ASPX Pages to PDF in ASP.NET

3.1. Set PDF File Behavior

"InBrowser" file behavior attempts to show the PDF directly in the user's browser. This is not always possible in every web browser, but typically a common feature of modern, standards-compliant browsers.

IronPdf.AspxToPdf.RenderThisPageAsPdf(IronPdf.AspxToPdf.FileBehavior.InBrowser);

IronPdf.AspxToPdf.RenderThisPageAsPdf(IronPdf.AspxToPdf.FileBehavior.InBrowser);

IronPdf.AspxToPdf.RenderThisPageAsPdf(IronPdf.AspxToPdf.FileBehavior.InBrowser)

"Attachment" file behavior causes the PDF to be downloaded.

IronPdf.AspxToPdf.RenderThisPageAsPdf(IronPdf.AspxToPdf.FileBehavior.Attachment);

IronPdf.AspxToPdf.RenderThisPageAsPdf(IronPdf.AspxToPdf.FileBehavior.Attachment);

IRON VB CONVERTER ERROR developers@ironsoftware.com

3.2. Set PDF File Name

We may also set the file name of the PDF document by adding an additional parameter. This means we can control the name of the file when the user decides to download or keep it. When we save the ASPX page as a PDF, this name will be given to the PDF document.

IronPdf.AspxToPdf.RenderThisPageAsPdf(IronPdf.AspxToPdf.FileBehavior.Attachment, "Invoice.pdf");

IronPdf.AspxToPdf.RenderThisPageAsPdf(IronPdf.AspxToPdf.FileBehavior.Attachment, "Invoice.pdf");

IronPdf.AspxToPdf.RenderThisPageAsPdf(IronPdf.AspxToPdf.FileBehavior.Attachment, "Invoice.pdf")

3.3. Change PDF Print Options

We can control the output of the PDF by adding an instance of the IronPdf.ChromePdfRenderer Class. ChromePdfRenderer API Reference

:path=/static-assets/pdf/content-code-examples/how-to/aspx-to-pdf-3.cs

var AspxToPdfOptions = new IronPdf.ChromePdfRenderOptions()
{
    EnableJavaScript = false,
    //.. many more options available
};
IronPdf.AspxToPdf.RenderThisPageAsPdf(IronPdf.AspxToPdf.FileBehavior.Attachment, "Invoice.pdf", AspxToPdfOptions);

Dim AspxToPdfOptions = New IronPdf.ChromePdfRenderOptions() With {.EnableJavaScript = False}
IronPdf.AspxToPdf.RenderThisPageAsPdf(IronPdf.AspxToPdf.FileBehavior.Attachment, "Invoice.pdf", AspxToPdfOptions)

The PDF rendering options available include:

• CreatePdfFormsFromHtml Turns ASPX form elements into editable PDF forms.
• CssMediaType Screen or Print CSS Styles and StyleSheets. See our full in-depth tutorial with comparison images.
• CustomCssUrl Allows a custom CSS style-sheet to be applied to HTML before rendering. May be a local file path, or a remote URL.
• EnableMathematicalLaTex Enables or disables the rendering of mathematical LaTeX elements.
• EnableJavaScript Enables JavaScript and JSON to be executed before the page is rendered. Ideal for printing from Ajax / Angular Applications. Also see WaitFor how-to guide.
• Javascript Specifies a custom JavaScript string to be executed after all HTML has loaded but before PDF rendering.
• JavascriptMessageListener A method callback to be invoked whenever a browser JavaScript console message becomes available.
• FirstPageNumber First page number for Header and Footer. The default is 1.
• TableOfContents Generates a table of contents at the location in the HTML document where an element is found with id "ironpdf-toc".
• TextHeader Sets the footer content for every PDF page as text. Supports 'mail-merge' and automatically turns URLs into hyperlinks.
• TextFooter Sets the header content for every PDF page as text. Supports 'mail-merge' and automatically turns URLs into hyperlinks.
• HtmlHeader Sets the header content for every PDF page using content strings or even HTML.
• HtmlFooter Sets the footer content for every PDF page using content strings or even HTML.
• MarginBottom Bottom PDF Paper margin in millimeters. Set to zero for a borderless pdf.
• MarginLeft Left PDF Paper margin in millimeters. Set to zero for a borderless pdf.
• MarginRight Right PDF Paper margin in millimeters. Set to zero for a borderless pdf.
• MarginTop Top PDF Paper margin in millimeters. Set to zero for a borderless pdf.
• UseMarginsOnHeaderAndFooter Specifies whether to use margin values from the main document when rendering headers and footers.
• PaperFit: A manager for setting up virtual paper layouts, controlling how content will be laid out on PDF "paper" pages. Includes options for Default Chrome Behavior, Zoomed, Responsive CSS3 Layouts, Scale-To-Page & Continuous Feed style PDF page setups.
• PaperOrientation The PDF paper orientation. Landscape or Portrait.
• PageRotation Page rotation from existing document. Full explanation and accompanying code example.
• PaperSize Set an output paper size for PDF pages using System.Drawing.Printing.PaperKind.
• SetCustomPaperSizeinCentimeters Sets the paper size in centimeters.
• SetCustomPaperSizeInInches Sets the paper size in inches.
• SetCustomPaperSizeinMilimeters Sets the paper size in millimeters.
• SetCustomPaperSizeinPixelsOrPoints Sets the paper size in screen pixels or printer points.
• ForcePaperSize Specifies whether to force page sizes to be exactly what is specified via PaperSize by resizing the page after generating a PDF from HTML.
• PrintHtmlBackgrounds Prints HTML image backgrounds.
• GrayScale Outputs a greyscale PDF in shades of grey instead of full color.
• WaitFor A wrapper object that holds configuration for wait-for mechanism. This can use useful when considering the rendering of JavaScript, Ajax, or animations.
  • PageLoad: Default render with no waiting.
  • RenderDelay: Setting an arbitrary waiting time.
  • Fonts: Waits until all the fonts have loaded.
  • JavaScript: Triggering the render with a JavaScript function.
  • HTML elements: Waits for specific HTML elements, such as element IDs, names, tag names, and query selectors to target elements.
  • NetworkIdle: Waiting for network idle (0, 2, or a custom amount).
• Title PDF Document 'Title' metadata.
• InputEncoding The input character encoding as a string. UTF-8 is Default for ASP.NET.
• RequestContext Specifies the request context for the render.
• Timeout. Render timeout in seconds.

