# Supported File Formats

> The formats TX Text Control .NET for Windows Forms loads and saves, with their StreamType values, plus PDF, PDF/A, PDF/UA, XLSX worksheets, images and Markdown.

- **Product:** TX Text Control .NET for Windows Forms
- **Section:** Documentation
- **Kind:** Topic
- **Path:** TX Text Control .NET for Windows Forms > Overview > Supported File Formats
- **2128 words**
- **Web URL:** https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/overview/file-formats/
- **LLMs URL:** https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/overview/file-formats/llms.txt
- **LLMs-Full URL:** https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/overview/file-formats/llms-full.txt

---

A document in TX Text Control .NET for Windows Forms is loaded in one format and saved in the same or another one, so a conversion from DOCX to PDF takes one load and one save. Users do the same through the built-in **Open** and **Save As** dialog boxes. The formats are listed below with the enumeration values your code passes, followed by what applies to PDF, Excel spreadsheets, images and Markdown.

### Formats and StreamType Values

The `Load` and `Save` methods of [TextControl](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/reference/txtextcontrol/textcontrol/llms-full.txt) and [ServerTextControl](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/reference/txtextcontrol/servertextcontrol/llms-full.txt) need the format of the data, given as a value of one of three enumerations:

- [StreamType](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/reference/txtextcontrol/streamtype/enumeration/llms-full.txt) for a file path or a `FileStream`
- [BinaryStreamType](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/reference/txtextcontrol/binarystreamtype/enumeration/llms-full.txt) for a byte array
- [StringStreamType](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/reference/txtextcontrol/stringstreamtype/enumeration/llms-full.txt) for a string

A dash means that the enumeration has no value for the format.

| Format | Load | Save | `StreamType` | `BinaryStreamType` | `StringStreamType` |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOCX (Microsoft Word, Office Open XML) | Yes | Yes | `WordprocessingML` | `WordprocessingML` | — |
| DOC (Microsoft Word binary format) | Yes | Yes | `MSWord` | `MSWord` | — |
| RTF (Rich Text Format) | Yes | Yes | `RichTextFormat` | — | `RichTextFormat` |
| HTML | Yes | Yes | `HTMLFormat` | — | `HTMLFormat` |
| PDF | Yes | Yes | `AdobePDF` | `AdobePDF` | — |
| PDF/A | No | Yes | `AdobePDFA` | `AdobePDFA` | — |
| XLSX (Microsoft Excel, Office Open XML) | Yes | No | `SpreadsheetML` | `SpreadsheetML` | — |
| XML | Yes | Yes | `XMLFormat` | — | `XMLFormat` |
| CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) | No | Yes | `CascadingStylesheet` | — | `CascadingStylesheet` |
| Plain text, Unicode | Yes | Yes | `PlainText` | — | `PlainText` |
| Plain text, Windows ANSI | Yes | Yes | `PlainAnsiText` | — | — |
| TX Text Control format, Unicode | Yes | Yes | `InternalUnicodeFormat` | `InternalUnicodeFormat` | — |
| TX Text Control format, ANSI | Yes | Yes | `InternalFormat` | `InternalFormat` | — |

- **PDF/A and CSS are save-only formats.** A CSS file holds the styles of a document, for example to format an XML document.
- **PDF and PDF/A are saved as complete documents.** With `AdobePDF` and `AdobePDFA`, you cannot save only a part of a document.
- **XLSX is an import format.** A worksheet is loaded as a table, and you save the result in a document format. See [Excel Spreadsheets](#excel-spreadsheets-xlsx) below.
- **Plain text** marks the end of a paragraph with the control characters 13 and 10 (carriage return and line feed).

Which formats you can use also depends on the edition; [File Formats by Edition](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/overview/editions/#file-formats-by-edition) lists them.

### Open and Save As Dialog Boxes

In an application with a user interface, `TextControl` shows the standard file dialogs for you: [Load](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/reference/txtextcontrol/textcontrol/load-method/llms-full.txt) and [Save](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/reference/txtextcontrol/textcontrol/save-method/llms-full.txt) without a file name open an **Open** or **Save As** dialog box that offers the formats you pass. [Loading and Saving Documents](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/document-editor/load-save/llms-full.txt) shows how to set the filters and the options of the dialogs, and [Load and Save Documents](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/getting-started/document-editor/load-save/llms-full.txt) in Getting Started builds the commands step by step.

### PDF

TX Text Control creates and imports PDF documents with its own filters. Adobe Acrobat is not needed.

#### PDF Export and PDF/A

`AdobePDF` saves a document as PDF. The same document can carry form fields, digital signatures, passwords and embedded files, as described in [PDF Processing](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/pdf/llms-full.txt) and [Digital Signatures](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/digital-signatures/llms-full.txt).

