Rendering Devices – Render HTML to PDF, XPS, DOCX, and Images

In this article, we describe how to use rendering devices – PdfDevice, XpsDevice, DocDevice, and ImageDevice to render HTML to PDF, XPS, DOCX, and Images. In the Python examples, the rendering process is considered with default rendering options. To learn more about customizing output, please read the Rendering Options article.

Understanding Rendering Devices in Aspose.HTML

In Aspose.HTML for Python via .NET, a rendering device represents a 2D drawing surface, implemented through the IDevice interface. Its main purpose is to convert the content of HTML and supported web formats (MHTML, SVG, and EPUB) into different output formats.

The Python API provides the following rendering devices:

• PdfDevice – renders HTML, MHTML, SVG, and EPUB to PDF.
• XpsDevice – renders HTML, MHTML, SVG, and EPUB to XPS.
• DocDevice – renders HTML, MHTML, SVG, and EPUB to DOCX.
• ImageDevice – renders HTML, MHTML, SVG, and EPUB to image formats.

Each device has specific rendering options: PdfRenderingOptions, XpsRenderingOptions, DocRenderingOptions, and ImageRenderingOptions. These allow precise control over output quality, layout, and formatting.

PdfDevice

The Aspose.Html.Rendering.Pdf namespace in the Aspose.HTML for Python via .NET library provides functionality for rendering HTML and related formats directly into PDF documents. It includes classes and parameters tailored for PDF output. Key Components:

• PdfDevice is the base rendering device class. It is used to convert HTML (or MHTML, SVG, EPUB, etc.) to a PDF file.
• PdfRenderingOptions is a class that defines customizable settings for PDF output, such as page size, margins, image compression, metadata, encryption, and other layout/formatting options.

The next Python example shows how to use PdfDevice to render HTML to PDF. The process is considered with default rendering options:

# Render HTML to Pdf using Python

import os
import aspose.html as ah
import aspose.html.rendering.pdf as rp

# Prepare output directory and path for the PDF file
output_dir = "output/"
os.makedirs(output_dir, exist_ok=True)
save_path = os.path.join(output_dir, "document.pdf")

# Prepare HTML code
code = "<span>Hello, World!!</span>"

# Initialize an HTML document from the HTML code
doc = ah.HTMLDocument(code, ".")

# Create a PDF Device and specify the output file to render
device = rp.PdfDevice(save_path)

# Render HTML to PDF
doc.render_to(device)

Rendering options give you additional control over the rendering process. To learn more about them, please read the Rendering options article.

ImageDevice

The Aspose.Html.Rendering.Image namespace provides a specific ImageDevice class as well as ImageRenderingOptions class responsible for rendering HTML files to raster formats: JPG, PNG, BMP, GIF, and TIFF.

This example demonstrates how to convert an HTML file to a JPEG image using Aspose.HTML for Python via .NET. The code loads an HTML document from disk, configures the ImageRenderingOptions for the JPEG format, and then uses the ImageDevice to render the document to an output image file.

# Render HTML to JPG using Python

import os
import aspose.html as ah
import aspose.html.rendering.image as ri

# Setup input and output directories
data_dir = "data/"
output_dir = "output/"
os.makedirs(output_dir, exist_ok=True)

# Prepare paths for input HTML and output JPG file
document_path = os.path.join(data_dir, "drawing.html")
save_path = os.path.join(output_dir, "drawing-output.jpg")

# Initialize an HTML document from the file
doc = ah.HTMLDocument(document_path)

# Create rendering options for image format (JPEG in this case)
image_options = ri.ImageRenderingOptions(ri.ImageFormat.JPEG)

# Create an ImageDevice and specify options and output file
device = ri.ImageDevice(image_options, save_path)

# Render HTML to JPG
doc.render_to(device)

XpsDevice

The Aspose.Html.Rendering.Xps namespace provides the XpsDevice class, which is used to render HTML content (or MHTML, SVG, EPUB, etc.) into XPS documents. The following Python example demonstrates this process with the default rendering options:

# Render HTML to XPS using Python

import os
import aspose.html as ah
import aspose.html.rendering.xps as rx

# Setup input and output directories
data_dir = "data/"
output_dir = "output/"
os.makedirs(output_dir, exist_ok=True)

# Prepare paths for input HTML and output XPS file
document_path = os.path.join(data_dir, "drawing.html")
save_path = os.path.join(output_dir, "drawing-output.xps")

# Initialize an HTML document from the file
doc = ah.HTMLDocument(document_path)

# Create rendering options for XPS format
xps_options = rx.XpsRenderingOptions()

# Create an XpsDevice and specify options and output file
device = rx.XpsDevice(xps_options, save_path)

# Render HTML to XPS
doc.render_to(device)

DocDevice

The Aspose.Html.Rendering.Doc namespace includes the DocDevice class, which enables rendering of HTML, MHTML, SVG, and EPUB files into DOCX format. The following Python example demonstrates this process using the default rendering options:

# Render HTML to DOCX using Python

import os
import aspose.html as ah
import aspose.html.rendering.doc as rd

# Prepare output directory and path for the DOCX file
output_dir = "output/"
os.makedirs(output_dir, exist_ok=True)
save_path = os.path.join(output_dir, "document.doc")

# Initialize an HTML document from URL
doc = ah.HTMLDocument("https://docs.aspose.com/html/files/document.html")

# Create a DocDevice and specify the output file to render
device = rd.DocDevice(save_path)

# Render HTML to DOCX
doc.render_to(device)

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