How to get PDF annotations including comments in C# .NET Framework

Need a quick way to extract annotation info from a PDF file? Well, look no further. This lightning fast tutorial will have you up and running in no time.

Let’s begin by installing our API Client via Package Manager.

Install-Package Cloudmersive.APIClient.NET.DocumentAndDataConvert -Version 2.2.0

Now we can call EditPdfGetAnnotations and provide it with a PDF file.

using System;
using System.Diagnostics;
using Cloudmersive.APIClient.NET.DocumentAndDataConvert.Api;
using Cloudmersive.APIClient.NET.DocumentAndDataConvert.Client;
using Cloudmersive.APIClient.NET.DocumentAndDataConvert.Model;
namespace Example
{
public class EditPdfGetAnnotationsExample
{
public void main()
{
// Configure API key authorization: Apikey
Configuration.Default.AddApiKey("Apikey", "YOUR_API_KEY");
// Uncomment below to setup prefix (e.g. Bearer) for API key, if needed
// Configuration.Default.AddApiKeyPrefix("Apikey", "Bearer");
var apiInstance = new EditPdfApi();
var inputFile = new System.IO.Stream(); // System.IO.Stream | Input file to perform the operation on.
try
{
// Get PDF annotations, including comments in the document
GetPdfAnnotationsResult result = apiInstance.EditPdfGetAnnotations(inputFile);
Debug.WriteLine(result);
}
catch (Exception e)
{
Debug.Print("Exception when calling EditPdfApi.EditPdfGetAnnotations: " + e.Message );
}
}
}
}

The API will return the annotations to us in this format:

{
  "Successful": true,
  "Annotations": [
    {
      "Title": "string",
      "AnnotationType": "string",
      "PageNumber": 0,
      "AnnotationIndex": 0,
      "Subject": "string",
      "TextContents": "string",
      "CreationDate": "2020-02-08T04:09:02.524Z",
      "ModifiedDate": "2020-02-08T04:09:02.524Z",
      "LeftX": 0,
      "TopY": 0,
      "Width": 0,
      "Height": 0
    }
  ]
}

And that’s a wrap. If you are looking for this same approach to similar issues such as document editing and format conversion, be sure to take a look at our documentation for more useful functions.