MIGRATION GUIDES

How to Migrate from TextControl to IronPDF in C#

게시됨:2월 1, 2026

TX Text Control has established itself as a comprehensive document editor component in the .NET ecosystem, offering robust DOCX editing capabilities with embedded UI controls. However, for development teams whose primary requirement is PDF generation rather than full document editing, TextControl's architecture presents significant overhead in licensing costs, complexity, and runtime dependencies.

This guide provides a complete migration path from TextControl to IronPDF, with step-by-step instructions, code comparisons, and practical examples for professional .NET developers evaluating this transition.

Why Migrate from TextControl

The decision to migrate from TextControl typically centers on matching your tooling to your actual requirements. TX Text Control is fundamentally a document editor that treats PDF generation as a secondary feature. Key reasons development teams consider migration include:

Expensive Licensing: TextControl operates on a commercial license at a minimum of $3,398 per year per developer. A team of four can expect to invest around $6,749 per year, with additional costs for server deployment runtime licenses. Renewal costs stand at 40% annually, which is mandatory for maintaining access to updates.

PDF as Afterthought: The core architecture is word processing, not PDF. While PDF generation is available, it's more of an added feature rather than the core focus, resulting in less than optimal output quality.

Hardware Bugs: The Intel Iris Xe Graphics bug affects document rendering in newer Intel processors (11th generation), requiring a registry workaround to resolve.

Bloated Dependencies: TextControl includes document editing UI components that you may not need if your focus is purely PDF generation.

Word-Processor Architecture: Not optimized for HTML-to-PDF workflows that modern web applications demand.

Complex API: The ServerTextControl context management and selection model add unnecessary complexity for straightforward PDF generation tasks.

Cost Comparison

Aspect	TX Text Control	IronPDF
Base License	$3,398+	Significantly lower
Annual Renewal	40% mandatory	Optional support
Per Developer	Yes	Yes
UI Components	Bundled (bloat)	PDF-focused
Total 3-Year Cost	$5,750+	Much lower

IronPDF vs TextControl: Feature Comparison

Understanding the architectural differences helps technical decision-makers evaluate the migration investment:

Feature	TX Text Control	IronPDF
Primary Focus	DOCX editing	PDF generation
License Cost	$3,398/year per developer	$749 one-time per developer
PDF Quality	Basic, add-on feature	High, core functionality
Hardware Compatibility	Known issues with Intel Iris	Stable across all devices
Integration with UI	Requires UI components	No UI component bloat
HTML/CSS Rendering	Buggy with HTML	Modern HTML5/CSS3
HTML to PDF	Yes (secondary)	Yes (primary)
CSS Support	Limited	Full CSS3
JavaScript	Limited	Full ES2024
URL to PDF	Complex setup	Native
Headers/Footers	Complex API	Simple HTML
Mail Merge	Proprietary	HTML templates
PDF/A	Yes	Yes
Password Protection	Yes	Yes
Digital Signatures	Yes	Yes
Merge PDFs	Limited	Yes
Split PDFs	Limited	Yes
Context Management	Required	Not needed
Cross-Platform	Windows-focused	Yes

Quick Start: TextControl to IronPDF Migration

The migration can begin immediately with these foundational steps.

Step 1: Replace NuGet Packages

Remove all TextControl packages:

# Remove TX Text Control
dotnet remove package TXTextControl.TextControl
dotnet remove package TXTextControl.DocumentServer

# Remove TX Text Control
dotnet remove package TXTextControl.TextControl
dotnet remove package TXTextControl.DocumentServer

SHELL

Install IronPDF:

# Install IronPDF
dotnet add package IronPdf

# Install IronPDF
dotnet add package IronPdf

SHELL

Step 2: Update Namespaces

Replace TextControl namespaces with the IronPdf namespace:

// Before (TextControl)
using TXTextControl;
using TXTextControl.DocumentServer;

// After (IronPDF)
using IronPdf;

// Before (TextControl)
using TXTextControl;
using TXTextControl.DocumentServer;

// After (IronPDF)
using IronPdf;

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Step 3: Initialize License

Add license initialization at application startup:

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

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

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Code Migration Examples

Converting HTML to PDF

The most common use case demonstrates the architectural difference between these .NET PDF libraries.

TextControl Approach:

// NuGet: Install-Package TXTextControl.Server
using TXTextControl;
using System.IO;

namespace TextControlExample
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            using (ServerTextControl textControl = new ServerTextControl())
            {
                textControl.Create();

                string html = "<html><body><h1>Hello World</h1><p>This is a PDF document.</p></body></html>";

                textControl.Load(html, StreamType.HTMLFormat);
                textControl.Save("output.pdf", StreamType.AdobePDF);
            }
        }
    }
}

// NuGet: Install-Package TXTextControl.Server
using TXTextControl;
using System.IO;

namespace TextControlExample
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            using (ServerTextControl textControl = new ServerTextControl())
            {
                textControl.Create();

                string html = "<html><body><h1>Hello World</h1><p>This is a PDF document.</p></body></html>";

                textControl.Load(html, StreamType.HTMLFormat);
                textControl.Save("output.pdf", StreamType.AdobePDF);
            }
        }
    }
}

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IronPDF Approach:

// NuGet: Install-Package IronPdf
using IronPdf;

namespace IronPdfExample
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();

            string html = "<html><body><h1>Hello World</h1><p>This is a PDF document.</p></body></html>";

            var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(html);
            pdf.SaveAs("output.pdf");
        }
    }
}

// NuGet: Install-Package IronPdf
using IronPdf;

namespace IronPdfExample
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();

            string html = "<html><body><h1>Hello World</h1><p>This is a PDF document.</p></body></html>";

            var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(html);
            pdf.SaveAs("output.pdf");
        }
    }
}

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The TextControl version requires creating a ServerTextControl instance, calling Create() to initialize the context, loading HTML with StreamType.HTMLFormat, and saving with StreamType.AdobePDF. The using block is mandatory for proper resource disposal.

IronPDF eliminates context management entirely. The ChromePdfRenderer requires no initialization ceremony—create it, render HTML, and save. This architectural simplification reduces cognitive load and potential resource management bugs.

For advanced HTML-to-PDF scenarios, see the HTML to PDF conversion guide.

Merging Multiple PDFs

PDF merging reveals another significant complexity difference between these libraries.

TextControl Approach:

// NuGet: Install-Package TXTextControl.Server
using TXTextControl;
using System.IO;

namespace TextControlExample
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            using (ServerTextControl textControl = new ServerTextControl())
            {
                textControl.Create();

                byte[] pdf1 = File.ReadAllBytes("document1.pdf");
                textControl.Load(pdf1, StreamType.AdobePDF);

                byte[] pdf2 = File.ReadAllBytes("document2.pdf");
                textControl.Load(pdf2, StreamType.AdobePDF, LoadAppendMode.Append);

                textControl.Save("merged.pdf", StreamType.AdobePDF);
            }
        }
    }
}

// NuGet: Install-Package TXTextControl.Server
using TXTextControl;
using System.IO;

namespace TextControlExample
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            using (ServerTextControl textControl = new ServerTextControl())
            {
                textControl.Create();

                byte[] pdf1 = File.ReadAllBytes("document1.pdf");
                textControl.Load(pdf1, StreamType.AdobePDF);

                byte[] pdf2 = File.ReadAllBytes("document2.pdf");
                textControl.Load(pdf2, StreamType.AdobePDF, LoadAppendMode.Append);

                textControl.Save("merged.pdf", StreamType.AdobePDF);
            }
        }
    }
}

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IronPDF Approach:

// NuGet: Install-Package IronPdf
using IronPdf;

namespace IronPdfExample
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            var pdf1 = PdfDocument.FromFile("document1.pdf");
            var pdf2 = PdfDocument.FromFile("document2.pdf");

            var merged = PdfDocument.Merge(pdf1, pdf2);
            merged.SaveAs("merged.pdf");
        }
    }
}

// NuGet: Install-Package IronPdf
using IronPdf;

namespace IronPdfExample
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            var pdf1 = PdfDocument.FromFile("document1.pdf");
            var pdf2 = PdfDocument.FromFile("document2.pdf");

            var merged = PdfDocument.Merge(pdf1, pdf2);
            merged.SaveAs("merged.pdf");
        }
    }
}

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TextControl requires reading files into byte arrays, managing the ServerTextControl context, and using LoadAppendMode.Append to merge documents. IronPDF's PdfDocument.Merge() method handles everything with a single, explicit call.

For advanced merging scenarios including selective page extraction, see the merge and split PDFs guide.

Adding Headers and Footers

Headers and footers with dynamic page numbers demonstrate the API complexity difference.

TextControl Approach:

// NuGet: Install-Package TXTextControl.Server
using TXTextControl;
using System.IO;

namespace TextControlExample
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            using (ServerTextControl textControl = new ServerTextControl())
            {
                textControl.Create();

                string html = "<html><body><h1>Document Content</h1><p>Main body text.</p></body></html>";
                textControl.Load(html, StreamType.HTMLFormat);

                HeaderFooter header = new HeaderFooter(HeaderFooterType.Header);
                header.Text = "Document Header";
                textControl.Sections[0].HeadersAndFooters.Add(header);

                HeaderFooter footer = new HeaderFooter(HeaderFooterType.Footer);
                footer.Text = "Page {page} of {numpages}";
                textControl.Sections[0].HeadersAndFooters.Add(footer);

                textControl.Save("output.pdf", StreamType.AdobePDF);
            }
        }
    }
}

// NuGet: Install-Package TXTextControl.Server
using TXTextControl;
using System.IO;

namespace TextControlExample
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            using (ServerTextControl textControl = new ServerTextControl())
            {
                textControl.Create();

                string html = "<html><body><h1>Document Content</h1><p>Main body text.</p></body></html>";
                textControl.Load(html, StreamType.HTMLFormat);

                HeaderFooter header = new HeaderFooter(HeaderFooterType.Header);
                header.Text = "Document Header";
                textControl.Sections[0].HeadersAndFooters.Add(header);

                HeaderFooter footer = new HeaderFooter(HeaderFooterType.Footer);
                footer.Text = "Page {page} of {numpages}";
                textControl.Sections[0].HeadersAndFooters.Add(footer);

                textControl.Save("output.pdf", StreamType.AdobePDF);
            }
        }
    }
}

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IronPDF Approach:

// NuGet: Install-Package IronPdf
using IronPdf;
using IronPdf.Rendering;

namespace IronPdfExample
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();

            string html = "<html><body><h1>Document Content</h1><p>Main body text.</p></body></html>";

            var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(html);

            pdf.AddTextHeader("Document Header");
            pdf.AddTextFooter("Page {page} of {total-pages}");

            pdf.SaveAs("output.pdf");
        }
    }
}

// NuGet: Install-Package IronPdf
using IronPdf;
using IronPdf.Rendering;

namespace IronPdfExample
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();

            string html = "<html><body><h1>Document Content</h1><p>Main body text.</p></body></html>";

            var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(html);

            pdf.AddTextHeader("Document Header");
            pdf.AddTextFooter("Page {page} of {total-pages}");

            pdf.SaveAs("output.pdf");
        }
    }
}

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TextControl requires creating HeaderFooter objects with specific HeaderFooterType enums, accessing document sections through textControl.Sections[0], and adding to the HeadersAndFooters collection. IronPDF provides direct AddTextHeader and AddTextFooter methods with simple placeholder syntax.

For HTML-based headers with full styling control, IronPDF also supports HtmlHeaderFooter:

renderer.RenderingOptions.HtmlHeader = new HtmlHeaderFooter
{
    HtmlFragment = @"
        <div style='width: 100%; text-align: center; font-size: 12pt;'>
            Company Report
        </div>",
    MaxHeight = 30
};

renderer.RenderingOptions.HtmlFooter = new HtmlHeaderFooter
{
    HtmlFragment = @"
        <div style='width: 100%; text-align: right; font-size: 10pt;'>
            Page {page} of {total-pages}
        </div>",
    MaxHeight = 25
};

renderer.RenderingOptions.HtmlHeader = new HtmlHeaderFooter
{
    HtmlFragment = @"
        <div style='width: 100%; text-align: center; font-size: 12pt;'>
            Company Report
        </div>",
    MaxHeight = 30
};

renderer.RenderingOptions.HtmlFooter = new HtmlHeaderFooter
{
    HtmlFragment = @"
        <div style='width: 100%; text-align: right; font-size: 10pt;'>
            Page {page} of {total-pages}
        </div>",
    MaxHeight = 25
};

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Learn more about header and footer options in the headers and footers documentation.

TextControl API to IronPDF Mapping Reference

This mapping accelerates migration by showing direct API equivalents:

TX Text Control	IronPDF
`ServerTextControl.Create()`	`new ChromePdfRenderer()`
`tx.Load(html, StreamType.HTMLFormat)`	`renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(html)`
`tx.Load(url, StreamType.HTMLFormat)`	`renderer.RenderUrlAsPdf(url)`
`tx.Save(path, StreamType.AdobePDF)`	`pdf.SaveAs(path)`
`SaveSettings.PDFAConformance`	`RenderingOptions.PdfAFormat`
`DocumentServer.MailMerge`	HTML templates + Razor
`DocumentTarget.HeadersAndFooters`	`HtmlHeaderFooter`
`LoadSettings`	`RenderingOptions`
`StreamType.AdobePDF`	Default output

Common Migration Issues and Solutions

Issue 1: ServerTextControl Context

TextControl requires Create() and using block for every operation.

Solution: IronPDF has no context management:

// Just create and use
var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(html);

// Just create and use
var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(html);

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Issue 2: StreamType Conversions

TextControl loads different formats and converts to PDF through StreamType enums.

Solution: IronPDF renders HTML directly without intermediate format conversion:

// No format conversion needed
var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(html);

// No format conversion needed
var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(html);

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Issue 3: DOCX Templates

TextControl uses DOCX files for templates with mail merge.

Solution: Convert to HTML templates with C# string interpolation or Razor:

var data = new { CustomerName = "John Doe", InvoiceNumber = "12345", Total = "$1,500.00" };

var html = $@"
<html>
<head>
    <style>
        body {{ font-family: Arial; padding: 40px; }}
        h1 {{ color: #333; }}
        .total {{ font-size: 24px; color: green; }}
    </style>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>Invoice #{data.InvoiceNumber}</h1>
    <p>Customer: {data.CustomerName}</p>
    <p class='total'>Total: {data.Total}</p>
</body>
</html>";

var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(html);
pdf.SaveAs("invoice.pdf");

var data = new { CustomerName = "John Doe", InvoiceNumber = "12345", Total = "$1,500.00" };

var html = $@"
<html>
<head>
    <style>
        body {{ font-family: Arial; padding: 40px; }}
        h1 {{ color: #333; }}
        .total {{ font-size: 24px; color: green; }}
    </style>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>Invoice #{data.InvoiceNumber}</h1>
    <p>Customer: {data.CustomerName}</p>
    <p class='total'>Total: {data.Total}</p>
</body>
</html>";

var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(html);
pdf.SaveAs("invoice.pdf");

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Issue 4: Intel Iris Xe Graphics Bug

TextControl has documented rendering issues with 11th generation Intel processors, requiring registry workarounds.

Solution: IronPDF uses Chromium rendering—no hardware acceleration bugs or registry modifications required.

TextControl Migration Checklist

Pre-Migration Tasks

Audit your codebase to identify all TextControl usage:

grep -r "using TXTextControl" --include="*.cs" .
grep -r "ServerTextControl\|Load\|Save" --include="*.cs" .

grep -r "using TXTextControl" --include="*.cs" .
grep -r "ServerTextControl\|Load\|Save" --include="*.cs" .

SHELL

Document mail merge templates for conversion to HTML. Note header/footer requirements for implementation with HtmlHeaderFooter. Identify any DOCX editing functionality that may require alternative solutions.

