using IronPdf; // Disable local disk access or cross-origin requests Installation.EnableWebSecurity = true; // Instantiate Renderer var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer(); // Create a PDF from a HTML string using C# var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf("<h1>Hello World</h1>"); // Export to a file or Stream pdf.SaveAs("output.pdf"); // Advanced Example with HTML Assets // Load external html assets: Images, CSS and JavaScript. // An optional BasePath 'C:\site\assets\' is set as the file location to load assets from var myAdvancedPdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf("<img src='icons/iron.png'>", @"C:\site\assets\"); myAdvancedPdf.SaveAs("html-with-assets.pdf");

using IronPdf; using System; // Step 1. Creating a PDF with editable forms from HTML using form and input tags // Radio Button and Checkbox can also be implemented with input type 'radio' and 'checkbox' const string formHtml = @" <html> <body> <h2>Editable PDF Form</h2> <form> First name: <br> <input type='text' name='firstname' value=''> <br> Last name: <br> <input type='text' name='lastname' value=''> <br> <br> <p>Please specify your gender:</p> <input type='radio' id='female' name='gender' value= 'Female'> <label for='female'>Female</label> <br> <br> <input type='radio' id='male' name='gender' value='Male'> <label for='male'>Male</label> <br> <br> <input type='radio' id='non-binary/other' name='gender' value='Non-Binary / Other'> <label for='non-binary/other'>Non-Binary / Other</label> <br> <p>Please select all medical conditions that apply:</p> <input type='checkbox' id='condition1' name='Hypertension' value='Hypertension'> <label for='condition1'> Hypertension</label><br> <input type='checkbox' id='condition2' name='Heart Disease' value='Heart Disease'> <label for='condition2'> Heart Disease</label><br> <input type='checkbox' id='condition3' name='Stoke' value='Stoke'> <label for='condition3'> Stoke</label><br> <input type='checkbox' id='condition4' name='Diabetes' value='Diabetes'> <label for='condition4'> Diabetes</label><br> <input type='checkbox' id='condition5' name='Kidney Disease' value='Kidney Disease'> <label for='condition5'> Kidney Disease</label><br> </form> </body> </html>"; // Instantiate Renderer var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer(); renderer.RenderingOptions.CreatePdfFormsFromHtml = true; renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(formHtml).SaveAs("BasicForm.pdf"); // Step 2. Reading and Writing PDF form values. var FormDocument = PdfDocument.FromFile("BasicForm.pdf"); // Set and Read the value of the "firstname" field var FirstNameField = FormDocument.Form.FindFormField("firstname"); FirstNameField.Value = "Minnie"; Console.WriteLine("FirstNameField value: {0}", FirstNameField.Value); // Set and Read the value of the "lastname" field var LastNameField = FormDocument.Form.FindFormField("lastname"); LastNameField.Value = "Mouse"; Console.WriteLine("LastNameField value: {0}", LastNameField.Value); FormDocument.SaveAs("FilledForm.pdf");

Published September 13, 2023

PDF Conversion in C# (Developer Tutorial)

PDF conversion in C# is a crucial and common task for developers dealing with document management and sharing.

Whether you're building a document management system, using electronic documents, implementing report generation, or needing to manipulate PDFs, this guide will be an invaluable resource for initiating your PDF conversion endeavors with C#. In this article, we will discuss how the PDF Converter works using IronPDF, the PDF Library for .NET and .NET Core.

IronPDF

IronPDF is a versatile and feature-rich software library designed to simplify the creation, manipulation, and management of PDF documents within the .NET ecosystem. Developed by Iron Software, this powerful tool set empowers developers with the ability to seamlessly integrate PDF functionality into their C#, VB.NET, and F# applications.

Whether you need to generate PDFs from scratch, convert your HTML pages, images, or existing documents into PDF format, or manipulate and edit existing PDFs, IronPDF offers a comprehensive suite of APIs and functionalities to streamline these tasks. This introduction provides a glimpse into the world of IronPDF, highlighting its capabilities and potential to enhance document processing and management in .NET applications. If you're interested in an itemization of these features, they're available on the IronPDF website.

PDF Generation: Easily create PDF documents from various sources, including HTML, images, text, and existing files.
HTML to PDF Conversion: Convert HTML content, including web pages or HTML templates, into high-quality PDFs with full control over styling and formatting.
Image to PDF Conversion: Convert image files (such as JPEG, PNG, or BMP) into PDF documents, allowing for easy integration of images into PDF reports and documents.
PDF Manipulation: Comprehensive PDF editing capabilities, including text extraction, page merging, splitting, and rotation, as well as adding, modifying, or removing content and annotations.
PDF Forms: Create, fill, and extract data from PDF forms, making it suitable for applications that require interactive forms and data collection.

