Tutorial: Converting Excel Files to PDF with Aspose.Cells Cloud API

Prerequisites

Before starting this tutorial, make sure you have:

An Aspose Cloud account with an active subscription or free trial
Your Client ID and Client Secret from the Aspose Cloud Dashboard
Basic understanding of REST APIs and your preferred programming language
A sample Excel file for testing (you can use your own or download our sample)

Introduction to Excel to PDF Conversion

Converting Excel spreadsheets to PDF is one of the most common tasks when working with spreadsheet data. PDFs provide a consistent, universal format that preserves your formatting and is easily shareable. The Aspose.Cells Cloud API provides multiple approaches to perform this conversion, giving you flexibility based on your specific requirements.

Using the REST API

Aspose.Cells Cloud provides three different API endpoints to convert Excel to PDF:

PUT /cells/convert - Converts directly from request content (best for client-side applications)
POST /cells/{name}/saveAs - Saves an existing Excel file to PDF format in cloud storage
GET /cells/{name} - Exports a stored Excel file to PDF format

Let’s explore each approach in detail.

Approach 1: Direct Conversion with PUT /cells/convert

This approach is ideal when you have the Excel file locally and want to convert it in a single API call without storing it first.

Try It Yourself: Using cURL

curl -v "https://api.aspose.cloud/v3.0/cells/convert?format=pdf" \
-X PUT \
-F "file=@YourExcelFile.xlsx" \
-H "Content-Type: multipart/form-data" \
-H "Accept: multipart/form-data" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer <your_jwt_token>"

Replace <your_jwt_token> with your actual authentication token. The response will contain the PDF file content that you can save to your local system.

Implementation in C#

// For complete examples and data files, please go to https://github.com/aspose-cells-cloud/aspose-cells-cloud-dotnet/

// Initialize the API with your client credentials
CellsApi cellsApi = new CellsApi(clientId, clientSecret);

// Prepare the conversion request
var fileStream = File.OpenRead("Book1.xlsx");
var request = new PutConvertWorkbookRequest(
    file: new Dictionary<string, Stream> { {"Book1.xlsx", fileStream} },
    format: "pdf"
);

// Execute the conversion
var response = cellsApi.PutConvertWorkbook(request);

// Save the resulting PDF
using (var fileStream = File.Create("output.pdf"))
{
    response.CopyTo(fileStream);
}

Console.WriteLine("Excel file successfully converted to PDF!");

Implementation in Java

// Initialize API client with your credentials
CellsApi cellsApi = new CellsApi(clientId, clientSecret);

// Prepare the conversion request
PutConvertWorkbookRequest request = new PutConvertWorkbookRequest();
request.setFormat("pdf");

// Add the input file
HashMap<String, File> fileMap = new HashMap<String, File>();
fileMap.put("Book1.xlsx", new File("Book1.xlsx"));
request.setFile(fileMap);

// Execute the conversion
File result = cellsApi.putConvertWorkbook(request);

// The result contains the PDF file
System.out.println("Excel file successfully converted to PDF!");

Approach 2: SaveAs with POST /cells/{name}/saveAs

This approach is useful when your Excel file is already stored in Aspose Cloud Storage and you want to convert it to PDF.

Try It Yourself: Using cURL

curl -v "https://api.aspose.cloud/v3.0/cells/Book1.xlsx/saveAs?newfilename=output.pdf" \
-X POST \
-d "{'SaveFormat':'pdf', 'EnableHTTPCompression': true}" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "Accept: application/json" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer <your_jwt_token>"

Implementation in C#

// Initialize the API with your client credentials
CellsApi cellsApi = new CellsApi(clientId, clientSecret);

// Upload your file to cloud storage first (if not already there)
cellsApi.UploadFile(new UploadFileRequest(
    uploadFiles: new Dictionary<string, Stream> { { "Book1.xlsx", File.OpenRead("Book1.xlsx") } },
    path: "Book1.xlsx"
));

// Prepare conversion options
var saveOptions = new PdfSaveOptions {
    SaveFormat = "pdf",
    EnableHTTPCompression = true,
    // Optional: Customize your PDF
    OnePagePerSheet = true
};

// Execute the conversion
var result = cellsApi.PostDocumentSaveAs(new PostDocumentSaveAsRequest(
    name: "Book1.xlsx",
    newfilename: "output.pdf",
    saveOptions: saveOptions
));

Console.WriteLine("Excel file successfully converted to PDF and saved to cloud storage!");

Approach 3: Direct Export with GET /cells/{name}

This approach allows you to export an Excel file that’s already in cloud storage directly to PDF format.

