How to Migrate from PDFPrinting.NET to IronPDF in C#

Understanding PDFPrinting.NET

PDFPrinting.NET (Terminalworks; NuGet PdfPrintingNet) is a specialized library focused on silent PDF printing within Windows environments. As a dedicated tool focused on the silent printing of existing PDFs, it simplifies the task of dispatching documents to a printer programmatically without user intervention. The newer entry point is the PdfPrint class; older code may still reference the legacy TerminalWorks.PDFPrinting.PDFPrinter.

A core strength is silent printing — bypassing the usual print dialogue windows so fully automated workflows can run unattended.

The Printing-Centric Limitation

PDFPrinting.NET concentrates on a narrow set of operations and does not author new PDF content. Its scope is print, view, basic edit, and rasterize existing documents:

1. Print-centric: Authors no new PDF content — only prints, views, edits, and rasterizes pre-existing PDFs.

2. Windows-only printing: Tied to the Windows printing infrastructure, which limits cross-platform usability.

3. No HTML/URL-to-PDF API: There is no HtmlToPdfConverter and no WebPageToPdfConverter class — these features do not exist in the API surface.

4. Limited manipulation: Basic merge/split/extract is available via PdfPrintDocument; there is no watermarking or modern content authoring.

5. No comprehensive text extraction surface.

6. No form filling or flattening.

PDFPrinting.NET vs IronPDF Comparison

IronPDF presents a more comprehensive solution by addressing the complete lifecycle of PDF handling. It facilitates the creation, editing, conversion, and printing of PDF documents, offering developers a full suite of features through a unified API. Unlike PDFPrinting.NET, IronPDF can be deployed across different platforms, making it a versatile choice for applications that operate in diverse environments.

For teams on modern .NET, IronPDF provides a complete PDF solution that works across Windows, Linux, and macOS environments.

Prerequisites

1. .NET Environment: .NET Framework 4.6.2+ or .NET Core 3.1+ / .NET 5/6/7/8/9+
2. NuGet Access: Ability to install NuGet packages
3. IronPDF License: Obtain your license key from ironpdf.com

NuGet Package Changes

# Remove PDFPrinting.NET (the actual NuGet ID is PdfPrintingNet)
dotnet remove package PdfPrintingNet

# Install IronPDF
dotnet add package IronPdf

# Remove PDFPrinting.NET (the actual NuGet ID is PdfPrintingNet)
dotnet remove package PdfPrintingNet

# Install IronPDF
dotnet add package IronPdf

License Configuration

// Add at application startup (Program.cs or Startup.cs)
IronPdf.License.LicenseKey = "YOUR-LICENSE-KEY";

// Add at application startup (Program.cs or Startup.cs)
IronPdf.License.LicenseKey = "YOUR-LICENSE-KEY";

' Add at application startup (Program.vb or Startup.vb)
IronPdf.License.LicenseKey = "YOUR-LICENSE-KEY"

Identify PDFPrinting.NET Usage

# Find PDFPrinting.NET usage (newer + legacy namespaces)
grep -rE "PdfPrintingNet|TerminalWorks\.PDFPrinting|PdfPrint\b|PdfPrintDocument|PDFPrinter" --include="*.cs" .

# Find print-related code
grep -r "\.Print(\|PrinterName\|GetPrintDocument" --include="*.cs" .

# Find PDFPrinting.NET usage (newer + legacy namespaces)
grep -rE "PdfPrintingNet|TerminalWorks\.PDFPrinting|PdfPrint\b|PdfPrintDocument|PDFPrinter" --include="*.cs" .

