How to create a PDF file in C#, VB.NET

PDF (Portable Document Format) is file format used to display the document with same formatting, independent of application software, hardware, and operating system. Syncfusion Essential PDF is a .NET PDF library used to create, read, and edit PDF documents. Using this library, you can start creating a PDF document in C# and VB.

Steps to create PDF programmatically:

1. Create a new C# console application project.
2. Install the Syncfusion.Pdf.WinForms NuGet package as reference to your .NET Framework application from NuGet.org.
3. Include the following namespace in the Program.cs file.

C#

using Syncfusion.Pdf;
using Syncfusion.Pdf.Graphics;
using System.Drawing;

VB.NET

Imports Syncfusion.Pdf
Imports Syncfusion.Pdf.Graphics
Imports System.Drawing

4. Use the following code snippet to create PDF with “Hello World” text.

C#

//Create a new PDF document
PdfDocument document = new PdfDocument();
 
//Add a page to the document
PdfPage page = document.Pages.Add();
 
//Create PDF graphics for the page
PdfGraphics graphics = page.Graphics;
 
//Set the standard font
PdfFont font = new PdfStandardFont(PdfFontFamily.Helvetica, 20);
 
//Draw the text
graphics.DrawString("Hello World!!!", font, PdfBrushes.Black, new PointF(0, 0));
 
//Save the document
document.Save("Output.pdf");
 
//Close the document
document.Close(true);
 
Process.Start("Output.pdf");

VB.NET

'Create a new PDF document
Dim document As New PdfDocument()
 
'Add a page to the document
Dim page As PdfPage = document.Pages.Add()
 
'Create PDF graphics for the page
Dim graphics As PdfGraphics = page.Graphics
 
'Set the standard font
Dim font As PdfFont = New PdfStandardFont(PdfFontFamily.Helvetica, 20)
 
'Draw the text
graphics.DrawString("Hello World!!!", font, PdfBrushes.Black, New PointF(0, 0))
 
'Save the document
document.Save("Output.pdf")
 
'Close the document
document.Close(True)
 
Process.Start("Output.pdf")

You can download the working sample from CreatePDF.Zip.

By executing the program, you will get the PDF document as follows.

Take a moment to peruse the documentation, where you can find other options like drawing right-to-left text and multi-column text,  consuming TrueType fonts, Standards fonts, CJK fonts, etc., and features like PDF form filling, extract text or images from PDF, protect PDF documents etc., with code examples.

Refer here to explore the rich set of Syncfusion Essential PDF features.

An online sample link to generate Hello world PDF document

See Also:

Create a PDF file in Xamarin

Create a PDF file in ASP.NET Core

Create a PDF file in ASP.NET MVC

Create a PDF file in Windows Forms

Create a PDF file in WPF

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed learning about how to generate PDF in the C# and VB.NET.

You can refer to our .NET PDF library’s feature tour page to know about its other groundbreaking feature representations. You can also refer to our .NET PDF documentation that shows how to configure the PDF Library in .NET.

For current customers, you can check out our File Formats from the License and Downloads page. If you are new to Syncfusion, you can try our 30-day free trial to check out our .NET PDF and other File Formats framework.

If you have any queries or require clarifications, please let us know in comments below. You can also contact us through our support forums, Direct-Trac, or feedback portal. We are always happy to assist you!