# Creating Documents

> Create and dispose ServerTextControl instances, set page size and margins, build documents with Selection and Append, set DocumentSettings and check fonts.

- **Product:** TX Text Control .NET Server
- **Section:** Documentation
- **Kind:** Topic
- **Path:** TX Text Control .NET Server > Document Processing > Creating Documents
- **3723 words**
- **Web URL:** https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/document-processing/creating/
- **LLMs URL:** https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/document-processing/creating/llms.txt
- **LLMs-Full URL:** https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/document-processing/creating/llms-full.txt

---

Before a document has any content, it has a `ServerTextControl` instance and an empty page in US letter format. You create and dispose instances correctly in console applications and ASP.NET Core, set the page format of a new document, assemble content from text, HTML snippets and other documents, store document properties and make sure the fonts are available on the server.

[Create a Document](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/getting-started/document-processing/create/llms-full.txt) walks through inserting formatted text, a table and a header. Character formatting is covered in [Text](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/document-processing/text/llms-full.txt) and paragraph formatting in [Paragraphs](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/document-processing/paragraphs/llms-full.txt). Input files of the console applications below are in a *Documents* folder that is copied to the output directory.

### Create and Dispose Instances

Every piece of document processing code follows the same lifecycle:

1. **Create the instance** with the [ServerTextControl constructor](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/reference/txtextcontrol/servertextcontrol/constructor/llms-full.txt).
2. **Initialize it** with [Create](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/reference/txtextcontrol/servertextcontrol/create-method/llms-full.txt) before you use any other member. `Create` returns `true` if the instance could be initialized and `false` if it couldn't. [IsCreated](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/reference/txtextcontrol/servertextcontrol/iscreated-property/llms-full.txt) tells you later whether the instance is completely created.
3. **Work with the document**, then **dispose the instance**. A `using` statement releases its resources as soon as the block ends.

```csharp
using TXTextControl;

using (ServerTextControl tx = new ServerTextControl())
{
    // Create returns false if the instance couldn't be initialized
    if (!tx.Create())
    {
        throw new InvalidOperationException("ServerTextControl could not be created.");
    }

    tx.Text = "This document was created with ServerTextControl.";
    tx.Save("created.docx", StreamType.WordprocessingML);
}
```

If `Create` fails and the instance is used anyway, its members throw the error "The TXTextControl object must have been completely loaded to use this method." On Windows, `Create` fails most often because no new window handle can be created, usually because instances weren't disposed. [ResetContents](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/reference/txtextcontrol/servertextcontrol/resetcontents-method/llms-full.txt) deletes the entire contents of an instance; [Clear](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/reference/txtextcontrol/servertextcontrol/clear-method/llms-full.txt), in contrast, deletes only the selected text or the character right of the input position.

In an ASP.NET Core application, create one instance inside the action or service method that produces the document, as the [Save as DOCX and PDF](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/getting-started/document-processing/save-docx-pdf/#return-a-document-from-an-asp-net-core-controller) tutorial does. TX Text Control is thread safe, but it uses critical sections for shared resources, so threads that use it can wait for each other. [Performance and Scalability](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/performance/llms-full.txt) describes how to process many documents in parallel.

### Set the Page Format of a New Document

A new document has one section with US letter pages (8.5 x 11 inches), page margins of 1 inch and the font Arial at 10 pt. [ServerTextControl.PageSize](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/reference/txtextcontrol/servertextcontrol/pagesize-property/llms-full.txt) and [PageMargins](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/reference/txtextcontrol/servertextcontrol/pagemargins-property/llms-full.txt) are measured in the unit of [PageUnit](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/reference/txtextcontrol/servertextcontrol/pageunit-property/llms-full.txt), which is 1/100 inch by default. The following program prints the default format and then changes the margins and the orientation of the document:

```csharp
using TXTextControl;

using (ServerTextControl tx = new ServerTextControl())
{
    tx.Create();

    // US letter with 1-inch margins, in 1/100 inch
    Console.WriteLine($"Page size: {tx.PageSize.Width} x {tx.PageSize.Height}");
    Console.WriteLine($"Margins: {tx.PageMargins.Left}, {tx.PageMargins.Top}, {tx.PageMargins.Right}, {tx.PageMargins.Bottom}");

    // Margins of 0.5 inch on every side and landscape orientation
    tx.PageMargins = new PageMargins(50, 50, 50, 50);
    tx.Landscape = true;

    tx.Text = "This document uses landscape pages with narrow margins.";

    tx.Save("landscape.pdf", StreamType.AdobePDF);
}
```

