How to Use Base URLs & Asset Encoding in C# .NET 10

Dim renderer As New ChromePdfRenderer()

Dim baseUrl As String = "C:\site\assets\"
Dim html As String = "<img src='icons/iron.png'>"

Dim pdf As PdfDocument = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(html, baseUrl)

pdf.SaveAs("html-with-assets.pdf")

Dim renderer As New ChromePdfRenderer()

Dim baseUrl As String = "C:\site\assets\"
Dim html As String = "<img src='icons/iron.png'>"

Dim pdf As PdfDocument = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(html, baseUrl)

pdf.SaveAs("html-with-assets.pdf")

' Instantiate ChromePdfRenderer
Dim renderer As New ChromePdfRenderer()

' Render HTML to PDF
Dim pdf As PdfDocument = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf("html.Result", "wwwroot/image")

' Instantiate ChromePdfRenderer
Dim renderer As New ChromePdfRenderer()

' Render HTML to PDF
Dim pdf As PdfDocument = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf("html.Result", "wwwroot/image")

Imports System.IO

' Example: Debug asset loading with absolute paths
Dim renderer As New ChromePdfRenderer()

' Enable debug logging
renderer.RenderingOptions.EnableJavaScript = True
renderer.RenderingOptions.WaitFor.RenderDelay(500) ' Give assets time to load

' Use absolute path for testing
Dim absoluteBasePath As String = Path.GetFullPath("C:\MyProject\wwwroot\assets")
Dim html As String = "
    <html>
    <head>
        <link rel='stylesheet' href='styles/main.css'>
    </head>
    <body>
        <img src='images/logo.png' />
        <script src='scripts/app.js'></script>
    </body>
    </html>"

Dim pdf As PdfDocument = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(html, absoluteBasePath)

Imports System.IO

' Example: Debug asset loading with absolute paths
Dim renderer As New ChromePdfRenderer()

' Enable debug logging
renderer.RenderingOptions.EnableJavaScript = True
renderer.RenderingOptions.WaitFor.RenderDelay(500) ' Give assets time to load

' Use absolute path for testing
Dim absoluteBasePath As String = Path.GetFullPath("C:\MyProject\wwwroot\assets")
Dim html As String = "
    <html>
    <head>
        <link rel='stylesheet' href='styles/main.css'>
    </head>
    <body>
        <img src='images/logo.png' />
        <script src='scripts/app.js'></script>
    </body>
    </html>"

Dim pdf As PdfDocument = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(html, absoluteBasePath)

Dim renderer As New ChromePdfRenderer()

' Main content base URL
Dim contentBaseUrl As String = "C:\website\public\"

' Header specific assets
renderer.RenderingOptions.HtmlHeader = New HtmlHeaderFooter() With {
    .HtmlFragment = "<img src='header-logo.png'><link rel='stylesheet' href='header.css'>",
    .BaseUrl = New Uri("C:\website\headers\").AbsoluteUri
}

' Footer specific assets
renderer.RenderingOptions.HtmlFooter = New HtmlHeaderFooter() With {
    .HtmlFragment = "<div class='footer'>© 2024 Company</div><link rel='stylesheet' href='footer.css'>",
    .BaseUrl = New Uri("C:\website\footers\").AbsoluteUri
}

' Render main content with its own base URL
Dim pdf As PdfDocument = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf("<h1>Main Content</h1>", contentBaseUrl)

Dim renderer As New ChromePdfRenderer()

' Main content base URL
Dim contentBaseUrl As String = "C:\website\public\"

' Header specific assets
renderer.RenderingOptions.HtmlHeader = New HtmlHeaderFooter() With {
    .HtmlFragment = "<img src='header-logo.png'><link rel='stylesheet' href='header.css'>",
    .BaseUrl = New Uri("C:\website\headers\").AbsoluteUri
}

' Footer specific assets
renderer.RenderingOptions.HtmlFooter = New HtmlHeaderFooter() With {
    .HtmlFragment = "<div class='footer'>© 2024 Company</div><link rel='stylesheet' href='footer.css'>",
    .BaseUrl = New Uri("C:\website\footers\").AbsoluteUri
}

' Render main content with its own base URL
Dim pdf As PdfDocument = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf("<h1>Main Content</h1>", contentBaseUrl)

Imports IronPdf

' Instantiate ChromePdfRenderer
Private renderer As New ChromePdfRenderer()

