How To: Convert a DOCX Document to PDF format

• Aug 13, 2020
• 2 minutes to read

This example demonstrates how to utilize the RichEditDocumentServer.ExportToPdf method to export a document to PDF format.

Use the PdfExportOptions instance as the method parameter to specify PDF export options.

View Example

ExportActions.cs

RichEditDocumentServer wordProcessor = new RichEditDocumentServer();
wordProcessor.LoadDocument("Documents\\MovieRentals.docx", DocumentFormat.OpenXml);

//Specify export options:
PdfExportOptions options = new PdfExportOptions();
options.DocumentOptions.Author = "Mark Jones";
options.Compressed = false;
options.ImageQuality = PdfJpegImageQuality.Highest;

//Export the document to the stream:
using (FileStream pdfFileStream = new FileStream("Document_PDF.pdf", FileMode.Create))
{
    wordProcessor.ExportToPdf(pdfFileStream, options);
}
System.Diagnostics.Process.Start("Document_PDF.pdf");

ExportActions.vb

Dim wordProcessor As RichEditDocumentServer = New RichEditDocumentServer()
wordProcessor.LoadDocument("Documents\MovieRentals.docx", DocumentFormat.OpenXml)

'Specify export options:
Dim options As New PdfExportOptions()
options.DocumentOptions.Author = "Mark Jones"
options.Compressed = False
options.ImageQuality = PdfJpegImageQuality.Highest

'Export the document to the stream: 
Using pdfFileStream As New FileStream("Document_PDF.pdf", FileMode.Create)
    wordProcessor.ExportToPdf(pdfFileStream, options)
End Using
System.Diagnostics.Process.Start("Document_PDF.pdf")

Asynchronous Export

Important

The RichEditDocumentServerExtensions class is defined in the DevExpress.Docs.v20.2.dll assembly. Add this assembly to your project to use the RichEditDocumentServerExtensions members. You need a license for the DevExpress Office File API Subscription or DevExpress Universal Subscription to use this library in production code.

Use the RichEditDocumentServerExtensions.ExportToPdfAsync method to asynchronously export a document to the PDF format.

Important

Take into account the following when you call this method:

• The events fired by this method’s call may occur in a different thread than the target operation.

• The operation is not thread safe (documents should not be accessed simultaneously by different threads). Wait until the operation is completed before working with the document, i.e., use the await operator.

The code sample below uses the CancellationToken object to asynchronously export a document to PDF format:

C#

private async void ConvertDocx2PdfWithCancellation()
{
  //10 second limit
  using (CancellationTokenSource source = new CancellationTokenSource(10000))
  {
    using (RichEditDocumentServer wordProcessor = new RichEditDocumentServer())
      {
          try
          {
              await wordProcessor.LoadDocumentAsync("Document.docx", source.Token);
              await wordProcessor.ExportToPdfAsync("result.pdf", source.Token);
          }
          catch (OperationCanceledException)
          {
              // Your code to handle cancellation
          }
      }
  }
}

VB.NET

Private Async Sub ConvertDocx2PdfWithCancellation()
    Using source As CancellationTokenSource = New CancellationTokenSource(10000)

        Using wordProcessor As RichEditDocumentServer = New RichEditDocumentServer()

            Try
                Await wordProcessor.LoadDocumentAsync("Document.docx", source.Token)
                Await wordProcessor.ExportToPdfAsync("result.pdf", source.Token)
            Catch __unusedOperationCanceledException1__ As OperationCanceledException
            ' Your code to handle cancellation
            End Try
        End Using
    End Using
End Sub