Creating a New Visual Studio Project

Before we start writing the code, let's create a new Visual Studio C# Console application project to run our project and examples.

Open Visual Studio and create a new project by going to File > New > Project.
A new window will appear; in the new window, select the project format. In this case, we will select the console application and then click on the Next button located on the bottom left of the screen.
In the newly opened window, write the Project name and select the project Location, then click on the Next Button.
Select the target framework and click on the Create Button.

Now the project is created, let's install IronPDF.

Installing IronPDF

IronPDF offers many ways to download and install the PDF library. In this section, we will discuss how to install IronPDF using NuGet package manager.

In Visual Studio, go to the Tools menu and hover your pointer over NuGet Package Manager.
In the new side menu, click on the NuGet Package Manager for Solutions.
A new window will appear. In this new window, go to the Browse menu and type "IronPDF" in the search bar.
A list of IronPDF packages will appear; click on the latest package and click on "Install".
You can also install IronPDF using the NuGet package manager console; just open the NuGet console, type the following command, and press enter.
```
Install-Package IronPdf -Version 2023.8.6
```

Or you can directly download the package from the NuGet website.

PDF Conversion Using IronPDF

In this section, we will discuss how you can convert different documents and image formats into PDF files.

HTML Files to PDF Documents
Image to PDF Documents

HTML File to PDF Document

IronPDF offers this feature where you can convert HTML pages or HTML files to PDF content with just a few lines of code.

In the code snippet below, we will see the conversion of an HTML file into a PDF document.

using IronPdf;
var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlFileAsPdf("invoice.html");
pdf.SaveAs("output.pdf");

using IronPdf;
var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlFileAsPdf("invoice.html");
pdf.SaveAs("output.pdf");

Imports IronPdf
Private renderer = New ChromePdfRenderer()
Private pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlFileAsPdf("invoice.html")
pdf.SaveAs("output.pdf")

VB C#

This concise code snippet leverages the IronPDF library in C# to effortlessly transform an HTML file ("invoice.html") into a PDF document. By initializing a ChromePdfRenderer, it utilizes the Chromium-based rendering engine to ensure accurate conversion of HTML content to PDF, preserving the original appearance of the web page. The resulting PDF is then saved as "output.pdf" with a straightforward call to the SaveAs method. This streamlined process simplifies HTML-to-PDF conversion, making it an invaluable tool for generating PDFs from HTML content in C#.

Output

PDF Conversion in C# (Developer Tutorial) Figure 6 - An invoice PDF with Invoice as the title, and various invoice related fields displayed.

Image to PDF files

Now, let's discuss how you can convert an image to a PDF document using IronPDF. You will need a demo image for this, and with just a few lines of code, you can easily convert an image to a PDF.

Input Image

PDF Conversion in C# (Developer Tutorial) Figure 7 - A screenshot of the IronPDF website, with a variety of text.

using IronPdf;
using System.IO;
using System.Linq;
var imageFiles = Directory.EnumerateFiles("assets").Where(f => f.EndsWith(".png"));
ImageToPdfConverter.ImageToPdf(imageFiles).SaveAs("composite.pdf");

using IronPdf;
using System.IO;
using System.Linq;
var imageFiles = Directory.EnumerateFiles("assets").Where(f => f.EndsWith(".png"));
ImageToPdfConverter.ImageToPdf(imageFiles).SaveAs("composite.pdf");

Imports IronPdf
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Linq
Private imageFiles = Directory.EnumerateFiles("assets").Where(Function(f) f.EndsWith(".png"))
ImageToPdfConverter.ImageToPdf(imageFiles).SaveAs("composite.pdf")

VB C#

The above code snippet uses IronPDF and system input and output files. Then, the following code opens any files in the assets folder of our project that end with the .png file format and converts these image files into a PDF using the ImageToPdfConverter.ImageToPdf() method. Finally, it saves the PDF using the SaveAs method.

Output

PDF Conversion in C# (Developer Tutorial) Figure 8 - The previous image as a PDF, opened in Google Chrome.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this article sheds light on the significance of PDF conversion in C# for document management and sharing. With C#, it simplifies the entire process, enabling developers to seamlessly integrate PDF functionality into their applications. From generating PDFs to converting HTML, images, and existing documents, IronPDF offers a wide array of capabilities. The code examples provided showcase how to effortlessly convert both HTML documents and images to PDFs, highlighting the library's ease of use and effectiveness. As demonstrated, IronPDF greatly simplifies complex tasks, making it a valuable asset for developers seeking to enhance document processing and management in their .NET applications.

To download the PDF conversion library, visit the NuGet website. Also, make sure to check out the HTML-to-PDF conversion step-by-step tutorial with IronPDF.