' Render HTML file to PDF
Private pdf As PdfDocument = renderer.RenderHtmlFileAsPdf("C:\Assets\TestInvoice1.html")

' Export PDF
pdf.SaveAs("Invoice.pdf")

Imports IronPdf

' Instantiate ChromePdfRenderer
Private renderer As New ChromePdfRenderer()

' Render HTML file to PDF
Private pdf As PdfDocument = renderer.RenderHtmlFileAsPdf("C:\Assets\TestInvoice1.html")

' Export PDF
pdf.SaveAs("Invoice.pdf")

Imports IronPdf

' Instantiate ChromePdfRenderer
Private renderer As New ChromePdfRenderer()

' Set additional CSS url
renderer.RenderingOptions.CustomCssUrl = "./style.css"

' Render HTML file to PDF
Dim pdf As PdfDocument = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf("<h1>Hello World</h1>")

' Export PDF
pdf.SaveAs("tryCss.pdf")

Imports IronPdf

' Instantiate ChromePdfRenderer
Private renderer As New ChromePdfRenderer()

' Set additional CSS url
renderer.RenderingOptions.CustomCssUrl = "./style.css"

' Render HTML file to PDF
Dim pdf As PdfDocument = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf("<h1>Hello World</h1>")

' Export PDF
pdf.SaveAs("tryCss.pdf")

Imports System.IO
Imports IronPdf

' Example HTML file structure
'
' C:\Projects\Reports\
'     ├── invoice.html
'     ├── css\
'     │   └── styles.css
'     ├── js\
'     │   └── calculations.js
'     └── images\
'         └── logo.png
'

' HTML content with relative paths
Dim htmlContent As String = "
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <link rel='stylesheet' href='css/styles.css'>
    <script src='js/calculations.js'></script>
</head>
<body>
    <img src='images/logo.png' alt='Company Logo'>
    <h1>Invoice #12345</h1>
</body>
</html>"

' Save HTML and render
File.WriteAllText("C:\Projects\Reports\invoice.html", htmlContent)
Dim renderer As New ChromePdfRenderer()
Dim pdf As PdfDocument = renderer.RenderHtmlFileAsPdf("C:\Projects\Reports\invoice.html")
pdf.SaveAs("invoice-output.pdf")

Imports System.IO
Imports IronPdf

' Example HTML file structure
'
' C:\Projects\Reports\
'     ├── invoice.html
'     ├── css\
'     │   └── styles.css
'     ├── js\
'     │   └── calculations.js
'     └── images\
'         └── logo.png
'

' HTML content with relative paths
Dim htmlContent As String = "
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <link rel='stylesheet' href='css/styles.css'>
    <script src='js/calculations.js'></script>
</head>
<body>
    <img src='images/logo.png' alt='Company Logo'>
    <h1>Invoice #12345</h1>
</body>
</html>"

' Save HTML and render
File.WriteAllText("C:\Projects\Reports\invoice.html", htmlContent)
Dim renderer As New ChromePdfRenderer()
Dim pdf As PdfDocument = renderer.RenderHtmlFileAsPdf("C:\Projects\Reports\invoice.html")
pdf.SaveAs("invoice-output.pdf")

Imports IronPdf
Imports System
Imports System.IO

Private renderer As New ChromePdfRenderer()

' Import image file binary data
Private binaryData() As Byte = File.ReadAllBytes("ironpdf-logo-text-dotnet.svg")

' Convert the binary data to base 64
Private imgDataUri As String = Convert.ToBase64String(binaryData)

' Embed in HTML
Private html As String = $"<img src='data:image/svg+xml;base64,{imgDataUri}'>"

' Convert HTML to PDF
Private pdf As PdfDocument = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(html)

' Export the PDF
pdf.SaveAs("embedImageBase64.pdf")

Imports IronPdf
Imports System
Imports System.IO

Private renderer As New ChromePdfRenderer()

' Import image file binary data
Private binaryData() As Byte = File.ReadAllBytes("ironpdf-logo-text-dotnet.svg")

' Convert the binary data to base 64
Private imgDataUri As String = Convert.ToBase64String(binaryData)

' Embed in HTML
Private html As String = $"<img src='data:image/svg+xml;base64,{imgDataUri}'>"

' Convert HTML to PDF
Private pdf As PdfDocument = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(html)

