Spire.Doc for .NET (338)
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Character formatting is used to change the appearance of individual words or phrases. Formatted text can direct the reader's attention to select sections of a document and highlight key information. There are quite a lot of forms of characters formatting that you can use in Word. In this article, you will learn how to apply various types of formatting to characters in Word in C# and VB.NET using Spire.Doc for .NET.
- Font Name
- Font Size
- Font Color
- Highlight Color
- Bold
- Italic
- Underline
- Strikethrough
- Border
- Shadow Effect
- Emphasis Mark
- Subscript and Superscript
Install Spire.Doc for .NET
To begin with, you need to add the DLL files included in the Spire.Doc for .NET package as references in your .NET project. The DLL files can be either downloaded from this link or installed via NuGet.
PM> Install-Package Spire.Doc
Apply Formatting to Characters in Word in C# and VB.NET
In order to apply formatting to a piece of text, you need to get the text in a TextRange and then format the characters within the TextRange through the CharacterFormat property. The following are the detailed steps.
- Create a Document object.
- Add a section to the document using Document.AddSection() method.
- Add a paragraph to the section using Section.AddParagraph() method.
- Append text to the paragraph using Paragraph.AppendText() method and return a TextRange object.
- Apply formatting such as font name, font size, border and highlight color to the characters within the text range through TextRange.CharacterFormat property.
- Save the document to a Word file using Document.SaveToFile() method.
- C#
- VB.NET
using Spire.Doc;
using Spire.Doc.Documents;
using Spire.Doc.Fields;
using System.Drawing;
namespace ApplyFormattingToCharacters
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
//Create a Document object
Document document = new Document();
//Add a section
Section sec = document.AddSection();
//Add a paragraph
Paragraph paragraph = sec.AddParagraph();
paragraph.AppendText("Here is a paragraph with various character styles. This is ");
//Append text to the paragraph and return a TextRange object
TextRange tr = paragraph.AppendText("text with strikeout");
//Set the character format to strikeout via TextRange object
tr.CharacterFormat.IsStrikeout = true;
//Apply shadow effect to text
paragraph.AppendText(". This is ");
tr = paragraph.AppendText("text with shadow");
tr.CharacterFormat.IsShadow = true;
//Set font size
paragraph.AppendText(". This is ");
tr = paragraph.AppendText("text in a large font size");
tr.CharacterFormat.FontSize = 20;
//Set font name
paragraph.AppendText(". This is ");
tr = paragraph.AppendText("text in the font of Arial Black");
tr.CharacterFormat.FontName = "Arial Black";
//Set font color
paragraph.AppendText(". This is ");
tr = paragraph.AppendText("text in red");
tr.CharacterFormat.TextColor = Color.Red;
//Apply bold & italic to text
paragraph.AppendText(". This is ");
tr = paragraph.AppendText("text in bold & italic");
tr.CharacterFormat.Bold = true;
tr.CharacterFormat.Italic = true;
//Apply underline to text
paragraph.AppendText(". This is ");
tr = paragraph.AppendText("underlined text");
tr.CharacterFormat.UnderlineStyle = UnderlineStyle.Single;
//Apply background color to text
paragraph.AppendText(". This is ");
tr = paragraph.AppendText("text with highlight color");
tr.CharacterFormat.HighlightColor = Color.Green;
//Apply border to text
paragraph.AppendText(". This is ");
tr = paragraph.AppendText("text with border");
tr.CharacterFormat.Border.BorderType = Spire.Doc.Documents.BorderStyle.Single;
tr.CharacterFormat.Border.Color = Color.Black;
//Apply emphasis mark to text
paragraph.AppendText(". This is ");
tr = paragraph.AppendText("text with emphasis mark");
tr.CharacterFormat.EmphasisMark = Emphasis.DotBelow;
//Apply superscript to text
paragraph.AppendText(". This is a math formula: a");
tr = paragraph.AppendText("2");
tr.CharacterFormat.SubSuperScript = SubSuperScript.SuperScript;
paragraph.AppendText(" + b");
tr = paragraph.AppendText("2");
tr.CharacterFormat.SubSuperScript = SubSuperScript.SuperScript;
paragraph.AppendText(" = c");
tr = paragraph.AppendText("2");
tr.CharacterFormat.SubSuperScript = SubSuperScript.SuperScript;
paragraph.AppendText(".");
//Save to file
document.SaveToFile("SetCharacterFormat.docx", FileFormat.Docx);
}
}
}
Apply for a Temporary License
If you'd like to remove the evaluation message from the generated documents, or to get rid of the function limitations, please request a 30-day trial license for yourself.