The code works as follows:

- The [PageMargins constructor](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/reference/txtextcontrol/pagemargins/constructor/llms-full.txt) takes the left, top, right and bottom margin, here 50/100 inch each.
- [Landscape](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/reference/txtextcontrol/servertextcontrol/landscape-property/llms-full.txt) turns the pages to landscape orientation.
- [ResetPageSize](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/reference/txtextcontrol/servertextcontrol/resetpagesize-method/llms-full.txt) and [ResetPageMargins](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/reference/txtextcontrol/servertextcontrol/resetpagemargins-method/llms-full.txt) set the page size and margins back to US letter and 1 inch.

A document whose parts need different page formats, such as a landscape page in a portrait report, is divided into sections, which [Sections](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/document-processing/sections/llms-full.txt) describes.

### Build a Document From Pieces

Documents are rarely typed in one go. The following program builds a report from a heading and a paragraph and appends an HTML snippet:

```csharp
using TXTextControl;

using (ServerTextControl tx = new ServerTextControl())
{
    tx.Create();

    // Prepare text and formatting in a Selection object, then insert it in one step
    tx.Selection = new Selection()
    {
        Text = "Quarterly Report\r\n",
        FontName = "Arial",
        FontSize = 480, // 24 pt
        Bold = true
    };

    tx.Selection = new Selection()
    {
        Text = "Revenue grew in all regions this quarter.\r\n",
        FontName = "Arial",
        FontSize = 240 // 12 pt
    };

    // Append an HTML snippet in a new paragraph at the end of the document
    tx.Append("<p>Prepared by the <strong>reporting service</strong>.</p>",
        StringStreamType.HTMLFormat,
        AppendSettings.StartWithNewParagraph);

    tx.Save("report.docx", StreamType.WordprocessingML);
}
```

The code works as follows:

- Assigning a prepared [Selection](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/reference/txtextcontrol/selection/llms-full.txt) object inserts its text with all its attributes at the input position. This is faster than inserting text and formatting it afterward, as the blog article [Speed Up Document Generation by Factor 2 Using Selection Objects](https://www.textcontrol.com/blog/2026/07/17/speed-up-document-generation-selection-objects-dotnet-csharp/) measures.
- [Append](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/reference/txtextcontrol/servertextcontrol/append-method/llms-full.txt) adds a document to the end of the existing content. It loads from a file, a byte array or a string, like `Load`, but doesn't replace what is already there.

The last parameter of `Append` is a value of [AppendSettings](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/reference/txtextcontrol/appendsettings/enumeration/llms-full.txt):

| Value | The appended document starts |
|---|---|
| `None` | At the end of the last paragraph |
| `StartWithNewParagraph` | In a new paragraph at the end of the document |
| `StartWithNewSection` | In a new section at the end of the document |

To put a document in place of a placeholder or at the input position instead of at the end, use `Selection.Load`, as [Load, Append or Insert](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/document-processing/loading/#load-append-or-insert) shows.

### Combine Several Documents

To combine documents such as a cover page and several chapters, load the first one and append the others. The following program starts each document in a new section and saves the result as one PDF:

```csharp
using TXTextControl;

string[] files =
{
    "Documents/cover.docx",
    "Documents/chapter1.docx",
    "Documents/chapter2.docx"
};

using (ServerTextControl tx = new ServerTextControl())
{
    tx.Create();

    // The first document replaces the empty contents
    tx.Load(files[0], StreamType.WordprocessingML);

    // Every further document is appended in a new section
    for (int i = 1; i < files.Length; i++)
    {
        tx.Append(files[i], StreamType.WordprocessingML, AppendSettings.StartWithNewSection);
    }

    Console.WriteLine($"Sections: {tx.Sections.Count}, pages: {tx.Pages}");

    tx.Save("combined.pdf", StreamType.AdobePDF);
}
```

Documents that come from a database are appended from a byte array in the same way: `tx.Append(bytes, BinaryStreamType.WordprocessingML, AppendSettings.StartWithNewSection);`. [Loading Documents](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/document-processing/loading/llms-full.txt) compares `Load`, `Append` and `Selection.Load` in more detail.

