PDFium in C# Alternatives Using IronPDF

PDFium library is an open-source rendering engine developed by Google specifically for working with Portable Document Format (PDF) files, with or without images, including PNG, etc. However, IronPDF doesn't just use the PDFium rendering interface engine as its source code setup; it also builds on top of it to provide additional functionality, making it easier to write/test project source code without any errors or bugs. IronPDF adds support for converting HTML documents to PDF documents — something that the PDFium .NET SDK does not support out of the box.

IronPDF uses the power of the open-source technology provided by PDFium to provide customers with a comprehensive set of tools needed for developing interactive Microsoft .NET Windows Applications that work with PDF files in some way. This includes converting HTML files into PDF files, splitting or merging PDF pages, extracting text from PDF documents, adding signatures or watermarks to a PDF file, filling out PDF forms, printing PDFs, etc.

IronPDF Creates Better PDF Files than PDFium Does

IronPDF has made significant improvements over PDFium in terms of creating PDFs. While PDFium can create and load basic PDFs, it lacks many features that users expect from a modern PDF document library. IronPDF addresses this shortcoming with an easy-to-use API for creating complex PDFs with headers and footers, page count, page numbers, bookmarks, watermarks, and much more.

IronPDF allows users to define custom paper sizes for PDF rendering. Here's a look at a sample code:

// Create a ChromePdfRenderer instance.
var renderer = new IronPdf.ChromePdfRenderer();

// Set the paper size to custom.
renderer.RenderingOptions.PaperSize = IronPdf.Rendering.PdfPaperSize.Custom;

// Define custom height and width for the PDF.
int height = 5;
int width = 5;

// Assign the custom dimensions to the rendering options.
renderer.RenderingOptions.SetCustomPaperSizeInInches(height, width);

// Create a ChromePdfRenderer instance.
var renderer = new IronPdf.ChromePdfRenderer();

// Set the paper size to custom.
renderer.RenderingOptions.PaperSize = IronPdf.Rendering.PdfPaperSize.Custom;

// Define custom height and width for the PDF.
int height = 5;
int width = 5;

// Assign the custom dimensions to the rendering options.
renderer.RenderingOptions.SetCustomPaperSizeInInches(height, width);

' Create a ChromePdfRenderer instance.
Dim renderer = New IronPdf.ChromePdfRenderer()

' Set the paper size to custom.
renderer.RenderingOptions.PaperSize = IronPdf.Rendering.PdfPaperSize.Custom

' Define custom height and width for the PDF.
Dim height As Integer = 5
Dim width As Integer = 5

' Assign the custom dimensions to the rendering options.
renderer.RenderingOptions.SetCustomPaperSizeInInches(height, width)

IronPDF Generates High-Quality Documents Quickly

When it comes to document generation, speed and memory are as important as quality. With IronPDF, you don't have to sacrifice one for the other. You can generate high-quality documents quickly from HTML files within an access directory.

Additional Environment Configurations

Building PDFium projects is not an easy task. It requires adding different modules and data for embedding PDFium. Unlike PDFium, IronPDF does not require any additional environment configuration or external dependencies. Instead, IronPDF includes all the necessary components as part of its core API. All related tools are installed automatically during IronPDF's installation.

Security Enhancements

IronPDF also offers enhancements to the security features in the library. It supports encrypting and decrypting PDF documents. It also provides several options for controlling what users can do with a document once it's been opened, such as printing, copying, and annotating.

Better Support and Documentation

IronPDF offers superior support and documentation compared to PDFium. If you encounter any issues while using IronPDF, our team is always available to assist. The comprehensive documentation, complete with images, makes it easy to start using IronPDF in your .NET applications.

How IronPDF is the Best Solution for Customers' Needs

IronPDF is the best solution for customers' needs because:

• It integrates easily with any .NET Web Application.
• It can create PDF files from HTML pages, CSS, and JavaScript files.
• The IronPDF library is also useful for customers who need to extract data from a PDF document or make changes to an existing document and source code.
• IronPDF offers excellent customer support and comprehensive documentation to help customers get started quickly.
• A free trial is also available so customers can try out the library before making a purchase.

Learn more about using IronPDF in .NET applications using the following tutorial to convert HTML to PDF.

How Easy It Is to Use IronPDF

Consider the following demonstration to see just how easy it is to use IronPDF. Suppose you have a URL path that you need to convert to a PDF; the conversion process with IronPDF is straightforward. The class library abstracts all the details of using the underlying IronPDF library. Just add a reference to the IronPDF library or install it using the NuGet Package Manager and call the RenderUrlAsPdf method, passing in the URL path and the path where you want the PDF file to be saved using the SaveAs function. You can easily convert any URL to a PDF doc in just two lines of code.

// Create a ChromePdfRenderer instance and store it in a variable.
var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();

// Render the URL as a PDF.
var page = renderer.RenderUrlAsPdf("https://dotnet.microsoft.com/");

// Save the rendered PDF to the specified file path.
page.SaveAs("website.pdf");

// Create a ChromePdfRenderer instance and store it in a variable.
var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();

// Render the URL as a PDF.
var page = renderer.RenderUrlAsPdf("https://dotnet.microsoft.com/");

// Save the rendered PDF to the specified file path.
page.SaveAs("website.pdf");

' Create a ChromePdfRenderer instance and store it in a variable.
Dim renderer = New ChromePdfRenderer()

' Render the URL as a PDF.
Dim page = renderer.RenderUrlAsPdf("https://dotnet.microsoft.com/")

' Save the rendered PDF to the specified file path.
page.SaveAs("website.pdf")

IronPDF Output

Conclusion

Building on top of the PDFium project has provided customers/developers with a reliable, up-to-date, and feature-rich PDF library. Our customers can be sure that their documents will look great, no matter what device or platform they are being viewed on. They can also take advantage of the powerful features that IronPDF code offers, making it easy for them to create, write, and share PDFs quickly and securely.

IronPDF offers a free trial period, so you can test out the software before making a purchase. Pricing starts at just $749, very affordable compared to other similar PDF rendering software. If you need to purchase multiple licenses, the company offers significant discounts. You can buy five product licenses for the price of just two by purchasing the Iron Suite.