Convert HTML to XPS | C# Examples

XPS is a document storage and viewing format developed by Microsoft. It has a set of advantages that support security features, such as digital signatures to provide greater document security and more. HTML to XPS conversion is often required to establish limited access to document editing or copying. XPS file format provides access rights management and gives high-quality printable documents. XPS files can be used to share documents, and you can be sure that what you see on the page is the same as what other people see when using the XPS Viewer.

Using Converter.ConvertHTML() methods is the most common way to convert HTML code into various formats. With Aspose.HTML for .NET, you can convert HTML to XPS format programmatically with full control over a wide range of conversion parameters. In this article, you find information on how to convert HTML to XPS using ConvertHTML() methods of the Converter class, and how to apply XpsSaveOptions and ICreateStreamProvider parameters.

Online HTML Converter

You can check the Aspose.HTML API functionality and convert HTML in real-time. Please load HTML from the local file system, select the output format and run the example. In the example, the save options are set by default. You will immediately receive the result as a separate file.

If you want to convert HTML to XPS programmatically, please see the following C# code examples.

HTML to XPS by a single line of code

The static methods of the Converter class are primarily used as the easiest way to convert an HTML code into various formats. You can convert HTML to XPS in your C# application literally with a single line of code!

// Invoke the ConvertHTML() method to convert the HTML code to XPS
Converter.ConvertHTML(@"<h1>Convert HTML to XPS!</h1>", ".", new XpsSaveOptions(), Path.Combine(OutputDir, "convert-with-single-line.xps"));

Convert HTML to XPS

Converting a file to another format using the ConvertHTML() method is a sequence of operations among which document loading and saving:

1. Load an HTML file using the HTMLDocument class.
2. Create a new XpsSaveOptions object.
3. Use the ConvertHTML() method of the Converter class to save HTML as a XPS file. You need to pass the HTMLDocument, XpsSaveOptions, and output file path to the ConvertHTML() method to convert HTML to XPS.

Please take a look over the following C# code snippet which shows the process of converting HTML to XPS using Aspose.HTML for .NET.

// Prepare a path to a source HTML file
string documentPath = Path.Combine(DataDir, "canvas.html");

// Prepare a path to save the converted file
string savePath = Path.Combine(OutputDir, "canvas-output.xps");

// Initialize an HTML document from the file
using var document = new HTMLDocument(documentPath);

// Initialize XpsSaveOptions 
var options = new XpsSaveOptions();

// Convert HTML to XPS
Converter.ConvertHTML(document, options, savePath);

Save Options

Aspose.HTML allows converting HTML to XPS using default or custom save options. XpsSaveOptions usage enables you to customize the rendering process. You can specify the page size, margins, Css, etc.

Property	Description
PageSetup	This property gets a page setup object and uses it for configuration output page-set.
Css	Gets a CssOptions object which is used for configuration of CSS properties processing.
BackgroundColor	This property sets the color that will fill the background of every page. By default, this property is Transparent.
HorizontalResolution	Sets horizontal resolution for output images in pixels per inch. The default value is 300 dpi.
VerticalResolution	Sets vertical resolution for output images in pixels per inch. The default value is 300 dpi.

To learn more about XpsSaveOptions, please read the Fine-Tuning Converters article.

Convert HTML to XPS using XpsSaveOptions

To convert HTML to XPS with XpsSaveOptions specifying, you should follow a few steps:

1. Load an HTML file using one of the HTMLDocument() constructors of the HTMLDocument class.
2. Create a new XpsSaveOptions object.
3. Use the ConvertHTML() method of the Converter class to save HTML as a PDF file. You need to pass the HTMLDocument, XpsSaveOptions, and output file path to the ConvertHTML() method to convert HTML to XPS.

The following example shows how to use XpsSaveOptions and create an XPS file with custom page-size and background color:

string documentPath = Path.Combine(OutputDir, "save-options.html");
string savePath = Path.Combine(OutputDir, "save-options-output.xps");

// Prepare HTML code and save it to a file
var code = "<h1>  XpsSaveOptions Class</h1>\r\n" +
           "<p>Using XpsSaveOptions Class, you can programmatically apply a wide range of conversion parameters such as BackgroundColor, PageSetup, etc.</p>\r\n";

File.WriteAllText(documentPath, code);

// Initialize an HTML Document from the html file
using var document = new HTMLDocument(documentPath);

// Set up the page-size, margins and change the background color to AntiqueWhite
var options = new XpsSaveOptions()
{
    BackgroundColor = System.Drawing.Color.AntiqueWhite
};
options.PageSetup.AnyPage = new Page(new Aspose.Html.Drawing.Size(Length.FromInches(4.9f), Length.FromInches(3.5f)), new Margin(30, 20, 10, 10));

// Convert HTML to XPS
Converter.ConvertHTML(document, options, savePath);

The XpsSaveOptions() constructor initializes an instance of the XpsSaveOptions class that is passed to ConvertHTML() method. The ConvertHTML() method takes the document, options, output file path savePath and performs the conversion operation. The XpsSaveOptions class provides numerous properties that give you full control over a wide range of parameters and improve the process of converting HTML to XPS format.

In the above example, we use:

• BackgroundColor property that sets the color that will fill the background. The default BackgroundColor is Transparent;
• PageSetup property that specifies the page size and margins.

Output Stream Providers

If it is required to save files in the remote storage (e.g., cloud, database, etc.) you can implement ICreateStreamProvider interface to have manual control over the file creating process. This interface is designed as a callback object to create a stream at the beginning of the document/page (depending on the output format) and release the early created stream after rendering the document/page.

Aspose.HTML for .NET provides various types of output formats for rendering operations. Some of these formats produce a single output file (for instance PDF, XPS), others create multiple files (Image formats JPG, PNG, etc.).

The example below shows how to implement and use your own MemoryStreamProvider in the application:

class MemoryStreamProvider : Aspose.Html.IO.ICreateStreamProvider
{
    // List of MemoryStream objects created during the document rendering
    public List<MemoryStream> Streams { get; } = new List<MemoryStream>();

    public Stream GetStream(string name, string extension)
    {
        // This method is called when only one output stream is required, for instance for XPS, PDF or TIFF formats
        MemoryStream result = new MemoryStream();
        Streams.Add(result);
        return result;
    }

    public Stream GetStream(string name, string extension, int page)
    {
        // This method is called when the creation of multiple output streams are required. For instance, during the rendering HTML to list of image files (JPG, PNG, etc.)
        MemoryStream result = new MemoryStream();
        Streams.Add(result);
        return result;
    }

    public void ReleaseStream(Stream stream)
    {
        // Here you can release the stream filled with data and, for instance, flush it to the hard-drive
    }

    public void Dispose()
    {
        // Releasing resources
        foreach (var stream in Streams)
            stream.Dispose();
    }
}

// Create an instance of MemoryStreamProvider
using var streamProvider = new MemoryStreamProvider();

// Initialize an HTML document
using var document = new HTMLDocument(@"<h1>Convert HTML to XPS File Format!</h1>", ".");

// Convert HTML to XPS using the MemoryStreamProvider
Converter.ConvertHTML(document, new XpsSaveOptions(), streamProvider);

// Get access to the memory stream that contains the result data
var memory = streamProvider.Streams.First();
memory.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin);

// Flush the result data to the output file
using (FileStream fs = File.Create(Path.Combine(OutputDir, "stream-provider.xps")))
{
    memory.CopyTo(fs);
}

You can download the complete examples and data files from GitHub.

Aspose.HTML offers a free online HTML to XPS Converter that converts HTML to XPS with high quality, easy and fast. Just upload, convert your files and get results in a few seconds!