iText7 Read PDF in C# Alternatives (VS IronPDF)

iText software

iText 7, formerly known as iText 7 Core, is a PDF library to program PDF documents in .NET C# and Java. It is available as an open source license (AGPL) and can be licensed for commercial applications.

iText Core is a high-level API that provides easy methods to generate and edit PDFs in all possible ways. With iText 7 Core, you can split, merge, annotate, fill forms, digitally sign, and do much more on PDF files. iText 7 provides an HTML to PDF converter.

IronPDF

Learn more about IronPDF is a .NET and .NET Framework C# and Java API used for generating PDF documents from HTML, CSS, and JavaScript either from a URL, HTML files, or HTML strings. IronPDF allows you to manipulate existing PDF files like splitting, merging, annotating, digitally signing, and much more.

IronPDF is enriched with 50+ features to create, read, and edit PDF files. It prioritizes speed, ease of use, and accuracy when you need to deliver high-quality, pixel-perfect professional PDF files with Adobe Acrobat Reader. The API is well documented, and a lot of sample source code can be found on its code examples page.

Create a Console Application

We are going to use Visual Studio 2022 IDE for creating an application to start with. Visual Studio is the official IDE for C# development, and you must have it installed. You can download it from the Microsoft Visual Studio website if not installed.

The following steps will create a new project named "DemoApp".

1. Open Visual Studio and click on "Create a New Project".

   

2. Select "Console Application" and click "Next".

   

3. Set the name of the project.

   

4. Select the .NET version. Choose the stable version .NET 6.0.

   

Install IronPDF Library

Once the project is created, the IronPDF library needs to be installed in the project to use it. Follow these steps to install it.

1. Open NuGet Package Manager, either from solution explorer or Tools.

   

2. Browse for IronPDF Library and select it for the current project. Click Install.

   

Add the following namespace at the top of Program.cs file:

using IronPdf;

using IronPdf;

Imports IronPdf

Install iText 7 Library

Once the project is created, the iText 7 library needs to be installed in the project to use it. Follow the steps to install it.

1. Open NuGet Package Manager either from solution explorer or Tools.

   

2. Browse for iText 7 Library and select it for the current project. Click install.

   

Add the following namespaces at the top of Program.cs file:

using iText.Kernel.Pdf.Canvas.Parser.Listener;
using iText.Kernel.Pdf.Canvas.Parser;
using iText.Kernel.Pdf;

using iText.Kernel.Pdf.Canvas.Parser.Listener;
using iText.Kernel.Pdf.Canvas.Parser;
using iText.Kernel.Pdf;

Imports iText.Kernel.Pdf.Canvas.Parser.Listener
Imports iText.Kernel.Pdf.Canvas.Parser
Imports iText.Kernel.Pdf

Open PDF files

We are going to use the following PDF file to extract text from it. It is a two-page PDF document.

// Initialize a reader instance by specifying the path of the PDF file
PdfReader pdfReader = new PdfReader("sample.pdf");

// Initialize a document instance using the PdfReader
PdfDocument pdfDoc = new PdfDocument(pdfReader);

// Initialize a reader instance by specifying the path of the PDF file
PdfReader pdfReader = new PdfReader("sample.pdf");

// Initialize a document instance using the PdfReader
PdfDocument pdfDoc = new PdfDocument(pdfReader);

' Initialize a reader instance by specifying the path of the PDF file
Dim pdfReader As New PdfReader("sample.pdf")

' Initialize a document instance using the PdfReader
Dim pdfDoc As New PdfDocument(pdfReader)

// Open a PDF file using IronPDF and create a PdfDocument instance
var pdf = PdfDocument.FromFile("sample.pdf");

// Open a PDF file using IronPDF and create a PdfDocument instance
var pdf = PdfDocument.FromFile("sample.pdf");

' Open a PDF file using IronPDF and create a PdfDocument instance
Dim pdf = PdfDocument.FromFile("sample.pdf")

Read Data from PDF files

// Iterate through each page and extract text
for (int page = 1; page <= pdfDoc.GetNumberOfPages(); page++)
{
    // Define the text extraction strategy
    ITextExtractionStrategy strategy = new SimpleTextExtractionStrategy();

    // Extract text from the current page using the strategy
    string pageContent = PdfTextExtractor.GetTextFromPage(pdfDoc.GetPage(page), strategy);

    // Output the extracted text to the console
    Console.WriteLine(pageContent);
}

// Close document and reader to release resources
pdfDoc.Close();
pdfReader.Close();

// Iterate through each page and extract text
for (int page = 1; page <= pdfDoc.GetNumberOfPages(); page++)
{
    // Define the text extraction strategy
    ITextExtractionStrategy strategy = new SimpleTextExtractionStrategy();

    // Extract text from the current page using the strategy
    string pageContent = PdfTextExtractor.GetTextFromPage(pdfDoc.GetPage(page), strategy);

    // Output the extracted text to the console
    Console.WriteLine(pageContent);
}

// Close document and reader to release resources
pdfDoc.Close();
pdfReader.Close();

' Iterate through each page and extract text
Dim page As Integer = 1
Do While page <= pdfDoc.GetNumberOfPages()
	' Define the text extraction strategy
	Dim strategy As ITextExtractionStrategy = New SimpleTextExtractionStrategy()

	' Extract text from the current page using the strategy
	Dim pageContent As String = PdfTextExtractor.GetTextFromPage(pdfDoc.GetPage(page), strategy)

	' Output the extracted text to the console
	Console.WriteLine(pageContent)
	page += 1
Loop

' Close document and reader to release resources
pdfDoc.Close()
pdfReader.Close()

// Extract all text from the PDF document
string text = pdf.ExtractAllText();

// Display the extracted text
Console.WriteLine(text);

// Extract all text from the PDF document
string text = pdf.ExtractAllText();

// Display the extracted text
Console.WriteLine(text);

' Extract all text from the PDF document
Dim text As String = pdf.ExtractAllText()

' Display the extracted text
Console.WriteLine(text)

Comparison

In comparison, both libraries give 100% accurate results while extracting text from a PDF document. They are identical when it comes to accuracy. However, IronPDF is more efficient in terms of performance and code readability.

IronPDF only takes two lines of code to achieve the same task as iText. It provides text extraction methods out of the box without any extra logic to be implemented. iText code is a bit tricky, and you have to close the two instances created at the time of opening a PDF document. Whereas, IronPDF clears the memory automatically once the task is performed.

Summary

In this article, we looked at how to read PDF documents using the iText library in C# and then compared it with IronPDF. Both libraries give accurate results and provide numerous PDF manipulation methods to work with. You can create, edit, and read data from PDF files using both of these libraries.

iText is open source and free to use but with restrictions. It can be licensed for commercial use. IronPDF is also free to use and can be licensed for commercial activities with a 30-day free trial available.

Download IronPDF and give it a try.