A CSV (Comma Separated Values) file is a plain text file that contains data separated by commas. It is widely used to import or export data from one application to another. In some cases, you might need to do conversions between CSV and Excel. In this article, you will learn how to implement this function programmatically in C# and VB.NET using Spire.XLS for .NET library.

• Convert Excel to CSV in C# and VB.NET
• Convert CSV to Excel in C# and VB.NET

Install Spire.XLS for .NET

To begin with, you need to add the DLL files included in the Spire.XLS 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.XLS 

Convert Excel to CSV in C# and VB.NET

The following are the steps to convert Excel to CSV:

• Create an instance of Workbook class.
• Load an Excel file using Workbook.LoadFromFile() method.
• Get the desired worksheet by its index using Workbook.Worksheets[index] property.
• Save the worksheet as CSV using XlsWorksheet.SaveToFile() method. You can choose one of the following overloaded SaveToFile() methods:
  • SaveToFile(string fileName, string separator)
  • SaveToFile(string fileName, string separator, Encoding encoding)
  • SaveToFile(string fileName, string separator, bool retainHiddenData)

using Spire.Xls;
using System.Text;

namespace ConvertAWorksheetToCsv
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            //Create an instance of Workbook class
            Workbook workbook = new Workbook();
            //Load an Excel file
            workbook.LoadFromFile("Sample.xlsx");

            //Get the first worksheet
            Worksheet sheet = workbook.Worksheets[0];

            //Save the worksheet as CSV
            sheet.SaveToFile("ExcelToCSV.csv", ",", Encoding.UTF8);
        }
    }
}

Imports Spire.Xls
Imports System.Text

Namespace ConvertAWorksheetToCsv
    Friend Class Program
        Private Shared Sub Main(ByVal args As String())
            'Create an instance of Workbook class
            Dim workbook As Workbook = New Workbook()
            'Load an Excel file
            workbook.LoadFromFile("Sample.xlsx")

            'Get the first worksheet
            Dim sheet As Worksheet = workbook.Worksheets(0)

            'Save the worksheet as CSV
            sheet.SaveToFile("ExcelToCSV.csv", ",", Encoding.UTF8)
        End Sub
    End Class
End Namespace

Convert CSV to Excel in C# and VB.NET

The following are the steps to convert CSV to Excel:

• Create an instance of Workbook class.
• Load a CSV file using Workbook.LoadFromFile(string fileName, string separator, int startRow, int startColumn) method.
• Get the desired worksheet by its index using Workbook.Worksheets[index] property.
• Access the used range of the worksheet using Worksheet.AllocatedRange property. Then set CellRange.IgnoreErrorOptions property as IgnoreErrorType.NumberAsText to ignore possible errors while saving the numbers in the range as text.
• Autofit columns and rows using CellRange.AutoFitColumns() and CellRange.AutoFitRows() methods.
• Save the CSV to Excel using Workbook.SaveToFile(string fileName, ExcelVersion version) method.

using Spire.Xls;

namespace ConvertCsvToExcel
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            //Create an instance of Workbook class
            Workbook workbook = new Workbook();

            //Load a CSV file
            workbook.LoadFromFile(@"ExcelToCSV.csv", ",", 1, 1);

            //Get the first worksheet
            Worksheet sheet = workbook.Worksheets[0];

            //Access the used range in the worksheet
            CellRange usedRange = sheet.AllocatedRange;
            //Ignore errors when saving numbers in the range as text
            usedRange.IgnoreErrorOptions = IgnoreErrorType.NumberAsText;
            //Autofit columns and rows
            usedRange.AutoFitColumns();
            usedRange.AutoFitRows();

            //Save the result file
            workbook.SaveToFile("CSVToExcel.xlsx", ExcelVersion.Version2013);
        }
    }
}

Imports Spire.Xls

Namespace ConvertCsvToExcel
    Friend Class Program
        Private Shared Sub Main(ByVal args As String())
            'Create an instance of Workbook class
            Dim workbook As Workbook = New Workbook()

            'Load a CSV file
            workbook.LoadFromFile("ExcelToCSV.csv", ",", 1, 1)

            'Get the first worksheet
            Dim sheet As Worksheet = workbook.Worksheets(0)

            'Access the used range in the worksheet
            Dim usedRange As CellRange = sheet.AllocatedRange
            'Ignore errors when saving numbers in the range as text
            usedRange.IgnoreErrorOptions = IgnoreErrorType.NumberAsText
            'Autofit columns and rows
            usedRange.AutoFitColumns()
            usedRange.AutoFitRows()

            'Save the result file
            workbook.SaveToFile("CSVToExcel.xlsx", ExcelVersion.Version2013)
        End Sub
    End Class
End Namespace

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.

