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Section

Updated on Jul 15, 2026

Section is a BlockContainer element that can contain other block elements. You can customize its layout through its properties.

Inserting a Section
Modifying a Section
Operating with a Section

Inserting a Section

You can use the code snippet from Example 1 to create a Section element and add it to a RadFlowDocument.

Example 1: Create a Section and add it to a RadFlowDocument manually

Section section = new Section(document);
document.Sections.Add(section);

You can also use the AddSection() method of the Sections collection of a document. The method creates a new Section element, adds it to the document, and returns it.

Example 2: Create and add a Section with the AddSection helper method

section = document.Sections.AddSection();

Modifying a Section

The Section exposes several properties that allow you to customize the layout of the elements placed underneath it.

PageMargins: Represents the margin towards the edges of the page.

Example 3: Set explicit page margins for a section
C#
```
section.PageMargins = new Padding(10, 10, 5, 5);
```
PageOrientation: Specifies whether the pages in the section are in Portrait or in Landscape orientation. This property determines the actual size of the paper to use on the printer and does not reflect the document visualization. To affect the Section appearance, change the PageSize and PageMargin properties, or use the Rotate method, which changes them according to the desired page orientation.

Example 4: Change a section to landscape orientation
C#
```
section.PageOrientation = PageOrientation.Landscape;
```
PageSize: Specifies the size of the pages in the section. The width and height are in device independent pixels (1/96 inch). The PaperTypeConverter class and the PaperTypes enumeration provide a convenient API and predefined sizes.

Example 5: Set the section page size to A4
C#
```
section.PageSize = PaperTypeConverter.ToSize(PaperTypes.A4);
```
Headers and Footers: Each Section has three Headers and three Footers—Default (used all through the section), First (used on the first page of the section), and Even (used on even pages of the document). The three Headers are contained in the Headers class accessible through the Section.Headers property. The three Footers are contained in the Footers class accessible through the Section.Footers property. Example 6 shows how to create a default Header.

Example 6: Create a default header with right-aligned sample text
C#
```
Header header = section.Headers.Add();
Paragraph paragraph = header.Blocks.AddParagraph();
paragraph.TextAlignment = Alignment.Right;
paragraph.Inlines.AddRun("This is a sample header.");
```
HeaderTopMargin: Gets or sets the top margin of the header. The value is in device independent pixels (1/96 inch).
FooterBottomMargin: Gets or sets the bottom margin of the footer. The value is in device independent pixels (1/96 inch).

For more information on how to work with the different types of headers and footers, refer to the Headers and Footers article.

SectionType: Defines the section types:
- NextPage: Specifies that the section starts on the next page.
- EvenPage: Specifies that the section starts on the next even page.
- OddPage: Specifies that the section starts on the next odd page.
- Continuous: Specifies that the section starts on the same page.
- NextColumn: Specifies that the section starts on the next column on the page.
VerticalAlignment: Defines the vertical alignment:
- Top: Specifies the section layout is top aligned. This is the default value.
- Bottom: Specifies the section layout is bottom aligned.
- Center: Specifies the section layout is center aligned.
- Justified: Specifies the section layout is justified.
PageNumberingSettings: Defines page numbering settings. You can modify the settings through the following properties:
- ChapterSeparatorCharacter: Specifies the chapter separator character that appears between the chapter heading style index and the page number.
- ChapterHeadingStyleIndex: Specifies the index of the chapter heading style. The possible values are from 1 to 9 inclusive (Heading1, Heading2, and so on).
- PageNumberFormat: Specifies the number format for the page numbering in the current section.
- StartingPageNumber: Specifies the starting page number that appears on the first page of the section. The possible values are 0 or greater.
Properties: Gets all section properties as a SectionProperties object. For more information on how to use section properties, refer to the Style Properties article.

Operating with a Section

Adding Elements to a Section

Section derives from BlockContainerBase, inheriting the Blocks property of BlockCollection type. You can add Paragraph and Table objects to that collection.

Example 7: Add a paragraph and a table to a section block collection

paragraph = section.Blocks.AddParagraph();
Table table = section.Blocks.AddTable();

Rotating a Section

You can rotate the Section to visualize its pages in Portrait or Landscape mode.

Example 8: Rotate a section to landscape with the Rotate method

section.Rotate(PageOrientation.Landscape);