How to create a PDF file in Xamarin.iOS?

PDF (Portable Document Format) is the 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 create a PDF document in Xamarin.iOS.

Steps to create PDF programmatically:

1. Create a new C# Xamarin iOS application project.
2. Select a project template, minimum iOS version, and device support for the application.
3. Install the Syncfusion.Xamarin.Pdf NuGet package as reference to your .NET Framework applications from NuGet.org.
4. In the project, add new UIViewController class.

1. In AppDelegate.cs, add the following code on FinishedLaunching() to load the UIViewController1 at top of the window.

   //Load the UIViewController for UI Window
   Window.RootViewController = new UIViewController1();
   

2. In UIViewController1.cs, add the following code in the ViewDidLoad() method to add the button in the UIView.

   var btn = UIButton.FromType(UIButtonType.System);
   btn.Frame = new CoreGraphics.CGRect(20, 200, 280, 44);
   btn.SetTitle("Generate PDF Document", UIControlState.Normal);
   btn.TouchUpInside += OnButtonClicked;
   View.AddSubview(btn);
   

5. Include the following namespace in the UIViewController1.cs file.

   using Syncfusion.Pdf;
   using Syncfusion.Pdf.Graphics;
   using SPointF = Syncfusion.Drawing.PointF;
   

6. In the click event method (OnButtonClicked), add the following code to create a PDF file and save it in a stream.

   // Create a new PDF document
   PdfDocument document = new PdfDocument();
    
   //Add a page to the document
   PdfPage page = document.Pages.Add();
    
   //Create PDF graphics for a 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 SPointF(0, 0));
    
   //Save the document to the stream
   MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream();
   document.Save(stream);
    
   //Close the document
   document.Close(true);
    
   //Save the stream as a file in the device and invoke it for viewing
   SaveIOS saveIOS = new SaveIOS();
   saveIOS.SaveAndView("Output.pdf", "application/pdf", stream);
   

7. Add the SaveIOS class to the project, where the stream will be saved to a physical file and the file can be opened for viewing. Refer to the following code.

   class SaveIOS
   {
     //Method to save document as a file and view the saved document
     public async Task SaveAndView(string filename, string contentType, MemoryStream stream)
     {
       //Get the root path in iOS device
       string path = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.Personal);
       string filePath = Path.Combine(path, filename);
    
       //Create a file and write the stream into it
       FileStream fileStream = File.Open(filePath, FileMode.Create);
       stream.Position = 0;
       stream.CopyTo(fileStream);
       fileStream.Flush();
       fileStream.Close();
    
       //Invoke the saved document for viewing
       UIViewController currentController = UIApplication.SharedApplication.KeyWindow.RootViewController;
       while (currentController.PresentedViewController != null)
           currentController = currentController.PresentedViewController;
       UIView currentView = currentController.View;
    
       QLPreviewController qlPreview = new QLPreviewController();
       QLPreviewItem item = new QLPreviewItemBundle(filename, filePath);
       qlPreview.DataSource = new PreviewControllerDS(item);
    
       currentController.PresentViewController(qlPreview, true, null);
     }
   }
   

8. Compile and execute the application. Now, this application creates a simple PDF document.

​A complete working sample can be downloaded from Create-PDF-file.zip

​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, Standard fonts and CJK fonts. Also, the features like PDF form filling, extract text or images from PDF, and protect PDF documents with code examples.

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