Render Word documents as HTML, PDF, and image files Leave feedback

GroupDocs.Viewer for Python allows you to render your Microsoft Word documents in HTML, PDF, PNG, and JPEG formats. You do not need to use Microsoft Word or other word processors to load and view Word documents within your Python application (web or desktop).

To start using the GroupDocs.Viewer API, create a Viewer class instance. Pass a document you want to view to the class constructor. You can load the document from a file or stream. Call one of the Viewer.view method overloads to convert the document to HTML, PDF, or image format. These methods allow you to render the entire document or specific pages.

View Word files online View demos and examples on GitHub

GroupDocs.Viewer supports the following Word Processing file formats:

• Microsoft Word Document (.DOCX)
• Microsoft Word 97-2003 Document (.DOC)
• Microsoft Word Macro-Enabled Document (.DOCM)
• Microsoft Word 97-2003 Template (.DOT)
• Microsoft Word Macro-Enabled Template (.DOTM)
• Microsoft Word Template (.DOTX)
• OpenDocument Text (.ODT)
• OpenDocument Text Template (.OTT)
• Rich Text Document (.RTF)
• Plain Text Document (.TXT)

Create an HtmlViewOptions.for_embedded_resources class instance and pass it to the Viewer.view method to convert a Word file to HTML. The HtmlViewOptions class properties allow you to control the conversion process. For instance, you can embed all external resources in the generated HTML file, minify the output file, and optimize it for printing. Refer to the following documentation section for details: Rendering to HTML.

To save all elements of an HTML page (including text, graphics, and stylesheets) into a single file, call the HtmlViewOptions.for_embedded_resources method and specify the output file name.

with gv.Viewer("resume.docx") as viewer:
    # Create an HTML files.
    # {0} is replaced with the current page number in the file name.
    viewOptions = gvo.HtmlViewOptions.for_embedded_resources("page_{0}.html")
    viewer.view(viewOptions)

The following image demonstrates the result:

If you want to store an HTML file and additional resource files (such as fonts, images, and stylesheets) separately, call the HtmlViewOptions.for_external_resources method and pass the following parameters:

• The output file path format
• The path format for the folder with external resources
• The resource URL format

with gv.Viewer("resume.docx") as viewer:
    # Create an HTML file for each page.
    # Specify the HTML file names and location of external resources.
    # {0} and {1} are replaced with the current page number and resource name, respectively.
    viewOptions = gvo.HtmlViewOptions.for_external_resources("page_{0}.html", "page_{0}/resource_{0}_{1}", "page_{0}/resource_{0}_{1}")
    viewer.view(viewOptions)

The image below demonstrates the result. External resources are placed in a separate folder.

Create a PdfViewOptions class instance and pass it to the Viewer.view method to convert a Word file to PDF. The PdfViewOptions class properties allow you to control the conversion process. For instance, you can protect the output PDF file, reorder its pages, and specify the quality of document images. Refer to the following documentation section for details: Rendering to PDF.

with gv.Viewer("resume.docx") as viewer:
    # Create a PDF file for the document.
    # Specify the PDF file name.
    viewOptions = gvo.PdfViewOptions("output.pdf")
    viewer.view(viewOptions)

The following image demonstrates the result:

Create a PngViewOptions class instance and pass it to the Viewer.view method to convert a Word file to PNG. Use the PngViewOptions.height and PngViewOptions.width methods to specify the output image size in pixels.

with gv.Viewer("resume.docx") as viewer:
    # Create a PNG image for each document page.
    # {0} is replaced with the current page number in the image name.
    viewOptions = gvo.PngViewOptions("output_{0}.png")
    viewer.view(viewOptions)

Create a JpgViewOptions class instance and pass it to the Viewer.view method to convert a Word file to JPEG. Use the JpgViewOptions.height and JpgViewOptions.width methods to specify the output image size in pixels.

with gv.Viewer("resume.docx") as viewer:
    # Create a JPG image for each document page.
    # {0} is replaced with the current page number in the image name.
    viewOptions = gvo.JpgViewOptions("output_{0}.png")
    viewer.view(viewOptions)

Use the following methods to specify the size of page margins in the output files when you convert your Word documents to HTML, PDF, and image formats:

• WordProcessingOptions.top_margin specifies the distance (in points) between document content and the top edge of the page.
• WordProcessingOptions.bottom_margin specifies the distance (in points) between document content and the bottom edge of the page.
• WordProcessingOptions.left_margin specifies the distance (in points) between document content and the left edge of the page.
• WordProcessingOptions.right_margin specifies the distance (in points) between document content and the right edge of the page.

You can access these methods for the following classes:

• HtmlViewOptions.for_embedded_resources
• PdfViewOptions
• PngViewOptions
• JpgViewOptions

The example below converts a Word document to HTML and specifies page margins for the output file.

with gv.Viewer("resume.docx") as viewer:
    # Create an HTML file for each document page.
    # {0} is replaced with the current page number in the file name.
    viewOptions = gvo.HtmlViewOptions.for_embedded_resources("page_{0}.html")
    # Specify the size of page margins in points.
    viewOptions.word_processing_options.left_margin = 54
    viewOptions.word_processing_options.right_margin = 54
    viewOptions.word_processing_options.top_margin = 72
    viewOptions.word_processing_options.bottom_margin = 72
    viewer.view(viewOptions)

GroupDocs.Viewer does not render tracked changes (revisions made to a Word document) by default. If you want to display tracked changes in the output file, use the WordProcessingOptions.render_tracked_changes method for one of the following classes (depending on the output file format):

• HtmlViewOptions.for_embedded_resources
• PdfViewOptions
• PngViewOptions
• JpgViewOptions

The following code example demonstrates how to render a Word document with tracked changes:

with gv.Viewer("resume.docx") as viewer:
    # Convert the document to PDF.
    viewOptions = gvo.PdfViewOptions("output.pdf")
    # Enable tracked changes rendering.
    viewOptions.word_processing_options.render_tracked_changes = True
    viewer.view(viewOptions)

The following image illustrates the result:

Use the ViewOptions.render_comments method for a target view to display comments in the output file when you convert your document to HTML, PDF, PNG, or JPEG format.

The code example below renders a Word document with comments to PDF.

with gv.Viewer("resume.docx") as viewer:
    # Convert the document to PDF.
    viewOptions = gvo.PdfViewOptions("output.pdf")
    # Enable rendering comments.
    viewOptions.render_comments = True
    viewer.view(viewOptions)

The following image illustrates the result: