# PDF Processing > Export PDF and PDF/A from a Windows Forms TextControl, load PDFs back into the editor and read their text, form values, attachments and metadata. - **Product:** TX Text Control .NET for Windows Forms - **Section:** Documentation - **Kind:** Topic - **Path:** TX Text Control .NET for Windows Forms > PDF Processing - **1109 words** - **Web URL:** https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/pdf/ - **LLMs URL:** https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/pdf/llms.txt - **LLMs-Full URL:** https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/pdf/llms-full.txt --- Invoices sent to customers, contracts kept in an archive, forms that come back filled in: many documents leave a Windows Forms application as PDF, and many arrive as PDF. TX Text Control .NET for Windows Forms saves the document in the `TextControl` as PDF, loads PDF files back into the editor and reads their text, form values, attachments and metadata, without Adobe Acrobat or another PDF library. Beyond a first PDF, the tasks range from conversion options and the limits of the import to PDF/A, fonts, forms, attachments, text extraction, metadata and passwords. A first PDF, a PDF form and a signed PDF are built step by step in [Getting Started: PDF Processing](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/getting-started/pdf/llms-full.txt). Signing is covered in depth in [Digital Signatures](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/digital-signatures/llms-full.txt). ### How TX Text Control Handles PDF PDF is an output and an input format of the same document engine: - **Saving.** `TextControl.Save` with `StreamType.AdobePDF` writes the document of the editor, laid out in pages, and `StreamType.AdobePDFA` writes PDF/A for archiving. Links, form fields and headers and footers become part of the PDF, and since version 34.0, every PDF carries the tagged structure of an accessible document. A `ServerTextControl` saves documents the user doesn't see in the same way. - **Loading.** A PDF loaded with `StreamType.AdobePDF` becomes a document that TX Text Control reconstructs from the pages. Depending on the import settings, the result keeps the layout or only the text. PDF/A is a format for saving only. - **Reading without the editor.** Classes of the `TXTextControl.DocumentServer.PDF` namespaces read the text lines, the form field values and the attachments of a PDF file directly. - **User interface.** The **Save As** dialog box offers a button for a PDF password, and the DocumentSettings panel of the sidebar lets users edit the document properties and the attachments that go into the PDF. The options of a PDF are properties of `SaveSettings` and `LoadSettings`, which your code passes to `Save` and `Load`. PDF export and import are part of the Professional and Enterprise editions; PDF/A, PDF/UA and form fields are part of the Enterprise edition, as [Editions and Feature Availability](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/overview/editions/llms-full.txt) lists. ### Find the Right Page | If you want to | Read | |---|---| | Choose what a PDF contains, run JavaScript when it opens, create and validate an accessible PDF, add a watermark or convert documents | [PDF Creation and Conversion](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/pdf/creation-conversion/llms-full.txt) | | Open PDF files in the editor or convert them to DOCX, and know what the import can't rebuild | [PDF Import and Its Limitations](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/pdf/import/llms-full.txt) | | Create documents for long-term archiving and electronic invoices | [PDF/A](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/pdf/pdf-a/llms-full.txt) | | Control which fonts a PDF uses and which font replaces a missing one | [Font Embedding and Substitution](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/pdf/fonts/llms-full.txt) | | Create fillable forms, read the values users entered or flatten a form | [PDF Forms](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/pdf/forms/llms-full.txt) | | Embed files such as the XML of an electronic invoice, let users manage them and extract them again | [Attachments](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/pdf/attachments/llms-full.txt) | | Show the text of a PDF, search it with regular expressions or read a value from an area of a page | [Text Extraction](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/pdf/text-extraction/llms-full.txt) | | Set, read and let users edit the title, author, keywords and custom properties | [Document Metadata](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/pdf/metadata/llms-full.txt) | | Protect a PDF with passwords and permissions, or open a protected PDF | [Passwords and Access Permissions](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/pdf/passwords/llms-full.txt) | | Sign a PDF with a certificate | [Digital Signatures](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/digital-signatures/llms-full.txt) | ### Where to Start 1. [Getting Started: PDF Processing](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/getting-started/pdf/llms-full.txt), if you haven't saved a PDF with TX Text Control yet. 2. [PDF Creation and Conversion](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/pdf/creation-conversion/llms-full.txt): what a PDF keeps from the document and which options the save offers. 3. [PDF/A](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/pdf/pdf-a/llms-full.txt) and [Font Embedding and Substitution](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/pdf/fonts/llms-full.txt), when documents are archived or must look the same on every machine. 4. [PDF Import and Its Limitations](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/pdf/import/llms-full.txt), before you promise users that they can edit any PDF. ### Related Sections - [Digital Signatures](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/digital-signatures/llms-full.txt): sign PDF documents, add timestamps and signature fields. - [Document Processing](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/document-processing/llms-full.txt): build and change documents before you save them as PDF. - [Mail Merge and Reporting](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/mail-merge/llms-full.txt): create PDF documents from templates and data. - [PDF Passwords and Permissions](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/security/pdf-passwords/llms-full.txt): what passwords and permissions protect. - [PDF Examples](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/examples/pdf/llms-full.txt): sample applications that create and process PDF documents. --- ## In This Section - [Attachments](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/pdf/attachments/llms-full.txt): Embed files in PDF and PDF/A-3 from a Windows Forms TextControl with EmbeddedFile, manage them in the DocumentSettings sidebar, extract them with Attachments. - [PDF Creation and Conversion](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/pdf/creation-conversion/llms-full.txt): Save TextControl documents as PDF in Windows Forms: SaveSettings, JavaScript actions, PDF/UA with DescriptiveText and validation, watermarks and page formats. - [Font Embedding and Substitution](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/pdf/fonts/llms-full.txt): Control fonts in PDF from Windows Forms: FontSettings restrictions, AdaptFont replacement fonts, ServerTextControl settings and embeddable fonts for PDF/A. - [PDF Forms](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/pdf/forms/llms-full.txt): Create fillable PDF forms from TextControl form fields in Windows Forms, read the returned values with GetAcroFormFields and flatten forms for archiving. - [PDF Import and Its Limitations](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/pdf/import/llms-full.txt): Load PDF files into a Windows Forms TextControl with PDFImportSettings, convert PDF to DOCX with ServerTextControl and handle scans and encrypted files. - [Document Metadata](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/pdf/metadata/llms-full.txt): Write title, author and keywords into PDFs from a Windows Forms TextControl, update an existing PDF, index PDFs with ServerTextControl and read raw metadata. - [Passwords and Access Permissions](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/pdf/passwords/llms-full.txt): Encrypt PDF files from a Windows Forms TextControl with UserPassword, MasterPassword and DocumentAccessPermissions, open protected PDFs and apply permissions. - [PDF/A](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/pdf/pdf-a/llms-full.txt): Save PDF/A-3a from a Windows Forms TextControl with AdobePDFA: EmbeddableFontsOnly, AdaptFont, the rules of the standard and batch archiving of DOCX files. - [Text Extraction](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/pdf/text-extraction/llms-full.txt): Extract PDF text in Windows Forms: load it as text into the TextControl, list lines per page with Lines and ContentLine, search with regex and read page areas. --- ## Nearby - **Previous:** [Merge Events](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/mail-merge/events/llms-full.txt) - **Next:** [PDF Creation and Conversion](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-winforms/pdf/creation-conversion/llms-full.txt)