Try It Yourself: Using cURL

curl -v "https://api.aspose.cloud/v3.0/cells/Book1.xlsx?format=pdf" \
-X GET \
-H "Accept: application/json" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer <your_jwt_token>" \
-o output.pdf

Implementation in C#

// Initialize the API with your client credentials
CellsApi cellsApi = new CellsApi(clientId, clientSecret);

// Upload your file to cloud storage first (if not already there)
cellsApi.UploadFile(new UploadFileRequest(
    uploadFiles: new Dictionary<string, Stream> { { "Book1.xlsx", File.OpenRead("Book1.xlsx") } },
    path: "Book1.xlsx"
));

// Execute the export
var response = cellsApi.GetWorkbook(new GetWorkbookRequest(
    name: "Book1.xlsx",
    format: "pdf"
));

// Save the resulting PDF
using (var fileStream = File.Create("output.pdf"))
{
    response.CopyTo(fileStream);
}

Console.WriteLine("Excel file successfully exported to PDF!");

Customizing PDF Conversion Options

Aspose.Cells Cloud offers many options to customize the PDF output. Here are some useful options you can include in your requests:

Option	Description
OnePagePerSheet	Places each worksheet on a separate page
PrintingPageType	Controls page layout options (e.g., ignore blank pages)
Compliance	Sets PDF compliance level (PDF/A, etc.)
EmbedFullFonts	Embeds full fonts in the PDF
TextCompression	Sets text compression level

Example with Custom Options (C#)

var saveOptions = new PdfSaveOptions {
    SaveFormat = "pdf",
    EnableHTTPCompression = true,
    OnePagePerSheet = true,
    Compliance = "PDF/A-1b",
    EmbedFullFonts = true
};

// Use this saveOptions object in your conversion request

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Issue: Authentication Failed

Solution: Double check your Client ID and Client Secret. Make sure you’re correctly generating the JWT token.

Issue: File Not Found

Solution: Verify that the file exists in your cloud storage or that you’re correctly providing the file in your request.

Issue: Converting Large Files

Solution: For large files, use the SaveAs approach with EnableHTTPCompression set to true.

What You’ve Learned

In this tutorial, you’ve learned:

Three different approaches to convert Excel files to PDF using Aspose.Cells Cloud API
How to implement each approach using cURL, C#, and Java
How to customize the PDF output with various options
Common troubleshooting tips for the conversion process

Further Practice

To reinforce your learning, try these exercises:

Convert an Excel file with multiple worksheets, setting OnePagePerSheet to both true and false to see the difference
Create a simple application that allows users to upload Excel files and download them as PDFs
Try batch-converting multiple Excel files to PDF in a single operation

Tutorial: Converting Excel Files to PDF with Aspose.Cells Cloud API

Prerequisites

Introduction to Excel to PDF Conversion

Using the REST API

Approach 1: Direct Conversion with PUT /cells/convert

Try It Yourself: Using cURL

Implementation in C#

Implementation in Java

Approach 2: SaveAs with POST /cells/{name}/saveAs

Try It Yourself: Using cURL

Implementation in C#

Approach 3: Direct Export with GET /cells/{name}

Try It Yourself: Using cURL

Implementation in C#

Customizing PDF Conversion Options

Example with Custom Options (C#)

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Issue: Authentication Failed

Issue: File Not Found

Issue: Converting Large Files

What You’ve Learned

Further Practice

Helpful Resources