IronPDF How-Tos Debug HTML with Chrome How to Debug HTML in Chrome to Create Pixel Perfect PDFs Chaknith Bin Updated:July 28, 2025 As the developers of IronPDF, we understand that PDF documents made by IronPDF not only need to look perfect but also need to look exactly how our customers expect them to. To achieve pixel-perfect PDFs, you will need to develop excellent HTML templates or collaborate with a web developer to create them for you. IronPDF offers options to render your PDFs pixel-perfectly to your HTML, ensuring they appear identical to how they display in Chrome due to our Chrome Renderer. What is IronPDF's Chrome Renderer? It makes IronPDF unique from other .NET PDF Libraries IronPDF is distinct in the market as it utilizes the Google Chromium Renderer, meaning the HTML you see in Chrome browsers will look exactly the same as what you see in our PDFs. In this guide, we will walk you through some settings you will need to apply in Chrome and in IronPDF to achieve this. To be clear, many claimed "HTML to PDF" technologies implemented by competitors do not comply with W3C standards, or even support HTML5, CSS3, or JavaScript, and use underlying renderers such as wkhtmltopdf in C# comparison. IronPDF compared with Competitors IronPDF Download PDF Vanilla Chrome Download PDF Aspose.PDF Download PDF iText Download PDF wkhtmltopdf Download PDF To see a full list of comparisons with other products, see our comparison blog. Features of Iron Software Libraries | Using IronPDF's Chrome Rendering Engine | Aspose vs IronPDF Analysis | iText vs IronPDF Comparison IronPDF's Optimized Chrome Renderer is Better than Chrome Two examples of IronPDF surpassing Chrome itself. Buttons and Text that would otherwise be split onto two pages with Chrome remain intact with IronPDF. Example of Buttons and Text being cut off in Chrome: Another Example of Text being cut off in Chrome: Why use HTML to PDF? Developers love HTML to PDF because it delivers predictable results that match existing web branding. Design is implemented using well-documented standardized HTML, CSS, and JavaScript technologies. The layout and design of the output match the website exactly. Web Developers can focus on designing with absolute precision. .NET developers can focus on application logic rather than layout. Back-end developers can delegate layout and design tasks to web designers. 1. Decide to use CSS Media Type Print or Screen IronPDF's renderer has two media rendering options: Print (default) and Screen. For a visual side-by-side comparison please see the end of this section. Under the "Comparison of Screen and Print Example" section. CssMediaType.Print is the default rendering option that optimizes your HTML for general use with a printer. This means that some background images, icons, and other ink-heavy elements on the page may render differently or be omitted. This option is good for documents without background images and is the default print-preview. CssMediaType.Screen is the rendering option that will allow your PDFs to look exactly how they appear within Chrome on your screen. You will need to set up some options within your Chrome browser to enable the print-preview to look exactly how IronPDF will render for HTML debugging purposes. :path=/static-assets/pdf/content-code-examples/how-to/pixel-perfect-html-to-pdf-1.cs // Pixel Perfect HTML Formatting Settings IronPdf.ChromePdfRenderer renderer = new IronPdf.ChromePdfRenderer(); renderer.RenderingOptions.CssMediaType = PdfCssMediaType.Print; // or Screen ' Pixel Perfect HTML Formatting Settings Dim renderer As New IronPdf.ChromePdfRenderer() renderer.RenderingOptions.CssMediaType = PdfCssMediaType.Print ' or Screen $vbLabelText $csharpLabel Repeating Table Headers If you have HTML containing a table that will span more than one page, you would probably like the Table Headers to repeat on each PDF page. In this case, you can only use the Print CssMediaType. Using Screen instructs Chrome to only print the headers once. Comparison of Screen and Print Example Many images and icons will not load in Print mode which will load in Screen mode: 2. Set up Chrome IronPDF proudly utilizes a Chrome Rendering Engine. Follow these steps for IronPDF to render your HTML exactly as you see it within Chrome. These are the few steps that need to be done beforehand within Chrome to achieve this. To render pixel-perfect PDFs that include all images, icons, and backgrounds typically omitted in print format, make sure to use the Screen CSS Media option. 2a. Open DevTools and set Enable Emulate CSS Media to Screen/Print in Chrome To do this, within Chrome open DevTools in Chrome. Press Command+Shift+P (Mac) or Control+Shift+P (Windows, Linux, ChromeOS) to open the Command Menu. Start typing rendering, select Show Rendering, and press Enter. DevTools displays the Rendering tab at the bottom of your DevTools window. More help on rendering settings Navigate down and find the drop-down for Emulate CSS media and choose the option Screen or Print. If you are on a webpage, you may need to reload (Ctrl+R) for settings to take effect. Print Screen 2b. Open the Print Preview Window (Ctrl+P on Windows) You may need to change the paper size and enable 'printing background images' in the Chrome Print dialog in order to get an accurate display. 