Tutorial: Converting OneNote Documents with Load Options

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to convert Microsoft OneNote documents to other formats using GroupDocs.Conversion Cloud API. You’ll master specialized conversion options for handling notebooks and sections with proper formatting and font control.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this tutorial, you will be able to:

Convert OneNote files (ONE) to PDF, images, and other formats
Customize font and formatting options during conversion
Handle font substitution for consistent appearance
Implement both storage-based and stream-based OneNote conversions
Troubleshoot common OneNote conversion challenges

Prerequisites

Before starting this tutorial, you need:

A GroupDocs.Conversion Cloud account
Your Client ID and Client Secret credentials
Basic understanding of REST API concepts
Development environment with your preferred programming language set up
Sample OneNote files to test conversion

Implementation Steps

Step 1: Authentication with GroupDocs.Conversion Cloud API

Before performing any operations, we need to authenticate with the API using your Client ID and Client Secret.

Try it yourself

First, let’s obtain a JWT access token using cURL:

# First get JSON Web Token
curl -v "https://api.groupdocs.cloud/connect/token" \
-X POST \
-d "grant_type=client_credentials&client_id=YOUR_CLIENT_ID&client_secret=YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET" \
-H "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded" \
-H "Accept: application/json"

Make sure to replace YOUR_CLIENT_ID and YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET with your actual credentials.

Step 2: Basic OneNote to PDF Conversion

Let’s start with a simple conversion from a OneNote file to PDF format:

Try it yourself

Using cURL:

curl -X POST "https://api.groupdocs.cloud/v2.0/conversion" \
-H "accept: application/json" \
-H "authorization: Bearer YOUR_JWT_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d "{  
      'FilePath': 'note/sample.one',  
      'Format': 'pdf',  
      'OutputPath': 'converted'
    }"

Replace YOUR_JWT_TOKEN with the actual token received in Step 1.

Step 3: Converting OneNote to PDF with Font Options

Now let’s implement a comprehensive example that converts a OneNote document to PDF with font customization:

// C# SDK Example
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using GroupDocs.Conversion.Cloud.Sdk.Api;
using GroupDocs.Conversion.Cloud.Sdk.Client;
using GroupDocs.Conversion.Cloud.Sdk.Model;
using GroupDocs.Conversion.Cloud.Sdk.Model.Requests;

namespace OneNoteConversionTutorial
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            // Configure API client
            var configuration = new Configuration("YOUR_CLIENT_ID", "YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET");
            var apiInstance = new ConvertApi(configuration);

            try
            {
                // Create a dictionary for font substitution
                var fontSubstitutes = new Dictionary<string, string>
                {
                    { "Calibri", "Arial" },
                    { "Cambria", "Times New Roman" }
                };

                // Set up conversion from OneNote to PDF with font options
                var settings = new ConvertSettings
                {
                    StorageName = "MyStorage",
                    FilePath = "note/project_notes.one",
                    Format = "pdf",
                    // OneNote-specific load options
                    LoadOptions = new OneLoadOptions()
                    {
                        DefaultFont = "Arial",  // Default font if original is missing
                        FontSubstitutes = fontSubstitutes  // Font substitution mapping
                    },
                    // PDF-specific convert options
                    ConvertOptions = new PdfConvertOptions()
                    {
                        Dpi = 300,
                        Width = 1024,
                        Height = 768,
                        CenterWindow = true,
                        Grayscale = false,  // Keep colors
                        BookmarksOutlineLevel = 1  // Include headings in bookmarks
                    },
                    OutputPath = "converted"
                };

                // Execute conversion
                List<StoredConvertedResult> response = apiInstance.ConvertDocument(
                    new ConvertDocumentRequest(settings));
                
                Console.WriteLine("OneNote document converted successfully to PDF: " + response[0].Url);
            }
            catch (Exception e)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Error: " + e.Message);
            }
        }
    }
}

Step 4: Converting OneNote to Image Format

Converting OneNote documents to images can be useful for creating thumbnails or web-friendly previews:

// Java SDK Example
import com.groupdocs.cloud.conversion.api.*;
import com.groupdocs.cloud.conversion.client.ApiException;
import com.groupdocs.cloud.conversion.model.*;
import com.groupdocs.cloud.conversion.model.requests.*;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.Map;

public class OneNoteToImageExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Configure API client
        String clientId = "YOUR_CLIENT_ID";
        String clientSecret = "YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET";
        Configuration configuration = new Configuration(clientId, clientSecret);
        ConvertApi apiInstance = new ConvertApi(configuration);
        
        try {
            // Prepare convert settings for OneNote to PNG
            ConvertSettings settings = new ConvertSettings();
            settings.setFilePath("note/meeting_notes.one");
            settings.setFormat("png");
            
            // Set OneNote-specific load options
            OneLoadOptions loadOptions = new OneLoadOptions();
            loadOptions.setDefaultFont("Segoe UI");  // Default font
            
            // Create a font substitution map
            Map<String, String> fontSubs = new HashMap<String, String>();
            fontSubs.put("Segoe UI", "Arial");
            fontSubs.put("Calibri", "Helvetica");
            loadOptions.setFontSubstitutes(fontSubs);
            
            settings.setLoadOptions(loadOptions);
            
            // Configure PNG-specific convert options
            PngConvertOptions convertOptions = new PngConvertOptions();
            convertOptions.setFromPage(1);
            convertOptions.setPagesCount(0);  // All pages
            convertOptions.setDpi(300);
            convertOptions.setBackgroundColor("white");
            
            settings.setConvertOptions(convertOptions);
            settings.setOutputPath("converted");
            
