second default suits most reading material but is easy to change.
• "Fonts or spacing look off" — A .pub references fonts that may not be embedded in the file. If the renderer cannot find one, it substitutes a close match, which can shift text. Where possible, embed fonts when saving from Publisher, or convert to PDF to better preserve the layout.
• "The text is blurry when I scale the video up" — Each frame has a fixed pixel count. Re-render at a higher "Preset Resolutions" setting rather than enlarging the finished AVI, which only stretches existing pixels.
• "The AVI file is very large" — AVI with MPEG-4 is not as space-efficient as modern formats. For a smaller, more widely compatible clip, render to Publisher to MP4 instead.

When This Doesn't Work — and What Most People Actually Want

Be honest with yourself about the goal before converting. Turning a document into video makes sense only when the destination genuinely requires a video file — for instance digital signage, a screen that loops .avi clips, or a video timeline you are assembling. For almost everything else, a video of a motionless page is the wrong tool.

If your real aim is to keep your Publisher files readable after the app retires, or to share them, convert to PDF instead. Microsoft has confirmed that Publisher will no longer be supported after October 1, 2026, and recommends converting .pub files to another format before that date — PDF for viewing and Word for editing. A PDF keeps every page (and selectable text) in one portable file that opens on any device, which is what most people searching for a Publisher converter actually need. Use Publisher to PDF for that. If you only need a flat picture of each page, Publisher to PNG is simpler than a video.

Some .pub files also resist clean conversion: password-protected publications, files from very old Publisher versions, or layouts that link to fonts and images stored outside the document can lose fidelity, because those pieces are not inside the .pub itself. In those cases, exporting directly from Microsoft Publisher (while you still can) gives the most accurate result, and LibreOffice Draw can open .pub files as a free desktop fallback.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the AVI actually play my Publisher pages as a moving video?

No. A .pub file has no animation, so the conversion renders each page to a still image and shows it as a motionless frame for the duration you set. The result is effectively a silent slideshow inside an AVI container, not a movie. If you simply want a flat image of each page, Publisher to PNG is more direct.

How long does each Publisher page stay on screen in the AVI?

You control this with the "Duration" setting, which defaults to 5 seconds per frame. Raise it for pages people need time to read or lower it for a quicker page-flip pace. With "Merge images" selected, every page is shown in order for that duration inside one continuous AVI.

Why is my converted AVI silent?

Because there is nothing to play. A Publisher document carries no audio, so the AVI is created without a sound track. If you need music or narration, add it after conversion in a video editor — the clip itself is purely the rendered pages held as frames.

Should I convert my .pub files to AVI before Microsoft retires Publisher?

Only if your destination truly needs a video file. Microsoft has confirmed Publisher will no longer be supported after October 1, 2026, and recommends converting .pub files beforehand — but it suggests PDF for viewing and Word for editing, not video. For keeping your publications openable and shareable, Publisher to PDF is the right rescue path; AVI is a niche choice for screens that only accept video.

How faithful is the rendered page in the video?

.pub is Microsoft's proprietary desktop-publishing format, which non-Microsoft tools cannot reproduce perfectly. In our testing, simple single-page flyers and certificates render cleanly, while documents with unusual fonts, heavy layering, or externally linked assets are more likely to shift or substitute elements. Spot-check complex files, and for a print-exact result export from Publisher itself where you still can.

What codec does the AVI use, and can I set a frame rate?

The video is encoded with MPEG-4 by default, which is what VLC, Windows Media Player, and most desktop editing software expect from an .avi. No audio codec is written at all, because a Publisher document has no sound to encode. There is no frame-rate control on this page, and that is deliberate rather than an omission: pacing here is set by "Duration" — how many seconds each rendered page holds on screen — not by frames per second. The clip is a sequence of static pages, so a frame-rate dial would have nothing to vary.

Will the AVI play on a phone, smart TV, or in a browser?

Often not. AVI is a Microsoft RIFF-based container introduced in November 1992 as part of Video for Windows, and it predates the mobile and streaming era entirely. Desktop players handle it well — VLC, Windows Media Player, and virtually every editor — but modern phones, smart TVs, and web browsers frequently refuse .avi or play the video without recognising the container properly. If the destination is anything other than a desktop machine or a signage box that specifically lists AVI support, render to Publisher to MP4 instead: same rendered pages, smaller file, and playback essentially everywhere.

Is my Publisher file kept private, and how large can it be?

You can convert standard Publisher documents without installing any software. Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically a few hours after conversion — no sign-up, no watermark, never shared or made public. For very large publications, the practical limit is upload time rather than the page count itself.