2c. Set the correct Print Preview settings Please choose the Paper Size you are using in your IronPDF project, such as A4, or Letter. Under the Margins drop-down select Custom and set all four sides to (1") one inch margin. Enable the Background Graphics checkbox. Ensure you set your Layout to Landscape if you intend to output a landscape document. And that is all. You can now debug your HTML and use the print preview to see exactly how IronPDF will render your layout. 3. Set up IronPDF 3a. Set the CSS Media Type in IronPDF In order to match the webpage design with 100% precision, we must choose the same CSS Media Type that we set in Chrome in our code. Recall that PdfCssMediaType.Screen includes backgrounds and larger images that may be omitted in the PdfCssMediaType.Print format, which is the default and designed for printers to save ink. :path=/static-assets/pdf/content-code-examples/how-to/pixel-perfect-html-to-pdf-2.cs // Example using PdfCssMediaType.Screen IronPdf.ChromePdfRenderer renderer = new IronPdf.ChromePdfRenderer(); renderer.RenderingOptions.CssMediaType = PdfCssMediaType.Screen; // or Print renderer.RenderingOptions.PrintHtmlBackgrounds = true; ' Example using PdfCssMediaType.Screen Dim renderer As New IronPdf.ChromePdfRenderer() renderer.RenderingOptions.CssMediaType = PdfCssMediaType.Screen ' or Print renderer.RenderingOptions.PrintHtmlBackgrounds = True $vbLabelText $csharpLabel 3b. Setting Render Delay and Render Timeout appropriately IronPDF's default rendering timeout is 60 seconds. If the rendering process takes longer than this, a timeout exception will be thrown. To override the default settings, you will need to adjust the RenderingOptions.Timeout option. The render delay value, on the other hand, is the time IronPDF should wait before starting to render. This wait time is crucial for assets such as images, fonts, and JavaScript code to execute properly. :path=/static-assets/pdf/content-code-examples/how-to/pixel-perfect-html-to-pdf-3.cs // Example of setting Timeout and RenderDelay options renderer.RenderingOptions.Timeout = 90; // seconds (default is 60) renderer.RenderingOptions.WaitFor.RenderDelay(30000); // milliseconds IRON VB CONVERTER ERROR developers@ironsoftware.com $vbLabelText $csharpLabel Keep in mind that having no timeout set or having a render delay longer than your set timeout will produce an "Unable to Render PDF" Exception. So if you are encountering this error you may need to increase these values. WaitFor and JavaScript Code Example WaitFor API Reference Please noteAspose, iText, wkhtmltopdf, and PuppeteerSharp are registered trademarks of their respective owners. This site is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Aspose, iText, wkhtmltopdf, or Puppeteer. All product names, logos, and brands are the property of their respective owners. Comparisons are provided for informational purposes only and are based on publicly available information at the time of writing. Frequently Asked Questions How can I create pixel-perfect PDFs from HTML? You can create pixel-perfect PDFs from HTML using IronPDF's Chrome Renderer, which ensures that the HTML you see in Chrome browsers will look the same in your PDFs. What is the significance of using the Chrome Renderer in PDF creation? The Chrome Renderer in IronPDF allows for rendering HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript accurately, ensuring that your PDFs appear as they do in Chrome browsers, unlike some other .NET libraries. How do I choose between 'Print' and 'Screen' CSS media types for PDF rendering? In IronPDF, use 'Print' CSS media type for printer-friendly documents and 'Screen' for a display-accurate representation. Adjust these settings in the ChromePdfRenderer to match your needs. Why is setting up Chrome correctly important for PDF rendering? Setting up Chrome correctly is crucial for accurate print previews, which helps in achieving pixel-perfect PDF outputs with IronPDF by ensuring your development environment mirrors production settings. How can I adjust render delay and timeout settings in IronPDF? Adjust the Render Delay and Timeout settings in IronPDF by using RenderingOptions.RenderDelay and RenderingOptions.Timeout within the ChromePdfRenderer to manage asset loading times. What should I do if I face 'Unable to Render PDF' errors? If you encounter 'Unable to Render PDF' errors, it might be due to a render delay longer than the set timeout. Increase the Render Delay and Timeout values in IronPDF to resolve this issue. How can repeating table headers be handled in PDF rendering? To handle repeating table headers across pages in IronPDF, use the 'Print' CSS media type, which ensures headers are repeated on each page during PDF rendering. What layout settings should be configured in Chrome for accurate PDF creation? In Chrome's Print Preview, choose the correct Paper Size, set Margins to Custom with one-inch on all sides, enable Background Graphics, and select Layout as Landscape if necessary for accurate PDF creation. Chaknith Bin Chat with engineering team now Software Engineer Chaknith works on IronXL and IronBarcode. He has deep expertise in C# and .NET, helping improve the software and support customers. His insights from user interactions contribute to better products, documentation, and overall experience. Ready to Get Started? Free NuGet Download Total downloads: 15,080,714 View Licenses