Convert Word to PDF with Outline, Open Action and Attachments

The Word to PDF Converter can create the outline of the generated PDF document from the headings of the Word document, add your own bookmarks to it, set the action executed when the document is opened and attach files to the document. The options are exposed by the WordToPdfDocumentOptions object of the WordToPdfConverterPdfDocumentOptions property. The bookmarks, open action and attachment options are also available in the Excel, RTF and Markdown to PDF converters and the outline created from the headings in the RTF and Markdown to PDF converters.

Create the Outline from the Document Headings

When WordToPdfDocumentOptionsGenerateDocumentOutline is true the generated document has a bookmark for each heading of the Word document, nested by the heading level. The default value is false.

Create the Outline from the Document Headings
wordToPdfConverter.PdfDocumentOptions.GenerateDocumentOutline = true;

Add Custom Bookmarks

The WordToPdfDocumentOptionsBookmarks collection holds the bookmarks added to the outline after the ones created from the headings. A bookmark to a page location is added with PdfBookmarkCollectionAdd(String, Int32, PdfLinkPageLocation) and a bookmark opening a web address with PdfBookmarkCollectionAddUrl(String, String). A PdfBookmark has a text style, a color and a collection of child bookmarks. The page location is given by a PdfLinkPageLocation object, for example FitWidth or AtCoordinates with a zoom.

The page numbers count the pages of the generated document, including the pages of the PDF documents placed before the converted content with WordToPdfDocumentOptionsAddStartPdf(String).

Add Custom Bookmarks
// Bookmarks added to the outline after the ones created from the headings: a bookmark to
// a page location with a child bookmark and a bookmark opening a web address
PdfBookmark contentBookmark = wordToPdfConverter.PdfDocumentOptions.Bookmarks.Add(
    "Converted Word document", firstContentPage, PdfLinkPageLocation.FitWidth(0));
contentBookmark.Bold = true;
contentBookmark.Color = PdfColor.DarkBlue;
contentBookmark.Children.Add("Top of the first page, zoomed", firstContentPage, PdfLinkPageLocation.AtCoordinates(0, 0, 1.5f));

wordToPdfConverter.PdfDocumentOptions.Bookmarks.AddUrl("Library web site", "https://www.evopdf.com");

Set the Open Action

The WordToPdfDocumentOptionsOpenAction property is the action executed by the viewer when the document is opened. A PdfGoToPageAction goes to a page at a given location and zoom. When the property is null, the default value, the document has no open action.

Set the Open Action
// The action executed when the document is opened: go to the first page of the
// converted content, fit to the page width
wordToPdfConverter.PdfDocumentOptions.OpenAction = new PdfGoToPageAction(firstContentPage, PdfLinkPageLocation.FitWidth(0));

Attach Files to the Document

A file is attached to the generated document with WordToPdfDocumentOptionsAddFileAttachment(PdfFileAttachment). The PdfFileAttachment object is created from a byte array or from a file and the attachment appears in the Attachments panel of the PDF viewer. The panel shown when the document is opened is selected with the PageMode property of WordToPdfConverterPdfViewerPreferences: the outline with ViewerPageModeUseOutlines or the attachments with ViewerPageModeUseAttachments.

Attach the Source Word Document
// Attach the source Word document to the generated PDF. The attachment appears in the
// Attachments panel of the PDF viewer
PdfFileAttachment attachment = PdfFileAttachment.FromBytes(inputWordBytes, "Source_Document.docx");
attachment.Description = "The Word document the PDF was generated from";
wordToPdfConverter.PdfDocumentOptions.AddFileAttachment(attachment);

// The panel shown by the viewer when the document is opened
wordToPdfConverter.PdfViewerPreferences.PageMode = ViewerPageMode.UseAttachments;

Code Sample - Convert Word to PDF with Outline, Open Action and Attachments

C#
// Use EVO PDF Namespace
using EvoPdf.Next;

public byte[] ConvertWordToPdfWithOutlineAndAttachments(byte[] inputWordBytes, string startPdfPath)
{
    // Set the license key received after purchase to use the library in licensed mode; leave it commented for demo mode
    // Licensing.LicenseKey = "your-license-key";

    // Create a Word to PDF converter object with default settings
    WordToPdfConverter wordToPdfConverter = new WordToPdfConverter();

    // The same bookmarks, open action and attachments options are available in the Excel, RTF
    // and Markdown to PDF converters

    // Create the outline of the PDF document from the headings of the Word document, with a
    // bookmark for each heading, nested by the heading level
    wordToPdfConverter.PdfDocumentOptions.GenerateDocumentOutline = true;

    // The pages of an existing PDF document are placed before the converted content. The
    // page numbers of the bookmarks and of the open action count these pages
    wordToPdfConverter.PdfDocumentOptions.AddStartPdf(startPdfPath);

    int firstContentPage = 1;
    using (PdfSplit startPdf = new PdfSplit(startPdfPath))
        firstContentPage += startPdf.PageCount;

    // Bookmarks added to the outline after the ones created from the headings: a bookmark to
    // a page location with a child bookmark and a bookmark opening a web address
    PdfBookmark contentBookmark = wordToPdfConverter.PdfDocumentOptions.Bookmarks.Add(
        "Converted Word document", firstContentPage, PdfLinkPageLocation.FitWidth(0));
    contentBookmark.Bold = true;
    contentBookmark.Color = PdfColor.DarkBlue;
    contentBookmark.Children.Add("Top of the first page, zoomed", firstContentPage, PdfLinkPageLocation.AtCoordinates(0, 0, 1.5f));

    wordToPdfConverter.PdfDocumentOptions.Bookmarks.AddUrl("Library web site", "https://www.evopdf.com");

    // The action executed when the document is opened: go to the first page of the
    // converted content, fit to the page width
    wordToPdfConverter.PdfDocumentOptions.OpenAction = new PdfGoToPageAction(firstContentPage, PdfLinkPageLocation.FitWidth(0));

    // Attach the source Word document to the generated PDF. The attachment appears in the
    // Attachments panel of the PDF viewer
    PdfFileAttachment attachment = PdfFileAttachment.FromBytes(inputWordBytes, "Source_Document.docx");
    attachment.Description = "The Word document the PDF was generated from";
    wordToPdfConverter.PdfDocumentOptions.AddFileAttachment(attachment);

    // The panel shown by the viewer when the document is opened: the outline or the attachments
    wordToPdfConverter.PdfViewerPreferences.PageMode = ViewerPageMode.UseOutlines;

    // The buffer to receive the generated PDF document
    byte[] outPdfBuffer = wordToPdfConverter.ConvertToPdf(inputWordBytes);

    return outPdfBuffer;
}

See Also