4.1. ASPX to PDF Header & Footer Example

:path=/static-assets/pdf/content-code-examples/how-to/aspx-to-pdf-4.cs

using IronSoftware.Drawing;
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.UI;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls;

namespace AspxToPdfTutorial
{
    public partial class Invoice : System.Web.UI.Page
    {
        protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            var AspxToPdfOptions = new IronPdf.ChromePdfRenderOptions()
            {
                TextHeader = new IronPdf.TextHeaderFooter()
                {
                    CenterText = "Invoice",
                    DrawDividerLine = false,
                    Font = FontTypes.Arial,
                    FontSize = 12
                },
                TextFooter = new IronPdf.TextHeaderFooter()
                {
                    LeftText = "{date} - {time}",
                    RightText = "Page {page} of {total-pages}",
                    Font = IronSoftware.Drawing.FontTypes.Arial,
                    FontSize = 12,
                },
            };
            IronPdf.AspxToPdf.RenderThisPageAsPdf(IronPdf.AspxToPdf.FileBehavior.Attachment, "Invoice.pdf", AspxToPdfOptions);
        }
    }
}

Imports IronSoftware.Drawing
Imports System
Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports System.Linq
Imports System.Web
Imports System.Web.UI
Imports System.Web.UI.WebControls

Namespace AspxToPdfTutorial
	Partial Public Class Invoice
		Inherits System.Web.UI.Page

		Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
			Dim AspxToPdfOptions = New IronPdf.ChromePdfRenderOptions() With {
				.TextHeader = New IronPdf.TextHeaderFooter() With {
					.CenterText = "Invoice",
					.DrawDividerLine = False,
					.Font = FontTypes.Arial,
					.FontSize = 12
				},
				.TextFooter = New IronPdf.TextHeaderFooter() With {
					.LeftText = "{date} - {time}",
					.RightText = "Page {page} of {total-pages}",
					.Font = IronSoftware.Drawing.FontTypes.Arial,
					.FontSize = 12
				}
			}
			IronPdf.AspxToPdf.RenderThisPageAsPdf(IronPdf.AspxToPdf.FileBehavior.Attachment, "Invoice.pdf", AspxToPdfOptions)
		End Sub
	End Class
End Namespace

Alternatively, we can generate HTML headers and footers using the HtmlHeaderFooter class, which also supports CSS, images, and hyperlinks.

:path=/static-assets/pdf/content-code-examples/how-to/aspx-to-pdf-5.cs

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.UI;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls;

namespace AspxToPdfTutorial
{
    public partial class Invoice : System.Web.UI.Page
    {
        protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            var AspxToPdfOptions = new IronPdf.ChromePdfRenderOptions()
            {
                MarginTop = 50, // make sufficiant space for an HTML header
                HtmlHeader = new IronPdf.HtmlHeaderFooter()
                {
                    HtmlFragment = "<div style='text-align:right'><em style='color:pink'>page {page} of {total-pages}</em></div>"
                }
            };
            IronPdf.AspxToPdf.RenderThisPageAsPdf(IronPdf.AspxToPdf.FileBehavior.Attachment, "MyDocument.pdf", AspxToPdfOptions);
        }
    }
}

Imports System
Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports System.Linq
Imports System.Web
Imports System.Web.UI
Imports System.Web.UI.WebControls

Namespace AspxToPdfTutorial
	Partial Public Class Invoice
		Inherits System.Web.UI.Page

		Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
			Dim AspxToPdfOptions = New IronPdf.ChromePdfRenderOptions() With {
				.MarginTop = 50,
				.HtmlHeader = New IronPdf.HtmlHeaderFooter() With {.HtmlFragment = "<div style='text-align:right'><em style='color:pink'>page {page} of {total-pages}</em></div>"}
			}
			IronPdf.AspxToPdf.RenderThisPageAsPdf(IronPdf.AspxToPdf.FileBehavior.Attachment, "MyDocument.pdf", AspxToPdfOptions)
		End Sub
	End Class
End Namespace

As seen in our examples, we may "merge" dynamic text or HTML into Headers / Footers using placeholders:

• {page}: for the current page number of the PDF.
• {total-pages}: as the total number of pages within the PDF.
• {url}: Web URL from which the PDF document was rendered.
• {date}: for today's date in a format appropriate to the server's system environment.
• {time}: for the time in hours:seconds using a 24-hour clock.
• {html-title}: inserts the title from the head tag of the ASPX web form.
• {pdf-title}: for the document file name.