IronPDF Quickstart Guide

1. Prerequisites

• .NET Framework 4.6.2+ OR .NET Core 3.1+ OR .NET 5+
• Visual C++ Redistributable (for Windows).

2. Install IronPDF

Standard IronPDF installation runs locally. If you want to deploy on Docker/microservices, check out Remote Engine Mode Guide.

Go to the IronPDF NuGet library:

1. In Solution Explorer, right-click on References
2. Select 'Manage NuGet Packages' > 'Browse' > Search IronPdf

Install-Package IronPdf

• Download IronPDF DLL package
• Unzip the ZIP file for your OS to a location within your Solution directory
• In Visual Studio Solution Explorer, right-click on 'Dependencies'
• 'Add Project Reference' > Select 'Browse' to include all the DLLs extracted from the zip.

RELATED: More on configuration settings

Platform-specific Guides

Windows

Linux

MacOS

Docker

Azure

AWS

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3. Apply License Key

When you purchase IronPDF licenses or choose to start with a 30-day trial, a license key will be sent to your email. Copy the key and add it at the start of your app.

IronPdf.License.LicenseKey = "YOUR-IRONPDF-LICENSE-KEY";

IronPdf.License.LicenseKey = "YOUR-IRONPDF-LICENSE-KEY";

IronPdf.License.LicenseKey = "YOUR-IRONPDF-LICENSE-KEY"

View IronPDF Licensing

4. Create Your First PDF

IronPDF helps you create PDFs or convert HTML, DOCX, RTF, Markdown, and images to PDF with full fidelity. Explore more types of PDF conversions

Add this at the top of your .cs file.

using IronPdf;

using IronPdf;

Imports IronPdf

The simplest way to create a PDF object uses just the width and height. This PdfDocument constructor creates a blank PDF, ready for customization.

using IronPdf;

PdfDocument pdf = new PdfDocument(270, 270);
pdf.SaveAs("blankPage.pdf");

using IronPdf;

PdfDocument pdf = new PdfDocument(270, 270);
pdf.SaveAs("blankPage.pdf");

IRON VB CONVERTER ERROR developers@ironsoftware.com

Using ChromePdfRenderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf method, you can transform any HTML (including HTML5) into a PDF using the embedded Chromium engine.

using IronPdf;

IronPdf.ChromePdfRender
       .StaticRenderHtmlAsPdf("<p>Hello Word</p>")
       .SaveAs("string-to-pdf.pdf");

using IronPdf;

IronPdf.ChromePdfRender
       .StaticRenderHtmlAsPdf("<p>Hello Word</p>")
       .SaveAs("string-to-pdf.pdf");

IRON VB CONVERTER ERROR developers@ironsoftware.com

RELATED HOW-TO ARTICLE: How to Convert HTML String to PDF in C#

Convert Word documents to PDF with the DocxToPdfRenderer class, you can render DOCX files directly into customizable PDFs for seamless integration into .NET apps.

using IronPdf;

DocxToPdfRenderer renderer = new DocxToPdfRenderer();
PdfDocument pdf = renderer.RenderDocxAsPdf("Modern-chronological-resume.docx");
pdf.SaveAs("pdfFromDocx.pdf");

using IronPdf;

DocxToPdfRenderer renderer = new DocxToPdfRenderer();
PdfDocument pdf = renderer.RenderDocxAsPdf("Modern-chronological-resume.docx");
pdf.SaveAs("pdfFromDocx.pdf");

Imports IronPdf

Private renderer As New DocxToPdfRenderer()
Private pdf As PdfDocument = renderer.RenderDocxAsPdf("Modern-chronological-resume.docx")
pdf.SaveAs("pdfFromDocx.pdf")

RELATED HOW-TO ARTICLE: How to Convert Microsoft Word to PDF in C#

5. More Advanced Examples

In addition to straightforward PDF creation and conversion, IronPDF also offers more powerful PDF customization options.

Create text headers or footers by instantiating TextHeaderFooter, adding your text, and attaching it to the PDF.

using IronPdf;

ChromePdfRenderer renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
PdfDocument pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf("<h1>Hello World!</h1>");

// Create text header
TextHeaderFooter textHeader = new TextHeaderFooter
{
    CenterText = "This is the header!",
};

// Create text footer
TextHeaderFooter textFooter = new TextHeaderFooter
{
    CenterText = "This is the footer!",
};

// Add text header and footer to the PDF
pdf.AddTextHeaders(textHeader);
pdf.AddTextFooters(textFooter);

pdf.SaveAs("addTextHeaderFooter.pdf");

using IronPdf;

ChromePdfRenderer renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
PdfDocument pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf("<h1>Hello World!</h1>");

// Create text header
TextHeaderFooter textHeader = new TextHeaderFooter
{
    CenterText = "This is the header!",
};

// Create text footer
TextHeaderFooter textFooter = new TextHeaderFooter
{
    CenterText = "This is the footer!",
};

// Add text header and footer to the PDF
pdf.AddTextHeaders(textHeader);
pdf.AddTextFooters(textFooter);

pdf.SaveAs("addTextHeaderFooter.pdf");

IRON VB CONVERTER ERROR developers@ironsoftware.com

RELATED HOW-TO ARTICLE: How to Add Headers and Footers

Redact text with ease using RedactTextOnAllPages to remove a phrase across the entire document.

using IronPdf;

PdfDocument pdf = PdfDocument.FromFile("novel.pdf");

// Redact 'Alaric' phrase from all pages
pdf.RedactTextOnAllPages("Alaric");

pdf.SaveAs("redacted.pdf");

using IronPdf;

PdfDocument pdf = PdfDocument.FromFile("novel.pdf");

// Redact 'Alaric' phrase from all pages
pdf.RedactTextOnAllPages("Alaric");

pdf.SaveAs("redacted.pdf");

Imports IronPdf

Private pdf As PdfDocument = PdfDocument.FromFile("novel.pdf")

' Redact 'Alaric' phrase from all pages
pdf.RedactTextOnAllPages("Alaric")

pdf.SaveAs("redacted.pdf")

RELATED HOW-TO ARTICLE: How to Render URL to PDF

Merge two PDF files in C# with the Merge method. Use ReplaceTextOnAllPages on any PdfDocument, new or imported, to swap old text with new.

using IronPdf;

ChromePdfRenderer renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();

PdfDocument pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf("<h1>.NET6</h1>");

string oldText = ".NET6";
string newText = ".NET7";

// Replace text on all pages
pdf.ReplaceTextOnAllPages(oldText, newText);

pdf.SaveAs("replaceText.pdf");

using IronPdf;

ChromePdfRenderer renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();

PdfDocument pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf("<h1>.NET6</h1>");

string oldText = ".NET6";
string newText = ".NET7";

// Replace text on all pages
pdf.ReplaceTextOnAllPages(oldText, newText);

pdf.SaveAs("replaceText.pdf");

Imports IronPdf

Private renderer As New ChromePdfRenderer()

Private pdf As PdfDocument = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf("<h1>.NET6</h1>")

Private oldText As String = ".NET6"
Private newText As String = ".NET7"

' Replace text on all pages
pdf.ReplaceTextOnAllPages(oldText, newText)

pdf.SaveAs("replaceText.pdf")

RELATED HOW-TO ARTICLE: How to Merge or Split PDFs

Quick Troubleshooting

Next Steps