Export Notes and Handouts

What this page is about

Runnable C# example for export notes and handouts using Aspose.Slides for .NET, with input generation, outputs and a complete project.

Export speaker notes below slides and create handouts with several slides per PDF page. The notes example omits hidden slides by default; the handout explicitly selects three slides so its final page is partially filled. Check the final partially filled handout page when your slide count is not a multiple of the chosen layout.

Run the example

Download the complete project. It includes all source, SDK settings and locked NuGet dependencies. The code creates its own four-slide input with a hidden slide, speaker notes, a table, chart and picture.

These projects were tested on Windows x64 with Arial and the .NET SDK 8.0.427 pinned by global.json. Their synthetic picture generator uses System.Drawing on Windows. For a separately tested Linux environment, see the Docker converter. Restore the pinned Aspose.Slides.NET package and set ASPOSE_LICENSE_PATH to your license file for unrestricted results; evaluation mode adds a watermark and limits extracted text. See installation and licensing.

dotnet run --project Example.csproj --configuration Release

Complete C# example

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Linq;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Text.Json;
using Aspose.Slides;
using Aspose.Slides.Animation;
using Aspose.Slides.Charts;
using Aspose.Slides.Export;
using Aspose.Slides.SlideShow;

internal static class Program
{
    private static void Main()
    {
        var licensePath = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("ASPOSE_LICENSE_PATH");
        if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(licensePath)) new License().SetLicense(licensePath);
        using var source = CreateSource();
        source.Save("source.pptx", SaveFormat.Pptx);
        source.Save("notes.pdf", SaveFormat.Pdf, new PdfOptions { SlidesLayoutOptions = new NotesCommentsLayoutingOptions { NotesPosition = NotesPositions.BottomFull } });
        source.Save("handout.pdf", new int[] { 1, 2, 3 }, SaveFormat.Pdf, new PdfOptions { ShowHiddenSlides = false, SlidesLayoutOptions = new HandoutLayoutingOptions { Handout = HandoutType.Handouts2, PrintSlideNumbers = true, PrintFrameSlide = true } });
        Report(new { notes_export = File.Exists("notes.pdf"), handout_export = File.Exists("handout.pdf"), source_notes = source.Slides[0].NotesSlideManager.NotesSlide.NotesTextFrame.Text.Contains("Alpha") });
    }

    private static Presentation CreateSource()
    {
        var deck = new Presentation();
        deck.SlideSize.SetSize(640, 360, SlideSizeScaleType.DoNotScale);
        var layout = deck.LayoutSlides.GetByType(SlideLayoutType.Blank);
        string[] labels = { "Alpha", "Bravo", "Charlie", "Hidden" };
        for (int i = 0; i < labels.Length; i++)
        {
            var slide = i == 0 ? deck.Slides[0] : deck.Slides.AddEmptySlide(layout);
            var shape = slide.Shapes.AddAutoShape(ShapeType.Rectangle, 30, 20, 580, 55);
            shape.TextFrame.Text = labels[i];
            shape.TextFrame.Paragraphs[0].Portions[0].PortionFormat.LatinFont = new FontData("Arial");
            shape.TextFrame.Paragraphs[0].Portions[0].PortionFormat.FontHeight = 26;
            slide.NotesSlideManager.AddNotesSlide().NotesTextFrame.Text = "Speaker note " + labels[i];
            slide.Hidden = i == 3;
        }
        var table = deck.Slides[0].Shapes.AddTable(30, 100, new double[] { 140, 100 }, new double[] { 35, 35 });
        table[0, 0].TextFrame.Text = "Product";
        table[1, 0].TextFrame.Text = "Units";
        table[0, 1].TextFrame.Text = "Pens";
        table[1, 1].TextFrame.Text = "12";
        deck.Slides[1].Shapes.AddChart(ChartType.ClusteredColumn, 30, 100, 400, 220);
        using (var bitmap = new Bitmap(100, 60))
        {
            using (var graphics = Graphics.FromImage(bitmap)) graphics.Clear(Color.CornflowerBlue);
            using var stream = new MemoryStream();
            bitmap.Save(stream, System.Drawing.Imaging.ImageFormat.Png);
            var image = deck.Images.AddImage(stream.ToArray());
            deck.Slides[2].Shapes.AddPictureFrame(ShapeType.Rectangle, 50, 120, 200, 120, image);
        }
        deck.Slides[0].Timeline.MainSequence.AddEffect(deck.Slides[0].Shapes[0], EffectType.Fade, EffectSubtype.None, EffectTriggerType.AfterPrevious);
        deck.Slides[0].SlideShowTransition.Type = TransitionType.Fade;
        return deck;
    }

    private static void Report(object values)
    {
        string json = JsonSerializer.Serialize(values, new JsonSerializerOptions { WriteIndented = true });
        File.WriteAllText("result.json", json);
        Console.WriteLine(json);
    }
}

Expected result

The program writes “notes.pdf”, “handout.pdf” beside the project, plus the synthetic source.pptx and a result.json summary. Inspect the rendered/exported files with the viewer appropriate to the format. Input generation is visible in CreateSource; replace it with opening your own presentation when adapting the example.

Continue with the detailed guide.