# Find print-related code
grep -r "\.Print(\|PrinterName\|GetPrintDocument" --include="*.cs" .

Namespace Changes

// Before: PDFPrinting.NET
// Newer API:
using PdfPrintingNet;
// Older code may use:
using TerminalWorks.PDFPrinting;

// After: IronPDF
using IronPdf;
using IronPdf.Rendering;
using IronPdf.Printing;

// Before: PDFPrinting.NET
// Newer API:
using PdfPrintingNet;
// Older code may use:
using TerminalWorks.PDFPrinting;

// After: IronPDF
using IronPdf;
using IronPdf.Rendering;
using IronPdf.Printing;

' Before: PDFPrinting.NET
' Newer API:
Imports PdfPrintingNet
' Older code may use:
Imports TerminalWorks.PDFPrinting

' After: IronPDF
Imports IronPdf
Imports IronPdf.Rendering
Imports IronPdf.Printing

Core Class Mappings

Printing Method Mappings

New Features Not Available in PDFPrinting.NET

Example 1: HTML to PDF Conversion

Before (PDFPrinting.NET): PDFPrinting.NET has no HTML-to-PDF API — there is no HtmlToPdfConverter class. The closest workflow is to generate the PDF with another library and then print or hand off the file:

// NuGet: Install-Package PdfPrintingNet
using PdfPrintingNet;
using System;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // Step 1: Produce the PDF with another library (PDFPrinting.NET cannot).
        // Step 2: Print the existing PDF file.
        var pdfPrint = new PdfPrint("license-owner", "license-key");
        var status = pdfPrint.Print("output.pdf");
        Console.WriteLine($"Printed: {status}");
    }
}

// NuGet: Install-Package PdfPrintingNet
using PdfPrintingNet;
using System;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // Step 1: Produce the PDF with another library (PDFPrinting.NET cannot).
        // Step 2: Print the existing PDF file.
        var pdfPrint = new PdfPrint("license-owner", "license-key");
        var status = pdfPrint.Print("output.pdf");
        Console.WriteLine($"Printed: {status}");
    }
}

Imports PdfPrintingNet
Imports System

Class Program
    Shared Sub Main()
        ' Step 1: Produce the PDF with another library (PDFPrinting.NET cannot).
        ' Step 2: Print the existing PDF file.
        Dim pdfPrint = New PdfPrint("license-owner", "license-key")
        Dim status = pdfPrint.Print("output.pdf")
        Console.WriteLine($"Printed: {status}")
    End Sub
End Class

After (IronPDF):

// NuGet: Install-Package IronPdf
using IronPdf;
using System;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        IronPdf.License.LicenseKey = "YOUR-LICENSE-KEY";

        var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
        string html = "<html><body><h1>Hello World</h1></body></html>";
        var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(html);
        pdf.SaveAs("output.pdf");
        Console.WriteLine("PDF created successfully");
    }
}

// NuGet: Install-Package IronPdf
using IronPdf;
using System;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        IronPdf.License.LicenseKey = "YOUR-LICENSE-KEY";

        var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
        string html = "<html><body><h1>Hello World</h1></body></html>";
        var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(html);
        pdf.SaveAs("output.pdf");
        Console.WriteLine("PDF created successfully");
    }
}

Imports IronPdf
Imports System

Class Program
    Shared Sub Main()
        IronPdf.License.LicenseKey = "YOUR-LICENSE-KEY"

        Dim renderer As New ChromePdfRenderer()
        Dim html As String = "<html><body><h1>Hello World</h1></body></html>"
        Dim pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(html)
        pdf.SaveAs("output.pdf")
        Console.WriteLine("PDF created successfully")
    End Sub
End Class

Because PDFPrinting.NET cannot author PDFs at all, the migration is not a one-for-one class swap — it's adopting a new capability. IronPDF's ChromePdfRenderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf() returns a PdfDocument you can manipulate (watermarks, merging, security) before saving with SaveAs(). By leveraging a Chromium-based engine, IronPDF replicates modern CSS and JavaScript rendering with high fidelity. See the HTML to PDF documentation for comprehensive examples.

Example 2: URL to PDF Conversion

Before (PDFPrinting.NET): There is no WebPageToPdfConverter class — PDFPrinting.NET does not download or render web pages. A separate library must capture the URL as PDF first; PDFPrinting.NET can then print the resulting file:

// NuGet: Install-Package PdfPrintingNet
using PdfPrintingNet;
using System;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // Step 1: Capture the URL with another library (PDFPrinting.NET cannot).
        // Step 2: Print the resulting PDF.
        var pdfPrint = new PdfPrint("license-owner", "license-key");
        var status = pdfPrint.Print("webpage.pdf");
        Console.WriteLine($"Printed: {status}");
    }
}