Word and Excel are designed for different types of content - Word focuses on documents, while Excel is better for structured data and analysis. Because of this, working with the same content across both formats isn't always straightforward.
If you have data in a Word document that you'd like to view or process in Excel, converting it manually can be tedious. With Spire.Doc for .NET, you can now convert Word directly to Excel, making it easier to reuse Word content in Excel.
In this tutorial, you'll learn how to convert Word to Excel in C#.
- Install Spire.Doc for .NET
- Basic Word to Excel Conversion in C#
- Advanced Word to Excel Conversion Scenarios
- Notes and Best Practices
- FAQs
- Get a Free License
Install Spire.Doc for .NET
To begin with, you need to add the DLL files included in the Spire.Doc for .NET package as references in your .NET project. The DLL files can be either downloaded from this link or installed via NuGet.
PM> Install-Package Spire.Doc
Basic Word to Excel Conversion in C#
Converting a Word document to Excel with Spire.Doc is straightforward:
-
Load a Word document using Document.LoadFromFile() method.
-
Save the document as an Excel file using Document.SaveToFile() method.
This works best when your Word document contains structured content, especially tables, which can be naturally mapped into spreadsheet cells.
using Spire.Doc;
namespace WordToExcel
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
// Load the Word document
Document document = new Document();
document.LoadFromFile("C:\\Users\\Tommy\\Desktop\\Sample.docx");
// Save as Excel
document.SaveToFile("C:\\Users\\Tommy\\Desktop\\Sample.xlsx", FileFormat.XLSX);
document.Dispose();
}
}
}
Output Results:
What Gets Converted Well?
When converting Word to Excel, it's important to understand how content is interpreted:
- Tables in Word are converted into Excel worksheets with rows and columns preserved.
- Paragraph text may be inserted into cells, but without strict structure.
- Complex layouts (floating elements, multi-column sections) may not translate perfectly.
- By default, each Section in a Word document is converted into a separate worksheet in Excel.
For best results, ensure your Word document uses clear table structures before conversion.
Advanced Word to Excel Conversion Scenarios
Once you understand the basic conversion process, you can handle more advanced scenarios depending on your needs.
Convert Only Tables from Word to Excel
If you only need structured data, extracting tables from a Word document is often more useful than converting the entire file. By default, all tables within the same section are placed into a single worksheet. To output each table into a separate worksheet, you can place each table into its own section before conversion.
To do this, you can work with the document structure and table objects:
- Use section.Tables to access all tables within a section.
- Use table.Clone() to create a copy of each table.
- Create a new section for each table so that each one is mapped to a separate worksheet in Excel.
This approach gives you precise control over the output and ensures that only relevant data is included in the resulting Excel file.
using Spire.Doc;
class Program
{
static void Main()
{
// Load the Word document
Document doc = new Document();
doc.LoadFromFile("G:/Documents/Sample84.docx");
// Create a new document to store extracted tables
Document tempDoc = new Document();
// Iterate through all sections in the source document
foreach (Section section in doc.Sections)
{
// Iterate through all tables in the current section
foreach (Table table in section.Tables)
{
// Create a new section for each table (each section becomes a separate worksheet in Excel)
Section tempSec = tempDoc.AddSection();
// Clone the table and add it to the new section
tempSec.Tables.Add(table.Clone());
}
}
// Save as Excel file
tempDoc.SaveToFile("Tables.xlsx", FileFormat.XLSX);
// Close and release resources
doc.Close();
tempDoc.Close();
}
}
Note: Since each table is placed into its own section before conversion, each table will appear in a separate worksheet in the output Excel file.
Convert a Specific Page of a Word Document to Excel
In some cases, only a specific page contains the data you need — for example, a summary table on page 2 — use Document.ExtractPages() to isolate that page into a new Document object before converting. This avoids processing the entire file and gives you a cleaner, focused output. If you're only interested in structured data from that page, you can further extract tables from Word in C# before exporting.
using Spire.Doc;
namespace WordPageToExcel
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
// Load the Word document
Document document = new Document();
document.LoadFromFile("input.docx");
// Extract the content of the specified page (e.g., page 1)
Document pageDoc = document.ExtractPages(0, 1); // Retrieve page 1 (starting from index 0, retrieve page 1).