' Export the PDF
pdf.SaveAs("embedImageBase64.pdf")

' Example: Encoding different image formats
Public Function EncodeImageWithMimeType(imagePath As String) As String
    Dim imageBytes As Byte() = File.ReadAllBytes(imagePath)
    Dim base64 As String = Convert.ToBase64String(imageBytes)
    
    ' Determine MIME type based on extension
    Dim extension As String = Path.GetExtension(imagePath).ToLower()
    Dim mimeType As String = If(extension, {
        ".png", "image/png",        ' Best for graphics with transparency
        ".jpg", "image/jpeg",       ' Best for photographs
        ".jpeg", "image/jpeg",      ' Best for photographs
        ".gif", "image/gif",        ' Best for simple animations
        ".svg", "image/svg+xml",    ' Best for scalable graphics
        ".webp", "image/webp"       ' Best overall compression
    }, "image/png")                ' Default fallback
    
    Return $"data:{mimeType};base64,{base64}"
End Function

' Usage
Dim encodedImage As String = EncodeImageWithMimeType("logo.png")
Dim html As String = $"<img src='{encodedImage}' alt='Company Logo'>"

' Example: Encoding different image formats
Public Function EncodeImageWithMimeType(imagePath As String) As String
    Dim imageBytes As Byte() = File.ReadAllBytes(imagePath)
    Dim base64 As String = Convert.ToBase64String(imageBytes)
    
    ' Determine MIME type based on extension
    Dim extension As String = Path.GetExtension(imagePath).ToLower()
    Dim mimeType As String = If(extension, {
        ".png", "image/png",        ' Best for graphics with transparency
        ".jpg", "image/jpeg",       ' Best for photographs
        ".jpeg", "image/jpeg",      ' Best for photographs
        ".gif", "image/gif",        ' Best for simple animations
        ".svg", "image/svg+xml",    ' Best for scalable graphics
        ".webp", "image/webp"       ' Best overall compression
    }, "image/png")                ' Default fallback
    
    Return $"data:{mimeType};base64,{base64}"
End Function

' Usage
Dim encodedImage As String = EncodeImageWithMimeType("logo.png")
Dim html As String = $"<img src='{encodedImage}' alt='Company Logo'>"

' Comparison example
Public Sub CompareFileSizes()
    Dim renderer As New ChromePdfRenderer()

    ' Method 1: External image reference
    Dim htmlExternal As String = "<img src='large-photo.jpg'>"
    Dim pdfExternal As PdfDocument = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(htmlExternal, "C:\images\")

    ' Method 2: Base64 encoded image
    Dim imageBytes As Byte() = File.ReadAllBytes("C:\images\large-photo.jpg")
    Dim base64Image As String = Convert.ToBase64String(imageBytes)
    Dim htmlBase64 As String = $"<img src='data:image/jpeg;base64,{base64Image}'>"
    Dim pdfBase64 As PdfDocument = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(htmlBase64)

    ' Compare sizes
    Console.WriteLine($"Original image: {imageBytes.Length \ 1024} KB")
    Console.WriteLine($"PDF with external image: {pdfExternal.BinaryData.Length \ 1024} KB")
    Console.WriteLine($"PDF with base64 image: {pdfBase64.BinaryData.Length \ 1024} KB")
End Sub

' Comparison example
Public Sub CompareFileSizes()
    Dim renderer As New ChromePdfRenderer()

    ' Method 1: External image reference
    Dim htmlExternal As String = "<img src='large-photo.jpg'>"
    Dim pdfExternal As PdfDocument = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(htmlExternal, "C:\images\")

    ' Method 2: Base64 encoded image
    Dim imageBytes As Byte() = File.ReadAllBytes("C:\images\large-photo.jpg")
    Dim base64Image As String = Convert.ToBase64String(imageBytes)
    Dim htmlBase64 As String = $"<img src='data:image/jpeg;base64,{base64Image}'>"
    Dim pdfBase64 As PdfDocument = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(htmlBase64)

    ' Compare sizes
    Console.WriteLine($"Original image: {imageBytes.Length \ 1024} KB")
    Console.WriteLine($"PDF with external image: {pdfExternal.BinaryData.Length \ 1024} KB")
    Console.WriteLine($"PDF with base64 image: {pdfBase64.BinaryData.Length \ 1024} KB")
End Sub