This section aims at providing a detail solution for developers on how to convert specific worksheet cells to image via this .NET Excel component Spire.XLS for .NET in C#, VB.NET. This Excel library helps us quickly convert certain excel cells to different image formats such as jpeg, png, bmp, tiff, gif, ico, emf, exif etc.

When we convert worksheet to image, Spire.XLS for .NET provides us a method: Spire.Xls.Worksheet.SaveToImage(int firstRow, int firstColumn, int lastRow, int lastColumn); As we see, there are four parameters passed in this method. These four parameters determine the certain range of cells. After deciding the cell range, we can successfully convert cells to image. Now, let us see the whole task step by step.

Step 1: Create a template Excel Workbook in MS Excel

I create a new Excel file in MS Excel and add some data which have different formats in the first sheet, here is a screenshot of created file.

Step 2: Download and Install Spire.XLS for .NET

Spire.XLS for .NET is an Excel Api which enables users to quickly generate, read, edit and manipulate Excel files on .NET Platform. Here you can download Spire.XLS for .NET and install it on your development computer. After installing it, Spire.XLS for .NET will run in evaluation mode which is the same when you install other Spire components. This evaluation mode has no time limit.

Step 3: Create a project and Add References

We can create a new project of Console Application either in C# or VB.NET. I create in C#, but we can choose VB.NET too.

In this project, we need to add references in our project. Apart from adding System.Drawing, we will use Spire.XLS for .NET, so we also have to add Spire.Xls.dll, Spire.Common.dll and Spire.License.dll in our download Bin folder of Spire.Xls. Here we can see the default path: "..\Spire.XLS\Bin\NET4.0\Spire.XLS.dll"

Step 4: Convert Specific Worksheet Cells to Image

In this step, first we can initialize a new object of the class Spire.Xls.Workbook, then, load the template Excel file. Since I want to convert cells in the first sheet to image, I need get the first worksheet data in Excel file. You also can get other worksheet data. Finally specify cell range and save the cells in the range as image file. Spire.XLS for .NET supports 12 image formats: Bmp, Emf, Equals, Exif, Gif, Icon, Jpeg, MemoryBmp, Png, ReferenceEquals, Tiff and Wmf.

using System.Drawing;
using System.Drawing.Imaging;
using Spire.Xls;
using Spire.Xls.Converter;

namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            //Initialize a new Workbook object
            Workbook workbook = new Workbook();
            //Open Template Excel file
            workbook.LoadFromFile(@"..\excel to image.xlsx");
            //Get the first wirksheet in Excel file
            Worksheet sheet = workbook.Worksheets[0];
            //Specify Cell Ranges and Save to certain Image formats
            sheet.SaveToImage(1, 1, 6, 3).Save("image1.png",ImageFormat.Png);
            sheet.SaveToImage(7, 1, 12, 3).Save("image2.jpeg", ImageFormat.Jpeg);
            sheet.SaveToImage(13, 1, 18, 3).Save("image3.bmp", ImageFormat.Bmp);
        }
    }
}
          

Imports System.Drawing
Imports System.Drawing.Imaging
Imports Spire.Xls
Imports Spire.Xls.Converter