// NuGet: Install-Package PdfPrintingNet
using PdfPrintingNet;
using System;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // Step 1: Capture the URL with another library (PDFPrinting.NET cannot).
        // Step 2: Print the resulting PDF.
        var pdfPrint = new PdfPrint("license-owner", "license-key");
        var status = pdfPrint.Print("webpage.pdf");
        Console.WriteLine($"Printed: {status}");
    }
}

Imports PdfPrintingNet
Imports System

Class Program
    Shared Sub Main()
        ' Step 1: Capture the URL with another library (PDFPrinting.NET cannot).
        ' Step 2: Print the resulting PDF.
        Dim pdfPrint As New PdfPrint("license-owner", "license-key")
        Dim status = pdfPrint.Print("webpage.pdf")
        Console.WriteLine($"Printed: {status}")
    End Sub
End Class

After (IronPDF):

// NuGet: Install-Package IronPdf
using IronPdf;
using System;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        IronPdf.License.LicenseKey = "YOUR-LICENSE-KEY";

        var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
        string url = "https://www.example.com";
        var pdf = renderer.RenderUrlAsPdf(url);
        pdf.SaveAs("webpage.pdf");
        Console.WriteLine("PDF from URL created successfully");
    }
}

// NuGet: Install-Package IronPdf
using IronPdf;
using System;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        IronPdf.License.LicenseKey = "YOUR-LICENSE-KEY";

        var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
        string url = "https://www.example.com";
        var pdf = renderer.RenderUrlAsPdf(url);
        pdf.SaveAs("webpage.pdf");
        Console.WriteLine("PDF from URL created successfully");
    }
}

Imports IronPdf
Imports System

Module Program
    Sub Main()
        IronPdf.License.LicenseKey = "YOUR-LICENSE-KEY"

        Dim renderer As New ChromePdfRenderer()
        Dim url As String = "https://www.example.com"
        Dim pdf = renderer.RenderUrlAsPdf(url)
        pdf.SaveAs("webpage.pdf")
        Console.WriteLine("PDF from URL created successfully")
    End Sub
End Module

IronPDF uses a single ChromePdfRenderer class for both HTML strings and URLs, with RenderUrlAsPdf() handling the web capture in one call. Learn more in our tutorials.

Example 3: Headers and Footers

Before (PDFPrinting.NET): PDFPrinting.NET cannot author headers or footers — it does not generate PDFs from HTML or any other source, and offers no header/footer composition API. If your PDF already contains them, the library can print it:

// NuGet: Install-Package PdfPrintingNet
using PdfPrintingNet;
using System;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // Headers/footers must already be baked into the PDF.
        var pdfPrint = new PdfPrint("license-owner", "license-key");
        pdfPrint.Print("report.pdf");
        Console.WriteLine("PDF with pre-existing headers/footers printed");
    }
}

// NuGet: Install-Package PdfPrintingNet
using PdfPrintingNet;
using System;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // Headers/footers must already be baked into the PDF.
        var pdfPrint = new PdfPrint("license-owner", "license-key");
        pdfPrint.Print("report.pdf");
        Console.WriteLine("PDF with pre-existing headers/footers printed");
    }
}

Imports PdfPrintingNet
Imports System

Module Program
    Sub Main()
        ' Headers/footers must already be baked into the PDF.
        Dim pdfPrint As New PdfPrint("license-owner", "license-key")
        pdfPrint.Print("report.pdf")
        Console.WriteLine("PDF with pre-existing headers/footers printed")
    End Sub
End Module

After (IronPDF):

// NuGet: Install-Package IronPdf
using IronPdf;
using IronPdf.Rendering;
using System;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        IronPdf.License.LicenseKey = "YOUR-LICENSE-KEY";

        var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
        renderer.RenderingOptions.HtmlHeader = new HtmlHeaderFooter()
        {
            HtmlFragment = "<div style='text-align:center'>Company Report</div>"
        };
        renderer.RenderingOptions.HtmlFooter = new HtmlHeaderFooter()
        {
            HtmlFragment = "<div style='text-align:center'>Page {page} of {total-pages}</div>"
        };
        string html = "<html><body><h1>Document Content</h1></body></html>";
        var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(html);
        pdf.SaveAs("report.pdf");
        Console.WriteLine("PDF with headers/footers created");
    }
}