### Store Document Properties

[ServerTextControl.DocumentSettings](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/reference/txtextcontrol/servertextcontrol/documentsettings-property/llms-full.txt) holds the title, author, subject, keywords and user-defined properties of a new or loaded document, and `Save` stores them with the document, for example `tx.DocumentSettings.DocumentTitle = "Quarterly Report";`. [Document Metadata](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/pdf/metadata/#where-metadata-lives) describes how `DocumentSettings`, `SaveSettings` and `LoadSettings` work together, and [Document Properties](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/document-editor/properties/llms-full.txt) in the Document Editor section lists which formats store which properties.

### Make Fonts Available on the Server

A document looks the same on every server only if the fonts it uses are available there. The Core engine uses the fonts of the *Fonts* folder that its NuGet package adds to your application, not the fonts installed on the machine, and the Classic engine uses the fonts installed on Windows; [Fonts](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/deployment/docker/fonts/llms-full.txt) in the Deployment Guide describes the folder, the fonts it contains and how to add your own.

When a font of a document isn't available, TX Text Control replaces it. To list the available fonts and find out which fonts were replaced, call `GetSupportedFonts` and handle the [AdaptFont](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/reference/txtextcontrol/servertextcontrol/adaptfont-event/llms-full.txt) event:

```csharp
using TXTextControl;

using (ServerTextControl tx = new ServerTextControl())
{
    tx.Create();

    string[] fonts = tx.GetSupportedFonts();

    if (fonts != null)
    {
        Console.WriteLine($"{fonts.Length} fonts available");
    }

    // Report every font that isn't available and its replacement
    tx.FontSettings.AdaptFontEvent = true;
    tx.AdaptFont += (sender, e) =>
        Console.WriteLine($"{e.FontName} replaced with {e.AdaptedFontName}");

    tx.Load("Documents/sample.docx", StreamType.WordprocessingML);
    tx.Save("sample.pdf", StreamType.AdobePDF);
}
```

[GetSupportedFonts](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/reference/txtextcontrol/servertextcontrol/getsupportedfonts-method/llms-full.txt) returns the names of the fonts that are available. `AdaptFont` occurs only when [FontSettings.AdaptFontEvent](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/reference/txtextcontrol/fontsettings/adaptfontevent-property/llms-full.txt) is `true`; its default is `false`, so set it before you load the document. In the event arguments, [FontName](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/reference/txtextcontrol/adaptfonteventargs/fontname-property/llms-full.txt) is the original font and [AdaptedFontName](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/reference/txtextcontrol/adaptfonteventargs/adaptedfontname-property/llms-full.txt) the font that replaces it. To choose the replacement yourself or to allow only certain kinds of fonts, see [Use the Right Fonts](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/pdf/creation/#use-the-right-fonts) in PDF Creation. [Fonts](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/troubleshooting/fonts/llms-full.txt) in the Troubleshooting section helps when text looks different than expected.

### Next Steps

- [Loading Documents](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/document-processing/loading/llms-full.txt): load existing documents with all their options.
- [Text](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/document-processing/text/llms-full.txt): find, replace and format the text of a document.
- [Sections](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/document-processing/sections/llms-full.txt): give parts of a document their own page format.
- [Saving and Converting Documents](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/document-processing/saving-converting/llms-full.txt): save the finished document in the format you need.

---

## Nearby

- **Previous:** [Document Processing](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/document-processing/llms-full.txt)
- **Next:** [Loading Documents](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-server/document-processing/loading/llms-full.txt)