PDF/A (ISO 19005) is the standard for the long-term archiving of documents. `AdobePDFA` saves a document as PDF/A, and since version 34.0, TX Text Control writes PDF/A-3a. PDF/A-3 allows files to be embedded in the document, such as the XML data of an electronic invoice. See [PDF/A](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/pdf/pdf-a/llms-full.txt) and [Attachments](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/pdf/attachments/llms-full.txt).

#### Accessible PDF (PDF/UA)

Since version 34.0, a PDF document contains a logical structure in addition to its visible content, so that assistive technologies such as screen readers can follow it, and a document can comply with PDF/A-3a and PDF/UA at the same time. [Create an Accessible PDF (PDF/UA)](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/pdf/creation-conversion/#create-an-accessible-pdf-pdf-ua) describes the structure and the alternative texts.

#### PDF Import

`AdobePDF` also loads a PDF document, so that it can be edited or saved in another format. A PDF file describes how its pages look, not the order of its text, so TX Text Control rebuilds the text flow, and [LoadSettings.PDFImportSettings](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/reference/txtextcontrol/loadsettings/pdfimportsettings-property/llms-full.txt) decides whether the result is plain lines, paragraphs or text frames that reproduce the original. [Choose How the Document Is Rebuilt](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/pdf/import/#choose-how-the-document-is-rebuilt) explains the settings and what to expect from an imported PDF.

### Excel Spreadsheets (XLSX)

`SpreadsheetML` loads a worksheet of a Microsoft Excel XLSX file as a table. An XLSX file can contain several worksheets:

- [LoadSettings.GetDocumentPartNames](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/reference/txtextcontrol/loadsettings/getdocumentpartnames-method/llms-full.txt) returns the names of the worksheets.
- [LoadSettings.DocumentPartName](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/reference/txtextcontrol/loadsettings/documentpartname-property/llms-full.txt) selects the worksheet to load. When it is not set, the first worksheet is loaded. When it is an empty string, a dialog box lists the worksheets and the user selects one.

```csharp
using TXTextControl;

// List the worksheets and load the first one
string[] sheets = LoadSettings.GetDocumentPartNames("report.xlsx", StreamType.SpreadsheetML);

LoadSettings loadSettings = new LoadSettings
{
    DocumentPartName = sheets[0]
};

textControl1.Load("report.xlsx", StreamType.SpreadsheetML, loadSettings);
```

The tables of a document support Excel compatible formulas, which calculate their results from other cells of the same table. See [Tables and Table Formulas](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/document-editor/tables/llms-full.txt).

#### Excel Functions in Loaded Worksheets

Text Control lists 55 Excel functions as supported in the formulas of a loaded worksheet: 47 mathematical and trigonometric functions from `ABS` to `TANH`, among them `ROUND`, `SUM` and `SUMIF`, the statistical functions `AVERAGE`, `AREAS`, `MAX`, `MAXA`, `MIN` and `MINA`, and the lookup and reference functions `ADDRESS` and `ROW`. [Formula Functions](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/reference/formula-functions/#excel-functions-in-loaded-worksheets) lists all 55 and shows how to check at runtime whether `SUMIF` and `AREAS`, which the list of table formula functions doesn't contain, are available.

### Images

Documents contain images in the formats BMP, TIF, WMF, PNG, JPG, GIF, EMF and SVG, and an image is saved in its original format unless you select another one. [Images](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/document-editor/images/llms-full.txt) lists the import and export filters and the image formats each document format keeps.

### Markdown

Markdown is not part of the `StreamType` enumeration. It is loaded and saved with the separate NuGet package `TXTextControl.Markdown.Core` from [nuget.org](https://www.nuget.org/packages/TXTextControl.Markdown.Core/), which adds the extension methods `LoadMarkdown` and `SaveMarkdown` in the `TXTextControl.Markdown` namespace. It supports headings, paragraphs, horizontal rules, blockquotes, lists, images, links and tables, and Text Control names Windows Forms applications among its uses. The blog article [Introducing TXTextControl.Markdown.Core](https://www.textcontrol.com/blog/2025/09/16/introducing-txtextcontrol-markdown-core-import-and-export-markdown-in-tx-text-control/) introduces the package.

### Related Pages

- [Load and Save Documents](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/getting-started/document-editor/load-save/llms-full.txt): open and save documents in the editor, with and without dialog boxes.
- [Saving and Converting Documents](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/document-processing/saving-converting/llms-full.txt): convert documents in code with `ServerTextControl`.
- [PDF Processing](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/pdf/llms-full.txt): PDF creation, PDF/A, forms, attachments and passwords.
- [StreamType Enumeration](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/reference/txtextcontrol/streamtype/enumeration/llms-full.txt): the reference of all format values.

---

## Nearby

- **Previous:** [Supported Platforms](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/overview/platforms/llms-full.txt)
- **Next:** [Editions and Feature Availability](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/overview/editions/llms-full.txt)