// NuGet: Install-Package IronPdf
using IronPdf;
using IronPdf.Rendering;
using System;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        IronPdf.License.LicenseKey = "YOUR-LICENSE-KEY";

        var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
        renderer.RenderingOptions.HtmlHeader = new HtmlHeaderFooter()
        {
            HtmlFragment = "<div style='text-align:center'>Company Report</div>"
        };
        renderer.RenderingOptions.HtmlFooter = new HtmlHeaderFooter()
        {
            HtmlFragment = "<div style='text-align:center'>Page {page} of {total-pages}</div>"
        };
        string html = "<html><body><h1>Document Content</h1></body></html>";
        var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(html);
        pdf.SaveAs("report.pdf");
        Console.WriteLine("PDF with headers/footers created");
    }
}

Imports IronPdf
Imports IronPdf.Rendering
Imports System

Module Program
    Sub Main()
        IronPdf.License.LicenseKey = "YOUR-LICENSE-KEY"

        Dim renderer As New ChromePdfRenderer()
        renderer.RenderingOptions.HtmlHeader = New HtmlHeaderFooter() With {
            .HtmlFragment = "<div style='text-align:center'>Company Report</div>"
        }
        renderer.RenderingOptions.HtmlFooter = New HtmlHeaderFooter() With {
            .HtmlFragment = "<div style='text-align:center'>Page {page} of {total-pages}</div>"
        }
        Dim html As String = "<html><body><h1>Document Content</h1></body></html>"
        Dim pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(html)
        pdf.SaveAs("report.pdf")
        Console.WriteLine("PDF with headers/footers created")
    End Sub
End Module

IronPDF uses HtmlHeaderFooter objects with an HtmlFragment property that accepts full HTML, allowing rich styling with CSS. Placeholders such as {page} and {total-pages} are substituted at render time.

Header/Footer Placeholders Are an IronPDF-Only Feature

PDFPrinting.NET has no header or footer authoring API at all, so there is no placeholder syntax to migrate from. IronPDF supports {page} and {total-pages} placeholders inside HtmlHeaderFooter.HtmlFragment:

// IronPDF placeholders
"Page {page} of {total-pages}"

// IronPDF placeholders
"Page {page} of {total-pages}"

"Page {page} of {total-pages}"

Load-Then-Print Pattern

PDFPrinting.NET passes file paths directly to Print(); IronPDF loads the document first:

// PDFPrinting.NET: Direct path to Print()
pdfPrint.Print("document.pdf");

// IronPDF: Load first, then operate
var pdf = PdfDocument.FromFile("document.pdf");
pdf.Print();

// PDFPrinting.NET: Direct path to Print()
pdfPrint.Print("document.pdf");

// IronPDF: Load first, then operate
var pdf = PdfDocument.FromFile("document.pdf");
pdf.Print();

' PDFPrinting.NET: Direct path to Print()
pdfPrint.Print("document.pdf")

' IronPDF: Load first, then operate
Dim pdf = PdfDocument.FromFile("document.pdf")
pdf.Print()

Print Settings Migration

PDFPrinting.NET uses properties on PdfPrint; IronPDF uses a settings object:

// PDFPrinting.NET: Properties on PdfPrint
pdfPrint.Copies = 2;
pdfPrint.Duplex = true;

// IronPDF: Settings object
var settings = new PrintSettings
{
    NumberOfCopies = 2,
    DuplexMode = System.Drawing.Printing.Duplex.Vertical
};
pdf.Print(settings);

// PDFPrinting.NET: Properties on PdfPrint
pdfPrint.Copies = 2;
pdfPrint.Duplex = true;

// IronPDF: Settings object
var settings = new PrintSettings
{
    NumberOfCopies = 2,
    DuplexMode = System.Drawing.Printing.Duplex.Vertical
};
pdf.Print(settings);

' PDFPrinting.NET: Properties on PdfPrint
pdfPrint.Copies = 2
pdfPrint.Duplex = True

