Quick Start Guide Leave feedback

This guide provides a quick overview of how to set up and start using GroupDocs.Editor for Python via .NET. The library loads a document, converts it to editable HTML/CSS, lets you edit that markup, and saves it back to the original format — or to a different one.

To proceed, make sure you have:

1. Configured environment as described in the System Requirements topic.
2. Optionally you may Get a Temporary License to test all the product features.

For best practices, use a virtual environment to manage dependencies in Python applications. Learn more about virtual environment at Create and Use Virtual Environments documentation topic.

Create a virtual environment:

py -m venv .venv

python3 -m venv .venv

python3 -m venv .venv

Activate a virtual environment:

.venv\Scripts\activate

source .venv/bin/activate

source .venv/bin/activate

After activating the virtual environment, run the following command in your terminal to install the latest version of the package:

py -m pip install groupdocs-editor-net

python3 -m pip install groupdocs-editor-net

python3 -m pip install groupdocs-editor-net

Ensure the package is installed successfully. You should see the message

Successfully installed groupdocs-editor-net-*

To quickly test the library, let’s load a DOCX file, edit its HTML, and save it back to DOCX.

import os
from groupdocs.editor import Editor, EditableDocument, License
from groupdocs.editor.formats import WordProcessingFormats
from groupdocs.editor.options import WordProcessingSaveOptions

def edit_word_document():
    # Optionally set a license
    license_path = os.path.abspath("./GroupDocs.Editor.lic")
    if os.path.exists(license_path):
        License().set_license(license_path)

    # Load the document
    with Editor("./sample-document.docx") as editor:
        # Convert the document to editable HTML
        editable = editor.edit()
        html = editable.get_embedded_html()

        # Edit the HTML markup (rename the document title)
        edited_html = html.replace("Title of the document", "Title of the edited document")

        # Build an editable document from the modified markup and save it back to DOCX
        after_edit = EditableDocument.from_markup(edited_html)
        editor.save(after_edit, "./edited-document.docx", WordProcessingSaveOptions(WordProcessingFormats.DOCX))

if __name__ == "__main__":
    edit_word_document()

Binary file (DOCX, 49 KB)

Your folder tree should look similar to the following directory structure:

📂 demo-app
 ├──edit_word_document.py
 ├──sample-document.docx
 └──GroupDocs.Editor.lic (Optionally)

py edit_word_document.py

python3 edit_word_document.py

python3 edit_word_document.py

After running the app you can deactivate virtual environment by executing deactivate or closing your shell.

• Editor("./sample-document.docx"): Loads the document into the editor.
• editor.edit(): Converts the document to an EditableDocument and get_embedded_html() returns a self-contained HTML string.
• EditableDocument.from_markup(edited_html): Wraps the modified markup back into an editable document.
• editor.save(..., WordProcessingSaveOptions(WordProcessingFormats.DOCX)): Saves the edited document back to DOCX.

In this example we convert a DOCX file to PDF. GroupDocs.Editor converts through its HTML intermediate — saving an EditableDocument with a different *SaveOptions produces a different output format.

import os
from groupdocs.editor import Editor, License
from groupdocs.editor.options import PdfSaveOptions

def convert_word_to_pdf():
    # Optionally set a license
    license_path = os.path.abspath("./GroupDocs.Editor.lic")
    if os.path.exists(license_path):
        License().set_license(license_path)

    # Load the document
    with Editor("./sample-document.docx") as editor:
        # Convert the document to editable HTML
        editable = editor.edit()

        # Save the editable document as PDF
        editor.save(editable, "./sample-document.pdf", PdfSaveOptions())

if __name__ == "__main__":
    convert_word_to_pdf()

Binary file (PDF, 155 KB)

Your folder tree should look similar to the following directory structure:

📂 demo-app
 ├──convert_word_to_pdf.py
 ├──sample-document.docx
 └──GroupDocs.Editor.lic (Optionally)

py convert_word_to_pdf.py

python3 convert_word_to_pdf.py

python3 convert_word_to_pdf.py

• editor.edit(): Converts the source document to an EditableDocument.
• PdfSaveOptions(): Selects PDF as the output format.
• editor.save(editable, "./sample-document.pdf", PdfSaveOptions()): Writes the document out as PDF through the HTML intermediate.

Sometimes you only need a document’s metadata. get_document_info() returns format, page count, size, and encryption status without a full edit pass.

import os
from groupdocs.editor import Editor, License

def get_document_info():
    # Optionally set a license
    license_path = os.path.abspath("./GroupDocs.Editor.lic")
    if os.path.exists(license_path):
        License().set_license(license_path)

    # Load the document and read its metadata
    with Editor("./sample-document.docx") as editor:
        info = editor.get_document_info()

        print("Format:", info.format.name)
        print("Extension:", info.format.extension)
        print("Pages:", info.page_count)
        print("Size, bytes:", info.size)
        print("Encrypted:", info.is_encrypted)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    get_document_info()

Format: Office Open XML WordProcessingML Macro-Free Document (DOCX)
Extension: docx
Pages: 3
Size, bytes: 49455
Encrypted: False

Your folder tree should look similar to the following directory structure:

📂 demo-app
 ├──get_document_info.py
 ├──sample-document.docx
 └──GroupDocs.Editor.lic (Optionally)

py get_document_info.py

python3 get_document_info.py

python3 get_document_info.py

• editor.get_document_info(): Returns a lightweight view of the document’s metadata.
• The view supports snake_case attribute access (info.page_count, info.format.name) as well as dict-style access for the underlying PascalCase keys (info["PageCount"]).

After completing the basics, explore additional resources to enhance your usage:

• Supported Document Formats: Review the full list of supported file types.
• Licensing and Subscription: Check details on licensing and evaluation.
• Developer Guide: Dive into loading, editing, and saving documents of every supported family.
• Technical Support: Contact support for assistance if you encounter issues.