            // Execute conversion
            List<StoredConvertedResult> result = apiInstance.convertDocument(
                new ConvertDocumentRequest(settings));
            
            System.out.println("OneNote document converted successfully to PNG: " + result.size() + " images");
            for (StoredConvertedResult file : result) {
                System.out.println(" - " + file.getName() + " (" + file.getSize() + " bytes)");
            }
        } catch (ApiException e) {
            System.err.println("Exception when calling ConvertApi: " + e.getMessage());
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

Step 5: Converting OneNote with Text and Font Formatting

For formats that support text formatting, you can preserve the structure of your OneNote documents:

# Python SDK Example
import groupdocs_conversion_cloud
from groupdocs_conversion_cloud.models.requests import ConvertDocumentRequest

# Configure API client
client_id = "YOUR_CLIENT_ID"
client_secret = "YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET"
api_instance = groupdocs_conversion_cloud.ConvertApi.from_keys(client_id, client_secret)

try:
    # Prepare conversion settings
    settings = groupdocs_conversion_cloud.ConvertSettings()
    settings.file_path = "note/research_notes.one"
    settings.format = "docx"  # Convert to Word for rich text preservation
    
    # Configure OneNote-specific load options
    load_options = groupdocs_conversion_cloud.OneLoadOptions()
    load_options.default_font = "Arial"
    
    # Create a font substitution dictionary
    font_substitutes = {
        "Calibri": "Arial",
        "Cambria": "Times New Roman",
        "Comic Sans MS": "Arial"  # Replace Comic Sans
    }
    load_options.font_substitutes = font_substitutes
    
    settings.load_options = load_options
    
    # Configure Word-specific convert options
    convert_options = groupdocs_conversion_cloud.WordProcessingConvertOptions()
    convert_options.from_page = 1
    convert_options.pages_count = 0  # All pages
    convert_options.dpi = 300
    
    settings.convert_options = convert_options
    settings.output_path = "converted"
    
    # Execute conversion
    request = ConvertDocumentRequest(settings)
    result = api_instance.convert_document(request)
    
    print(f"OneNote document converted successfully to DOCX: {result[0].url}")
except groupdocs_conversion_cloud.ApiException as e:
    print(f"Exception when calling ConvertApi: {e}")

Step 6: Stream-Based OneNote Conversion

For applications that need to process the converted document directly:

// Node.js SDK Example
const { ConvertApi, Configuration } = require("groupdocs-conversion-cloud");
const fs = require("fs");

// Configure API client
const clientId = "YOUR_CLIENT_ID";
const clientSecret = "YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET";
const config = new Configuration(clientId, clientSecret);
const apiInstance = new ConvertApi(config);

// Prepare conversion settings
const settings = {
    filePath: "note/sample.one",
    format: "pdf",
    loadOptions: {
        // OneNote-specific load options
        defaultFont: "Arial",
        fontSubstitutes: {
            "Calibri": "Arial",
            "Cambria": "Times New Roman"
        }
    },
    convertOptions: {
        // PDF-specific convert options
        dpi: 300,
        bookmarksOutlineLevel: 1
    },
    // Set outputPath to null for stream output
    outputPath: null
};

// Execute conversion
apiInstance.convertDocumentDownload({ convertSettings: settings })
    .then((result) => {
        // Save the stream to a file
        const fileName = "./converted-onenote.pdf";
        const writeStream = fs.createWriteStream(fileName);
        
        result.pipe(writeStream);
        
        writeStream.on("finish", () => {
            console.log(`OneNote document converted and saved to ${fileName}`);
        });
    })
    .catch((error) => {
        console.log(`Error: ${error.message}`);
    });

OneNote-Specific Load Options

When converting OneNote documents, you can leverage these specialized options:

Option	Description	Default	Impact
DefaultFont	Default font to use if original is missing	System default	Ensures text displays even if fonts are missing
FontSubstitutes	Dictionary mapping fonts to substitutions	Empty	Enables controlled font replacement

Troubleshooting Common Issues

1. Font Rendering Problems

If text doesn’t render correctly:

Set a widely available DefaultFont (Arial, Times New Roman)
Use FontSubstitutes to map specific OneNote fonts to available alternatives
If special characters appear as boxes, ensure you’re using a font with needed character support

2. Image and Layout Issues

If images or layouts don’t convert well:

Try converting to PDF first, as it typically preserves layout better
For image formats, adjust DPI to balance quality and file size
Consider page size settings that match the original OneNote aspect ratio

3. Complex Content Handling

For notebooks with complex content:

Test different output formats to find the best match for your content
Consider converting to multiple formats based on content type
For complex tables or embedded content, PDF usually gives the best results

4. Section and Page Structure

When preserving notebook structure:

Use bookmarks (in PDF) to maintain section hierarchy
For Word format output, heading styles help maintain organization
Consider converting sections individually for more control

What You’ve Learned

In this tutorial, you’ve learned:

How to convert OneNote documents to PDF, images, and other formats
Customizing font handling with substitution and defaults
Controlling formatting and layout during conversion
Implementing both storage-based and stream-based OneNote conversions
Troubleshooting common OneNote conversion challenges

Further Practice

To reinforce your learning, try these exercises:

Create a batch conversion utility that processes multiple OneNote files with consistent font handling
Implement a web-based OneNote viewer that converts sections to responsive HTML
Build a reporting system that extracts and converts specific OneNote sections to PDF
Create a comparison tool that shows how different output formats preserve OneNote content

Next Tutorial

Ready to learn more? Continue with our Tutorial: Converting PDF Documents with Custom Options to master PDF handling with annotations and security options.

Additional Resources

Have questions about this tutorial? Feel free to reach out on our forum for support.