' IronPDF: Settings object
Dim settings As New PrintSettings With {
    .NumberOfCopies = 2,
    .DuplexMode = System.Drawing.Printing.Duplex.Vertical
}
pdf.Print(settings)

PDF Merging

var pdf1 = PdfDocument.FromFile("document1.pdf");
var pdf2 = PdfDocument.FromFile("document2.pdf");
var merged = PdfDocument.Merge(pdf1, pdf2);
merged.SaveAs("merged.pdf");

var pdf1 = PdfDocument.FromFile("document1.pdf");
var pdf2 = PdfDocument.FromFile("document2.pdf");
var merged = PdfDocument.Merge(pdf1, pdf2);
merged.SaveAs("merged.pdf");

Dim pdf1 = PdfDocument.FromFile("document1.pdf")
Dim pdf2 = PdfDocument.FromFile("document2.pdf")
Dim merged = PdfDocument.Merge(pdf1, pdf2)
merged.SaveAs("merged.pdf")

Watermarks

pdf.ApplyWatermark("<h2 style='color:red;'>CONFIDENTIAL</h2>");

pdf.ApplyWatermark("<h2 style='color:red;'>CONFIDENTIAL</h2>");

pdf.ApplyWatermark("<h2 style='color:red;'>CONFIDENTIAL</h2>")

Password Protection

pdf.SecuritySettings.UserPassword = "userpassword";
pdf.SecuritySettings.OwnerPassword = "ownerpassword";

pdf.SecuritySettings.UserPassword = "userpassword";
pdf.SecuritySettings.OwnerPassword = "ownerpassword";

pdf.SecuritySettings.UserPassword = "userpassword"
pdf.SecuritySettings.OwnerPassword = "ownerpassword"

Text Extraction

string text = pdf.ExtractAllText();

string text = pdf.ExtractAllText();

Dim text As String = pdf.ExtractAllText()

Generate-Then-Print Workflow

With IronPDF, you can generate PDFs and print them in one workflow:

var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf("<h1>Invoice</h1>");
pdf.Print("Invoice Printer");

var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf("<h1>Invoice</h1>");
pdf.Print("Invoice Printer");

Dim renderer As New ChromePdfRenderer()
Dim pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf("<h1>Invoice</h1>")
pdf.Print("Invoice Printer")

Windows

pdf.Print("HP LaserJet");

pdf.Print("HP LaserJet");

pdf.Print("HP LaserJet")

Linux

// Requires CUPS (Common Unix Printing System)
// Install: apt-get install cups
pdf.Print("HP_LaserJet");  // CUPS uses underscores instead of spaces

// Requires CUPS (Common Unix Printing System)
// Install: apt-get install cups
pdf.Print("HP_LaserJet");  // CUPS uses underscores instead of spaces

macOS

pdf.Print("HP LaserJet");

pdf.Print("HP LaserJet");

pdf.Print("HP LaserJet")

Pre-Migration

• Inventory all PDFPrinting.NET usage in codebase
• Document all printer names currently used
• Note all print settings configurations
• Identify if cross-platform support is needed
• Plan IronPDF license key storage (environment variables recommended)
• Test with IronPDF trial license first

Package Changes

• Remove PdfPrintingNet NuGet package
• Install IronPdf NuGet package: dotnet add package IronPdf

Code Changes

• Update namespace imports (PdfPrintingNet / legacy TerminalWorks.PDFPrinting → IronPdf)
• Convert pdfPrint.Print(path) calls to the PdfDocument.FromFile(path).Print() pattern
• Move per-print properties (Copies, Duplex, Collate, PrinterName) onto a PrintSettings object
• Adopt new capabilities: use ChromePdfRenderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf / RenderUrlAsPdf for HTML and URL inputs (no equivalent existed in PDFPrinting.NET)
• Configure headers/footers via RenderingOptions.HtmlHeader and HtmlFooter (new capability)
• Set IronPdf.License.LicenseKey at application startup

Post-Migration

• Test printing on all target platforms
• Verify header/footer rendering
• Consider adding PDF generation for dynamic documents
• Add new capabilities (merging, watermarks, security) as needed