Pdf generation in asp.net core

dheeraj gupta

Hello Everyone,

I am working on a project in which we are using Angular 8 for front end and DOT Core 3.0 API at back end.

There is a need to convert HTML to pdf. I tried different third party libraries like select pdf, Iron pdf, iText7 and DinkToPdf etc but nothing seems to be working. Every library has one or the other issue.

Can we generate pdf by writing HTML in string builder object in DOT Net Core 3.0 with free library or without using 3rd party library.

Note :- We tried to generate the same from client side as well but there is a css issue as we are using bootstrap 4 classes in HTML and client wants same look and feel in pdf.

Can anyone suggest me the right approach and guide to achieve this.

I am really struggling on this and anyone's help is highly appreciable.

Thanks in advance.

Dheeraj

6 Replies

Know the answer? Post it — somebody with the same question will find it here.

Rijwan Ansari5y ago
Hi,
Check if this can help
https://dotnetcoretutorials.com/2019/07/02/creating-a-pdf-in-net-core/
Marvin Reid5y ago
There are multiple free options you could go with when converting HTML to PDF as you have listed. The draw back with using such libraries is that it is a solution that can only work for a small scope project. You’ll see plenty of people discussing limitations such as issues targeting different architectures between projects, performance, limitations of cloud environments, inability to parse css style sheets, etc.

To solve these issues, I would suggest testing with the DocumentConverter class provided through the LEADTOOLS SDK. This class will allow you to convert from an HTML file to a searchable PDF file. This conversion can be done via the .NET Core backend you are currently working with. You can build on the following code:
using (DocumentConverter documentConverter = new DocumentConverter())
   {
      var inFile = Path.Combine(ImagesPath.Path, @"input.html");
      var outFile = Path.Combine(ImagesPath.Path, @"output.pdf");
      var format = DocumentFormat.Pdf;
      var jobData = DocumentConverterJobs.CreateJobData(inFile, outFile, format);
      jobData.JobName = "conversion job";

      var documentWriter = new DocumentWriter();
      documentConverter.SetDocumentWriterInstance(documentWriter);

      var renderingEngine = new AnnWinFormsRenderingEngine();
      documentConverter.SetAnnRenderingEngineInstance(renderingEngine);

      var job = documentConverter.Jobs.CreateJob(jobData);
      documentConverter.Jobs.RunJob(job);

      if (job.Status == DocumentConverterJobStatus.Success)
      {
         Console.WriteLine("Success");
      }
      else
      {
         Console.WriteLine("{0} Errors", job.Status);
         foreach (var error in job.Errors)
         {
            Console.WriteLine("  {0} at {1}: {2}", error.Operation, error.InputDocumentPageNumber, error.Error.Message);
         }
      }
   }
https://www.leadtools.com/help/sdk/v21/dh/doxc/documentconverter.html
https://www.leadtools.com/help/sdk/v21/tutorials/documents/cross-platform/dotnet-core/convert-files-with-the-document-converter.html
Sapna Girish6y ago
How about Spire.PDF?

https://www.e-iceblue.com/Tutorials/Spire.PDF/Spire.PDF-Program-Guide/Convert-HTML-to-PDF-with-New-Plugin.html
Farhan Ahmed6y ago
You would have to write Your own PDF library in C#.

I recommend using PDFsharp, which is free

http://www.pdfsharp.net/
dheeraj gupta6y ago
Hi Farhan,

I have already visited these links that you suggested. My main question is can we generate a pdf without purchasing 3rd party library. All the links allow pdf generation but they have some capping like in terms number of page generation, features supported etc.

Thanks,
Dheeraj
Farhan Ahmed6y ago
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/39364687/export-html-to-pdf-in-asp-net-core

https://code-maze.com/create-pdf-dotnetcore/

https://dotnetcoretutorials.com/2019/07/02/creating-a-pdf-in-net-core/

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/564650/convert-html-to-pdf-in-net