Code Update Tasks

Remove TX Text Control NuGet packages
Install IronPdf NuGet package
Remove ServerTextControl context management (no more Create() calls)
Convert StreamType.HTMLFormat loads to RenderHtmlAsPdf
Convert mail merge to HTML templates with string interpolation or Razor
Update headers/footers to use HtmlHeaderFooter or AddTextHeader/AddTextFooter
Simplify page settings using RenderingOptions
Add license initialization at startup

Post-Migration Testing

After migration, verify these aspects:

Test all document templates render correctly
Verify PDF/A compliance if required
Test password protection functionality
Verify headers/footers appear on all pages
Check on Intel 11th gen hardware—no more registry workarounds needed with IronPDF

Key Benefits of Migrating to IronPDF

Moving from TextControl to IronPDF provides several advantages for teams focused on PDF generation:

PDF-First Architecture: IronPDF is tailored specifically for PDF generation, offering robust document creation and rendering capabilities by leveraging modern HTML5 and CSS3 standards.

Cost Efficiency: IronPDF's one-time pricing makes it significantly cheaper over time, especially compared to TextControl's subscription-based service with mandatory 40% annual renewals.

Proven Stability: Documented reliability across various hardware, avoiding issues such as those faced by TextControl with Intel graphics.

No Context Management: Eliminate the ServerTextControl creation ceremony and resource disposal patterns. IronPDF's stateless rendering simplifies code and reduces potential memory leaks.

Modern Rendering Engine: As .NET 10 and C# 14 adoption increases through 2026, IronPDF's Chromium-based rendering ensures compatibility with current and future web standards.

커티스 차우

지금 바로 엔지니어링 팀과 채팅하세요

기술 문서 작성자

커티스 차우는 칼턴 대학교에서 컴퓨터 과학 학사 학위를 취득했으며, Node.js, TypeScript, JavaScript, React를 전문으로 하는 프론트엔드 개발자입니다. 직관적이고 미적으로 뛰어난 사용자 인터페이스를 만드는 데 열정을 가진 그는 최신 프레임워크를 활용하고, 잘 구성되고 시각적으로 매력적인 매뉴얼을 제작하는 것을 즐깁니다.

커티스는 개발 분야 외에도 사물 인터넷(IoT)에 깊은 관심을 가지고 있으며, 하드웨어와 소프트웨어를 통합하는 혁신적인 방법을 연구합니다. 여가 시간에는 게임을 즐기거나 디스코드 봇을 만들면서 기술에 대한 애정과 창의성을 결합합니다.

고객 성공 사례:

주목할 만한 개발자:

웹 세미나:

30일 무료 체험 시작하기

How to Migrate from TextControl to IronPDF in C#

Why Migrate from TextControl

Cost Comparison

IronPDF vs TextControl: Feature Comparison

Quick Start: TextControl to IronPDF Migration

Step 1: Replace NuGet Packages

Step 2: Update Namespaces

Step 3: Initialize License

Code Migration Examples

Converting HTML to PDF

Merging Multiple PDFs

Adding Headers and Footers

TextControl API to IronPDF Mapping Reference

Common Migration Issues and Solutions

Issue 1: ServerTextControl Context

Issue 2: StreamType Conversions

Issue 3: DOCX Templates

Issue 4: Intel Iris Xe Graphics Bug

TextControl Migration Checklist

Pre-Migration Tasks

Code Update Tasks

Post-Migration Testing

Key Benefits of Migrating to IronPDF

30일 무료 체험 시작하기

How to Migrate from TextControl to IronPDF in C#

Why Migrate from TextControl

Cost Comparison

IronPDF vs TextControl: Feature Comparison

Quick Start: TextControl to IronPDF Migration

Step 1: Replace NuGet Packages

Step 2: Update Namespaces

Step 3: Initialize License

Code Migration Examples

Converting HTML to PDF

Merging Multiple PDFs

Adding Headers and Footers

TextControl API to IronPDF Mapping Reference

Common Migration Issues and Solutions

Issue 1: ServerTextControl Context

Issue 2: StreamType Conversions

Issue 3: DOCX Templates

Issue 4: Intel Iris Xe Graphics Bug

TextControl Migration Checklist

Pre-Migration Tasks

Code Update Tasks

Post-Migration Testing

Key Benefits of Migrating to IronPDF

관련 기사

How to Migrate from ZetPDF to IronPDF in C#

How to Migrate from Scryber.Core to IronPDF in C#

How to Migrate from XFINIUM.PDF to IronPDF in C#

다음 단계: 30일 무료 체험 시작하기

다음 단계: 30일 무료 체험 시작하기

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