Scanned documents are often saved as mdi files. Mdi is based on tiff, but is superior in quality and compression. Except raster graphics mdi may contain metadata such as recognized text. This format was used in Microsoft Office Document Imaging. IN this moment the program is not supported and is excluded from office Microsoft packages Office. The creators did not publish the specification, so the format is closed and supported by a small number of programs.

What free programs can open mdi file?

  1. Free utility to view mdi and some other popular image formats. The program has a nice and simple interface. On the left is a window for viewing document pages; one page is displayed on the left. At the top there is a menu in the form of pictures. The functionality is quite sufficient. MDI Viewer supports scaling, page rotation, and printing images.
  2. Document Imaging – previously included in MS Office (until version 2010). Currently included in free package SharePoint. The program works with .MID and .TIFF files. The utility consists of two applications - viewing utility (DocumentImaging) and image scanning (DocumentScanning). In addition to viewing Document Imaging, you can scan images, send them by fax, e-mail, or send them to print.

Most users very rarely encounter MDI files. However, sometimes documents with this extension end up on their computers and cause certain problems. The fact is that to work with them you need special program, which not everyone knows about.

If you find yourself in such an unpleasant situation and don’t know how to open an MDI file, then this article is just for you. A description of this extension will be provided here, as well as programs for working with it will be discussed.

Description

It is logical that before opening an MDI document, you need to figure out what application it was created in. Let's get started with this. So, Microsoft Document Imaging, as you might guess from its name, was developed by Microsoft for storing raster images obtained as a result of scanning. Besides, this format supports the ability to save various footnotes, annotations, and recognized text.

The official application for working with the MDI extension is the Document Imaging program, included in the MS Office package. However, there is one big problem with this utility. The fact is that for some reason the developers decided to exclude Document Imaging from the latest Office builds, forcing ordinary users to puzzle over how to open a file with the MDI extension. But, fortunately, there is a solution, and not just one.

Standard method

Although Document Imaging has been removed from modern versions of MS Office, it can still be found. To do this, just install Office 2007 on your computer, which includes the utility. In this case, during the installation of the software package, you will need to manually set some settings. This is done like this:

  1. At one stage of the installation, you will be asked to manually select the applications that you want to see on your computer. Give your consent to this operation.
  2. A large list of components included in MS Office will open. You will need to go to the Office Tools section.
  3. Now find Document Imaging and check the box.
  4. Click “Next” and wait for the installation process to complete.

After this, the program will be installed on your computer, and the question of how to open MDI documents will disappear.

Without installing Office

At some point, Microsoft employees realized their mistake and included Document Imaging as part of Share Point. Moreover, they have added the option to download this package for free. In other words, if you still don’t know how to open an MDI file, you can simply download Share Point by searching on the official Microsoft website.

This method is perfect for those who do not want to install outdated version MS Office. Just keep in mind that you need to download Share Point from the official website, otherwise you risk infecting your computer with some kind of malware.

Third Party Applications

It often happens that not one, but several programs are used to work with a certain format. This is also true for the MDI extension. So, several third-party developers immediately released their utilities for opening these files.

The first program designed for this purpose is called MDI Viewer. It boasts a clear interface and high speed work. In addition, the application is distributed free of charge, so you will not have any problems using it.

In addition, you can use one of the so-called online converters and convert MDI into a more convenient format for subsequent work with it. For example, such an opportunity is available in Kinati 2PDF. This is, in fact, a regular site where you upload an MDI document, and then, after a few seconds, download the same file back, but with a PDF extension.

MDI files are images. The basis of the MDI extension is the TIFF format. Compared to this format, MDI has more advantages, which is why it is used more often than TIFF. The main advantages of the MDI format include their smaller size compared to the TIFF format, due to which they will take up less space on your computer’s hard drive. In addition, compared to TIFF files, these images will have excellent quality even if lossless compression is applied to the TIFF file.

Programs that can be used to open an MDI file

Mostly files in MDI format are opened using the installed Microsoft programs Office Document. If it is missing, you must install Microsoft Office and select it for installation. Using the Microsoft Office Document program, the user can not only view files in MDI format, but also use it when scanning any documents, view already scanned documents, edit scanned documents, copy them, and also perform text recognition that is in the scanned document. document. Thus, it turns out that the possibilities of this program are almost limitless and you can use it not only to open files in the MDI format.