Namespace ConsoleApplication1
	Class Program
		Private Shared Sub Main(args As String())
			'Initialize a new Workbook object
			Dim workbook As New Workbook()
			'Open Template Excel file
			workbook.LoadFromFile("..\excel to image.xlsx")
			'Get the first wirksheet in Excel file
			Dim sheet As Worksheet = workbook.Worksheets(0)
			'Specify Cell Ranges and Save to certain Image formats
			sheet.SaveToImage(1, 1, 6, 3).Save("image1.png", ImageFormat.Png)
			sheet.SaveToImage(7, 1, 12, 3).Save("image2.jpeg", ImageFormat.Jpeg)
			sheet.SaveToImage(13, 1, 18, 3).Save("image3.bmp", ImageFormat.Bmp)
		End Sub
	End Class
End Namespace

Result Task

After executing above code, cells in the first worksheet named "Sheet1" has been converted to three images. They are named "image1.png", "image2.jpeg" and "image3.bmp". You can see them as below:

In this section, I have introduced how we can convert specific cells to image by using Spire.XLS for .NET. I sincerely hope it can help you and give you some insight.

Spire.XLS for .NET offers fast speed, high efficiency and reliability to satisfy development application requirements. As you see above, the results do show that Spire.XLS for .NET benefit customers from years of research.

We appreciate any kind of queries, comments and suggestions at E-iceblue Forum. We promise a quick reply within minutes or hours as we can.

In daily work, you may come across some situations where you need to convert Excel to images, such as attaching a cell range to a PowerPoint presentation or safely sending your spreadsheet data via email. This article will show you how to programmatically convert Excel to images from the following two aspects using Spire.XLS for .NET.

• Convert a Whole Excel Worksheet to an Image
• Convert a Specific Cell Range to an Image

Install Spire.XLS for .NET

To begin with, you need to add the DLL files included in the Spire.XLS 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.XLS

Convert a Whole Excel Worksheet to an Image

The following are steps to convert a whole Excel worksheet to an image.

• Create a Workbook instance.
• Load an Excel sample document using Workbook.LoadFromFile() method.
• Get a specific worksheet of the document using Workbook.Worksheets[] property.
• Save the worksheet as an image using Worksheet.SaveToImage() method.

using Spire.Xls;
namespace Xls2Image

{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            //Create a Workbook instance
            Workbook workbook = new Workbook();

            //Load an Excel sample document
            workbook.LoadFromFile(@"sample.xlsx");

            //Get the first worksheet
            Worksheet sheet = workbook.Worksheets[0];

            //Save the worksheet as an image
            sheet.SaveToImage("XlsToImage.jpg");
        }
    }
}

Imports Spire.Xls

Namespace ConsoleApplication1
    Class Program
        Private Shared Sub Main(args As String())

            'Create a Workbook instance
            Dim workbook As New Workbook()

            'Load an Excel sample document
            workbook.LoadFromFile("sample.xlsx")

            'Get the first worksheet 
            Dim sheet As Worksheet = workbook.Worksheets(0)

            'Save the worksheet as an image
            sheet.SaveToImage("XlsToImage.jpg")
        End Sub
    End Class
End Namespace

Convert a Specific Cell Range to an Image

In addition to converting a whole worksheet to an image, Spire.XLS for .NET also supports converting a specific cell range of a worksheet to an image. Detailed steps are listed below.

• Create a Workbook instance.
• Load an Excel sample document using Workbook.LoadFromFile() method.
• Get a specific worksheet of the document using Workbook.Worksheets[] property.
• Specify a cell range and save it as the Image object using Worksheet.ToImage() method, and then save the object as a certain image format using Image.Save() method.

using Spire.Xls;
using System.Drawing.Imaging;

namespace SpecificCellsToImage
{

    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            //Create a Workbook instance
            Workbook workbook = new Workbook();

            //Load an Excel sample document
            workbook.LoadFromFile(@"sample.xlsx");

            //Get the first worksheet 
            Worksheet sheet = workbook.Worksheets[0];

            //Specify a cell range and save it to a certain image format
            sheet.ToImage(1, 1, 6, 4).Save("CellRangeToImage.png", ImageFormat.Png);          
        }
        }
    }

Imports System.Drawing.Imaging
Imports Spire.Xls

Namespace ConsoleApplication1
    Class Program
        Private Shared Sub Main(args As String())

            'Create a Workbook instance
            Dim workbook As New Workbook()

            'Load an Excel sample document
            workbook.LoadFromFile("sample.xlsx")

            'Get the first worksheet 
            Dim sheet As Worksheet = workbook.Worksheets(0)

            'Specify a cell range and save to a certain Image format
            sheet.ToImage(1, 1, 6, 3).Save("XLSToImage.png", ImageFormat.Png)
        End Sub
    End Class
End Namespace

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.

