Generating PDFs in C# using IronPDF

C# developers can use IronPDF to generate PDFs from HTML. This article will demonstrate this process with a C# Windows Forms application created using the .NET Framework.

Please follow these steps to create a project in Visual Studio 2019.

Step 1. Create a Visual Studio Project

First, open Visual Studio 2019.

Click on 'Create a new project'.

Now, select 'Windows Forms App' from the Template, and press 'Next'. The following window will appear:

Enter the Project Name 'Create PDF using IronPDF'.

Click on the 'Create' button. The Project will be created as shown below.

Step 2. Install IronPDF using NuGet

• First, click the 'Tools' button on the Menu bar.
• A menu will open. Now click on the NuGet Package Manager Option.
• Another submenu will open. Now click on the option named Package Manager Console.

You will get a new screen under the command line. In it, write the command to install the IronPdf package.

Install-Package IronPdf

Press Enter after typing the command. Make sure your computer/laptop is connected to the Internet. The IronPdf package will automatically add to your existing project.

The screen above shows the package added successfully to your project.

Step 3. Design Form for User Input

Now add a label and set the text to "Create a PDF from HTML using IronPDF".

Next, add a Rich Text Box and a Button from the Toolbox. Set the Button Text as 'Convert'.

Step 4. Write Back-end Code to Create PDF File

Double-click on the 'Convert' button. A code window with a convert button click event will open.

Add code for importing the IronPDF library at the top of the .cs file.

First, add the following code to use IronPDF Library methods.

using IronPdf;

using IronPdf;

Imports IronPdf

Below is the initial code for the btnConvert_Click event, which is currently empty:

private void btnConvert_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{

}

private void btnConvert_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{

}

Private Sub btnConvert_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)

End Sub

Now write the following code in the button click event:

private void btnConvert_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    // Declare an HtmlToPdf object
    var HtmlLine = new HtmlToPdf();

    // Get HTML text from the user
    string strHtml = txtHtml.Text;

    // Create SaveFileDialog to choose the save path for the PDF file
    SaveFileDialog saveFileDialog = new SaveFileDialog
    {
        InitialDirectory = @"D:\",
        Title = "Save PDF",
        CheckPathExists = true,
        DefaultExt = "pdf",
        Filter = "pdf files (*.pdf)|*.pdf",
        FilterIndex = 2,
        RestoreDirectory = true
    };

    // If the user presses Save
    if (saveFileDialog.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
    {
        // Get the file path from the user
        string filePath = saveFileDialog.FileName;

        // Convert HTML to PDF and save at the specified path
        using var PDF = HtmlLine.RenderHtmlAsPdf(strHtml);
        PDF.SaveAs(filePath);

        // Clear the TextBox and show a message confirming the successful creation
        txtHtml.Text = "";
        MessageBox.Show("File created successfully.");
    }
}

private void btnConvert_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    // Declare an HtmlToPdf object
    var HtmlLine = new HtmlToPdf();

    // Get HTML text from the user
    string strHtml = txtHtml.Text;

    // Create SaveFileDialog to choose the save path for the PDF file
    SaveFileDialog saveFileDialog = new SaveFileDialog
    {
        InitialDirectory = @"D:\",
        Title = "Save PDF",
        CheckPathExists = true,
        DefaultExt = "pdf",
        Filter = "pdf files (*.pdf)|*.pdf",
        FilterIndex = 2,
        RestoreDirectory = true
    };

    // If the user presses Save
    if (saveFileDialog.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
    {
        // Get the file path from the user
        string filePath = saveFileDialog.FileName;

        // Convert HTML to PDF and save at the specified path
        using var PDF = HtmlLine.RenderHtmlAsPdf(strHtml);
        PDF.SaveAs(filePath);

        // Clear the TextBox and show a message confirming the successful creation
        txtHtml.Text = "";
        MessageBox.Show("File created successfully.");
    }
}

Private Sub btnConvert_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
	' Declare an HtmlToPdf object
	Dim HtmlLine = New HtmlToPdf()

	' Get HTML text from the user
	Dim strHtml As String = txtHtml.Text

	' Create SaveFileDialog to choose the save path for the PDF file
	Dim saveFileDialog As New SaveFileDialog With {
		.InitialDirectory = "D:\",
		.Title = "Save PDF",
		.CheckPathExists = True,
		.DefaultExt = "pdf",
		.Filter = "pdf files (*.pdf)|*.pdf",
		.FilterIndex = 2,
		.RestoreDirectory = True
	}

	' If the user presses Save
	If saveFileDialog.ShowDialog() = DialogResult.OK Then
		' Get the file path from the user
		Dim filePath As String = saveFileDialog.FileName

		' Convert HTML to PDF and save at the specified path
		Dim PDF = HtmlLine.RenderHtmlAsPdf(strHtml)
		PDF.SaveAs(filePath)

		' Clear the TextBox and show a message confirming the successful creation
		txtHtml.Text = ""
		MessageBox.Show("File created successfully.")
	End If
End Sub

Explanation:

• An HtmlToPdf object is created to utilize IronPDF's conversion capabilities.
• The HTML input is retrieved from a text box.
• A SaveFileDialog is used to prompt the user to specify where the resulting PDF should be saved.
• If the user chooses a file location and presses Save, the path is obtained.
• The HTML input is then rendered to a PDF using RenderHtmlAsPdf and saved to the chosen path.
• After saving, the text box is cleared, and a message box is displayed to confirm the PDF creation.

Step 5. Run the Project

When you run the project, you will see the following screen:

Enter HTML code in the RichTextBox, for example:

<h1>A Simple PDF File</h1><br><h6>Heading 6</h6>

<h1>A Simple PDF File</h1><br><h6>Heading 6</h6>

Click on 'Convert'. You will get a save file dialog.

Once you click the save button, the file will be saved at your specified path with the name and location defined.

Output File

The output PDF document will look like this:

Conclusion

The tutorial above explains creating a PDF from HTML using the IronPDF Library.

For more information, visit the IronPDF Official Site. The library also provides other functionalities that support fully customizable PDF files, merging and splitting files programmatically, or simply checking sample codes demonstrating various features.

You can evaluate it using the 30-day trial key. There's currently an excellent offer available where you can get five Iron Software products for the price of just two. Visit this IronPDF Licensing Information for more information about licensing.