Other, no less useful program, is an MDI Viewer. The capabilities of this program are not as great as those of Microsoft Office Document, but with its help the user can also open and view files in MDI format. The interface of this program is quite simple, which means that even a beginner can handle it. Its main advantages are the ability to open files in the following formats: MDI, JPG, BMP, GIF, PNG, TIFF, etc. MDI Viewer provides the user with the ability to open graphic files in the above formats, their scaling, as well as printing. In addition, MDI Viewer is distributed, which means that anyone can easily find this program on the Internet and use it for their needs.

As a result, it turns out that you can open files in the MDI format quite easily and simply using the Microsoft Office Document program or MDI Viewer.

Announcement

MDI Page Layout File Format

The MDI (Microsoft Document Imaging) file extension was originally created by Microsoft as one of the components of the Office products. This file type is used by Microsoft to save documents that have been scanned into your device. These images can then be used in an optical character recognition program, which scans the document's graphics and converts it into text. The specified process allows you to create DOC files - standard Microsoft documents Word. Typically, an MDI file can only be created by software Microsoft, which is specifically designed for this purpose. Microsoft Office Document Imaging (MODI) is standard part Office XP - in versions 2003 and 2007.

Technical information about MDI files

When MODI saves text after it has been OCRed, the text is saved in TIFF format. However, the resulting TIFF file does not meet the standards of typical TIFF files. Because of this, the file can only be used in the MODI program. Although the MODI format was standard in Office XP for several years, it is no longer supported. This means that if you have an old document that was created in MODI and has an MDI file extension, you will not be able to open it unless you have old version Office XP. You will need to convert the MDI file to a format that can be processed by your operating system.

Additional information about the MDI format

Microsoft Document Imaging (or MDI for short) is used by the program from the main Windows package called Microsoft Office Document Imaging. The basis is the TIFF format, but MDI has many advantages. For example, it not only provides best quality images, but also has a smaller file size. It is also worth saying that it is possible to save text along with images in both formats. However, you can only edit MDI format images in the native program.

The program itself from the office suite has both advantages and disadvantages. A user-friendly interface allows you to increase the usable area of ​​​​the monitor screen and reduce clutter. Application windows can be shown, hidden, maximized and minimized. Children can be placed in a cascade or tiling in the main window. It is also important to note the memory savings and increased speed when working in one window. The program provides “hot button combinations” that allow you to use quick navigation, which makes working with the application even faster and more convenient, since it does not use additional resources.

It is quite difficult to display the content of multiple windows on different monitors, and it is also impossible to display content on different virtual desktops. In addition, when working with the MDI format, which you already know to open, it is difficult to work simultaneously with several applications at the same time, since switching between windows is quite inconvenient. There is also some chaos in the program if several windows are open at the same time.

It should be said that the “native” program is included only in the Office 2007 package; in earlier versions, the question will again arise when the MDI format appears, how to open it. You won't be able to install Document Imaging on Windows XP either. In the event that you do not have a program from the office Office package 2007, or you don't want to spend money on it, MDI Viewer may come in handy.

However, even developing from a package may not always open the MDI extension. To resolve this issue, you need to do the following.

In the event that double click MDI file in the program from the package does not open, but instead an error message appears on the desktop, you must follow the steps below. The reason for the failure is that this program is not installed when opening an MDI file.

1. In the “Start” menu, select the “Run” line, enter the command appwiz.cpl, then click “OK”.

2. Listed installed programs need to choose Office version 2007 installed on the computer.

3. Select the “Change” button.

4. Select “Add components”, then click on “Continue”.

5. You need to expand the “Office Tools” node.

6. Here we select Microsoft Office Document Imaging, set the value for the program to “Run all”.

7. Click on the “Continue” button.

These steps should help resolve the problem with the MDI format rather than opening it.

In addition, the file can be exported to tiff format using the MDI Viewer program, which you can download for free. So, having seen the MDI format, you know how to open it: either with a program from the Office 2007 package, or using MDI Viewer. This is a fairly simple development, although a little inconvenient compared to the program from Office, which allows you to view MDI files, as well as print, export to TIFF, scale the image in height and width, and rotate it by an angle of 90°.

With development computer technology, the development of new programs and more advanced operating systems, more and more new ones appear, and they are not always very easy to open and edit. Many updated data formats that were developed after the release of Office 2007 cannot be opened on later operating systems standard package programs. Sometimes you even have to use online convectors to convert. After all, not everyone today can install the latest operating system. I hope that now, when you see an MDI file, how to open it, you will know for sure.





File extension .mdi
File category
Related programs Microsoft Office XP, 2003, 2007 (Windows)
Bugysoft MDI2PDF Converter (Windows)