Getting started

Installing from NuGet

Installing manually

Docotic.Pdf samples are located in the Samples folder of the ZIP package. Open SamplesCSharp solution file if you want to use sample code written in C# language. For a VB.NET version please open the SamplesVB.NET solution file.

The same sample code can be cloned or downloaded from our samples repository on GitHub.

Please take a time to review the samples. It should help you to add PDF processing features to your application.

1. Open Visual Studio IDE. Create a new project or open existing one.

2. Open the Add Reference dialog and add a reference to BitMiracle.Docotic.Pdf.dll.

   • The Extensions list will contain the BitMiracle.Docotic.Pdf assembly if you did add the library to GAC
   • Alternatively, you can browse to the location where you extracted the ZIP package and pick the DLL from there.
   

   Please note that you can add a NuGet reference to BitMiracle.Docotic.Pdf instead of referencing its DLL manually.

   To access methods and properties that provide interoperability with types from the System.Drawing namespace and GDI+ you would need to add a reference to the BitMiracle.Docotic.Pdf.Gdi extension DLL. You can find the DLL in the ZIP package or install BitMiracle.Docotic.Pdf.Gdi NuGet package from NuGet.

   To convert HTML to PDF (or SVG to PDF) you would need to add a reference to the BitMiracle.Docotic.Pdf.HtmlToPdf extension DLL. The DLL is also in the ZIP package but we recommend to install the BitMiracle.Docotic.Pdf.HtmlToPdf NuGet package from NuGet instead of adding the DLL manually.

3. To avoid typing full references to the dll, it is best to add following using statement to the already existing ones in your source file

   C#

   using BitMiracle.Docotic.Pdf;

   VB

   Imports BitMiracle.Docotic.Pdf

4. Add the following method to your application source code

   C#

   private static void helloPdf()
   {
       // replace string.Empty with your license key
       BitMiracle.Docotic.LicenseManager.AddLicenseData(string.Empty);
   
       string outputName = "hello.pdf";
       // in ASP.NET application please use following line instead:
       // string outputName = Server.MapPath("hello.pdf");
   
       using (PdfDocument pdf = new PdfDocument())
       {
           // draws "Hello world" on the first page
           PdfPage firstPage = pdf.Pages[0];
           firstPage.Canvas.DrawString(20, 20, "Hello world!");
   
           pdf.Save(outputName);
       }
   
       // opens saved document in default PDF viewer
       System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(new System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo() {
           FileName = outputName,
           UseShellExecute = true,
       });
   }

   VB

   Private Shared Sub helloPdf()
   ' replace string.Empty with your license key
   BitMiracle.Docotic.LicenseManager.AddLicenseData(String.Empty)
   
   Dim outputName As String = "hello.pdf"
   ' in ASP.NET application please use the following line instead:
   ' Dim outputName As String = Server.MapPath("hello.pdf")
   
   Using pdf As New PdfDocument()
       ' draws "Hello world" on the first page
       Dim firstPage As PdfPage = pdf.Pages(0)
       firstPage.Canvas.DrawString(20, 20, "Hello world!")
   
       pdf.Save(outputName)
   End Using
   
   ' opens saved document in the default PDF viewer
   System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(
       New ProcessStartInfo() With {
           .FileName = outputName,
           .UseShellExecute = True
       }
   )
   End Sub

5. Call helloPdf() method from your code. This should produce hello.pdf file and open it in default PDF viewer.