Open XML is an XML-based file format developed by Microsoft that allows users to store and exchange various types of files such as word processing documents, spreadsheets, presentations, charts, and diagrams. It is widely recognized and supported by various applications, making it a reliable choice for long-term data preservation.

In some cases, it may be necessary to convert Excel files to Open XML format to ensure that these files can be opened and read by other software. On the other hand, there may be situations where users need to convert Open XML files to Excel format to take advantage of the data analysis tools available in Excel, such as pivot tables and charts. In this article, we will introduce how to convert Excel to Open XML or Open XML to Excel in C# and VB.NET using Spire.XLS for .NET.

• Convert Excel to Open XML in C# and VB.NET
• Convert Open XML to Excel in C# and VB.NET

Install Spire.XLS for .NET

To begin with, you need to add the DLL files included in the Spire.XLS 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.XLS

Convert Excel to Open XML in C# and VB.NET

To convert an Excel file to Open XML, you need to load the Excel file using the Workbook.LoadFromFile(string fileName) method, then call the Workbook.SaveAsXml(string fileName) method to save it in Open XML format.

The following steps demonstrate how to convert an Excel file to Open XML:

• Initialize an instance of the Workbook class.
• Load an Excel file using the Workbook.LoadFromFile(string fileName) method.
• Call the Workbook.SaveAsXml(string fileName) method to save the Excel file in Open XML format.

using Spire.Xls;

namespace ConvertExcelToOpenXML
{
    internal class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            //Initialize an instance of the Workbook class
            Workbook workbook = new Workbook();
            //Load an Excel file
            workbook.LoadFromFile("Sample.xlsx");

            //Save the Excel file in Open XML file format
            workbook.SaveAsXml("ExcelToXML.xml");
        }
    }
}

Imports Spire.Xls

Namespace ConvertExcelToOpenXML
    Friend Class Program
        Private Shared Sub Main(ByVal args As String())
            'Initialize an instance of the Workbook class
            Dim workbook As Workbook = New Workbook()
            'Load an Excel file
            workbook.LoadFromFile("Sample.xlsx")

            'Save the Excel file in Open XML file format
            workbook.SaveAsXml("ExcelToXML.xml")
        End Sub
    End Class
End Namespace

Convert Open XML to Excel in C# and VB.NET

To convert an Open XML file to Excel, you need to load the Open XML file using the Workbook.LoadFromXml(string fileName) method, then call the Workbook.SaveToFile(string fileName, ExcelVersion version) method to save it in Excel format.

The following are the steps to convert an Open XML file to Excel:

• Initialize an instance of the Workbook class.
• Load an Open XML file using the Workbook.LoadFromXml(string fileName) method.
• Call the Workbook.SaveToFile(string fileName, ExcelVersion version) method to save the Open XML file in Excel format.

using Spire.Xls;

namespace ConvertOpenXMLToExcel
{
    internal class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            //Initialize an instance of the Workbook class
            Workbook workbook = new Workbook();
            //Load an Open XML file
            workbook.LoadFromXml("ExcelToXML.xml");

            //Save the Open XML file in Excel XLSX file format
            workbook.SaveToFile("XMLToExcel.xlsx", ExcelVersion.Version2016);
        }
    }
}

Imports Spire.Xls

Namespace ConvertOpenXMLToExcel
    Friend Class Program
        Private Shared Sub Main(ByVal args As String())
            'Initialize an instance of the Workbook class
            Dim workbook As Workbook = New Workbook()
            'Load Office Open XML file
            workbook.LoadFromXml("ExcelToXML.xml")

            'Save the Open XML file in Excel XLSX file format
            workbook.SaveToFile("XMLToExcel.xlsx", ExcelVersion.Version2016)
        End Sub
    End Class
End Namespace

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.