// Save the extracted page as Excel
pageDoc.SaveToFile("output.xlsx", FileFormat.XLSX);
document.Dispose();
pageDoc.Dispose();
}
}
}
Note: Page boundaries in Word are flow-based and can shift depending on font rendering. If the extracted page doesn't match what you see in Word, verify the page index by testing with a few values around your target.
Batch Convert Multiple Word Documents to Excel
To convert an entire folder of Word files, loop through each .docx file and apply the same conversion. This is useful for bulk migrations or scheduled processing pipelines.
This approach can be easily integrated into background jobs or automation workflows.
using Spire.Doc;
using System.IO;
namespace BatchWordToExcel
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
// Get all Word files from the input folder
string inputFolder = "inputDocs";
string outputFolder = "outputExcels";
Directory.CreateDirectory(outputFolder);
string[] wordFiles = Directory.GetFiles(inputFolder, "*.docx");
// Loop through each Word file and convert to Excel
foreach (string filePath in wordFiles)
{
Document document = new Document();
document.LoadFromFile(filePath);
string fileName = Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(filePath);
string outputPath = Path.Combine(outputFolder, fileName + ".xlsx");
document.SaveToFile(outputPath, FileFormat.XLSX);
document.Dispose();
}
}
}
}
Tip: For large batches, consider wrapping the inner block in a try/catch so a single malformed file doesn't abort the entire run. If your workflow requires combining documents before conversion, learn how to merge Word documents in C#.
Notes and Best Practices
- For best results, use well-structured tables in Word.
- Avoid complex layouts like floating shapes or multi-column designs.
- For large-scale processing, consider handling files in batches to optimize memory usage.
FAQs
Q1: Which Word file formats are supported for conversion?
A: Spire.Doc for .NET supports both .doc and .docx formats as input. You can load either format using Document.LoadFromFile() and the library will handle the rest automatically.
Q2: Will the original formatting be preserved after conversion?
A: The conversion focuses on exporting content into a spreadsheet format. Structured content like tables is usually preserved with good readability, while complex layouts may not be retained exactly as in Word.
Q3: Is this feature suitable for large documents?
A: Yes, but performance may vary depending on document size and complexity. For large files, it is recommended to optimize memory usage and process documents efficiently in your code.
Q4: Can I further customize the Excel output after conversion?
A: Yes. After saving the converted .xlsx file, you can open it with Spire.XLS for .NET to further customize the output, such as adjusting cell styles, fonts, colors, column widths, or adding formulas. The two libraries are designed to work together seamlessly.
Conclusion
In this article, you learned how to convert Word to Excel in C# using Spire.Doc for .NET, from basic document conversion to more advanced scenarios like page extraction and table-focused processing. For more control over the output, such as adjusting fonts, colors, or cell formatting - you can combine it with Spire.XLS for .NET.
You can also explore other conversion features, such as exporting Word documents to PDF, HTML, or images.
Get a Free License
If you'd like to remove the evaluation message from the generated documents, or to get rid of the function limitations, please request a 30-day trial license for yourself.
ODT files are OpenDocument Text files created with word processing programs such as free OpenOffice Writer. Like DOCX files, ODT files can contain content like text, images, objects and styles, but they may not be readable by some people who don't have the appropriate application installed. If you plan to share an ODT file, it's best to convert it to pdf so everyone can access it. In this article, we will explain how to convert ODT to PDF in C# and VB.NET using Spire.Doc for .NET.
Install Spire.Doc for .NET
To begin with, you need to add the DLL files included in the Spire.Doc for .NET package as references in your .NET project. The DLL files can be either downloaded from this link or installed via NuGet.
PM> Install-Package Spire.Doc
Convert ODT to PDF using C# and VB.NET
The following are the steps to convert an ODT file to PDF:
- Create an instance of Document class.
- Load an ODT file using Document.LoadFromFile() method.
- Convert the ODT file to PDF using Document.SaveToFile(string fileName, FileFormat fileFormat) method.
- C#
- VB.NET
using Spire.Doc;
namespace ConvertOdtToPdf
{
internal class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
//Create a Document instance
Document doc = new Document();
//Load an ODT file
doc.LoadFromFile("Sample.odt");
//Save the ODT file to PDF
doc.SaveToFile("OdtToPDF.pdf", FileFormat.PDF);
}
}
}
Apply for a Temporary License
If you'd like to remove the evaluation message from the generated documents, or to get rid of the function limitations, please request a 30-day trial license for yourself.
