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Author Names in PDF Metadata

Curtis Chau
Curtis Chau
Updated: June 19, 2026

When an author name is written into a PDF's metadata with a comma, most PDF editors treat the comma as a delimiter and split the single name into several authors. This behavior comes from the editor, not from IronPDF, and it produces unexpected results when you mean to record one author.

To keep a name as a single entity, separate its parts with a vertical bar (|) or a hyphen (-) instead of a comma:

  • Comma: Pdf.MetaData.Author = "Smith, John"; is often read as two authors.
  • Vertical bar or hyphen: Pdf.MetaData.Author = "Smith | John"; stays one author.

The same issue has been discussed in the Adobe community:

Choosing a non-comma separator keeps author names intact across the PDF viewers that apply this splitting.

Curtis Chau
Technical Writer

Curtis Chau holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science (Carleton University) and specializes in front-end development with expertise in Node.js, TypeScript, JavaScript, and React. Passionate about crafting intuitive and aesthetically pleasing user interfaces, Curtis enjoys working with modern frameworks and creating well-structured, visually appealing manuals.

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  3. Select the package and install
C# PDF DLL
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