Free online PUB to AI converter

Microsoft Publisher files must be converted when a layout needs to enter an Adobe Illustrator workflow for editing, prepress, or delivery to a designer who does not use Publisher. Converting through PDF preserves the printed appearance better than trying to recreate the publication from scratch.

What the PUB format is

.pub is the native document format of Microsoft Publisher, a desktop-publishing application used for brochures, flyers, newsletters, business cards, invitations, and other page layouts. A PUB file can contain text frames, linked or embedded images, shapes, tables, borders, and publication-specific layout settings. Microsoft Publisher is the main application that can fully open and edit this format; Adobe Illustrator and general image viewers do not natively interpret PUB documents.

What the AI format is

.ai is Adobe Illustrator's native artwork format. It stores vector paths, text, layers, artboards, colors, and other Illustrator document data, making artwork suitable for scalable print, illustration, branding, and cutting workflows. AI is not a direct equivalent of PUB: it is primarily an illustration format, while PUB is a page-layout format. Saving a converted PDF as AI does not restore every Publisher object as an editable Illustrator object.

How to convert PUB to AI

Desktop method: use Microsoft Publisher to create a print-quality PDF, then open that PDF in Adobe Illustrator and save it as AI.

1. Open the .pub file in Microsoft Publisher and check the page size, margins, fonts, linked images, and objects that extend beyond the page.
2. Choose File → Export → Create PDF/XPS Document. In some Publisher versions, File → Save As and selecting PDF provides the same type of output.
3. Choose a high-quality or commercial-print setting rather than a minimum-size setting. Use the printer's required PDF standard, bleed, color, and image-resolution settings when those options are available.
4. Open the exported PDF in Illustrator with File → Open. If Illustrator asks for a page, select the page to import.
5. Inspect the imported page, correct missing fonts and clipped objects, and check image placement, colors, transparency, and page dimensions.
6. Choose File → Save As or File → Save a Copy, select Adobe Illustrator (.ai), and save the result.

Without installing software: you can use the PUB-to-AI converter on 101convert.com for free. Upload the PUB file, choose AI as the output, start the conversion, and download the resulting .ai file. Open the result in Illustrator and verify it before production; an online conversion can preserve appearance without producing fully editable native Illustrator objects. Do not upload confidential publications unless the service's file-handling terms meet your requirements.

Quality and compatibility limits

• There is no fully lossless translation between Publisher's page-layout model and Illustrator's artwork model. PDF is an interchange step, not a guarantee that the original PUB structure will be preserved.
• Text may remain editable, become separate text objects, be converted to outlines, or use a substitute font when the original font is unavailable. Keep the required fonts available and check line breaks, spacing, and hyphenation.
• Publisher tables, WordArt, grouped objects, shadows, transparency, linked content, and complex effects may import as fragmented objects or require manual rebuilding.
• PDF export generally preserves page geometry and the visible appearance of vector shapes and images, but raster images retain their exported resolution and cannot become true vectors merely by being saved as AI.
• For multi-page publications, inspect every imported page. Illustrator may open one PDF page at a time or place pages as separate artboards depending on the Illustrator version and PDF structure.
• Keep the original PUB and exported PDF as references. For handoff, collect linked images and confirm that fonts are licensed and available on the receiving computer.