Feature-Rich C# .NET PDF API Library for Total Document Control

Quick Start - Generating PDFs from Scratch

Generate PDF documents in C# using minimal code. This .NET PDF library provides intuitive APIs for placing text precisely where you want it on a page, ensuring flexible document creation with control over the layout. After placing and formatting the content, you can save the PDF for later use or sharing, making it an efficient solution for automating report generation, invoices, and other document-based tasks in your .NET applications.

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• Getting Started Documentation

Data-Bound PDF Reports from HTML Templates

Document Solutions for PDF enables efficient generation of data-driven PDF reports by combining HTML templates with dynamic data binding using C# and VB.NET. This feature allows developers to define the layout of a report using an HTML template and populate it with data from various sources, such as XML or JSON, ensuring that your PDFs are both visually consistent and data-accurate.

Using the Stubble library for data binding, users can map data fields to placeholders within HTML templates. The rendered HTML is processed with the GcHtmlBrowser class, which ensures that the final PDF retains the design and structure defined in the template. Additional customization options, such as setting margins, headers, and footers, are available through the PdfOptions class, providing flexibility in formatting.

This approach enables dynamic content insertion, making it ideal for generating professional, data-driven PDFs like reports or catalogs. The API streamlines the process, ensuring efficient, consistent, and high-quality document creation with minimal effort.

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• Convert HTML to PDF Report Documentation
• Learn More About Data-Bound PDF Reports

Generate Multi-Page PDFs – Paginated Text

This .NET PDF API provides powerful text-handling features using the TextSplitOptions class, enabling seamless text distribution across multiple pages. Key members like MinLinesInFirstParagraph and MinLinesInLastParagraph ensure that paragraphs are not awkwardly split, preserving readability and a professional appearance. The KeepParagraphLinesTogether property allows you to maintain paragraph integrity by keeping all lines of a paragraph together on the same page when necessary. Additionally, AddSpacingAfterLastLine lets you add precise spacing after the last line of split text, creating a polished and visually consistent layout. These features make it easy to generate high-quality, multi-page documents, such as reports, eBooks, and manuals, with minimal manual intervention.

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Advanced Text Rendering

Our advanced text rendering features provide precise control over the appearance and functionality of PDF documents. Using the TextLayout and TextFormat classes, you can achieve text alignment, rotation, vertical text rendering, and detailed paragraph formatting. Advanced capabilities such as text stroking and filling, trimming, wrapping, and support for subscript and superscript allow for highly customized designs.

Additional features include support for bidirectional text rendering, adjustable character spacing, and the ability to render complex scripts and languages. Text can also be dynamically measured, split, and aligned across multiple columns or pages, ensuring consistent and professional document layouts. These tools make it easy to create polished PDFs for various purposes, such as reports, brochures, and user manuals, while meeting the most demanding design requirements.

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• Text Documentation

Create Complex Grid-Based Tables

Create sophisticated and customizable tables in your PDFs using Document Solutions for PDF's TableRenderer class. This feature automates the creation of complex table layouts by calculating cell positions and sizes, eliminating the need for manual adjustments. It supports advanced functionality such as merged cells, rotated text, auto-sizing, nested tables, and multilayer cell content. With options for custom cell styles and seamless integration of text, graphics, and even other tables within cells, you can build professional tables ideal for data-rich reports, invoices, catalogs, and more. The TableRenderer ensures precise rendering and layout, allowing you to present your information clearly and professionally.

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• Tables Documentation

PDF Optimization

Document Solutions for PDF provides robust optimization tools to reduce the size of your PDF files while preserving their quality and integrity. Optimized PDFs are faster to load, easier to share, and more efficient to store, making them ideal for workflows that require high performance and streamlined document handling. By leveraging advanced optimization techniques, you can ensure that your documents meet both functional and aesthetic standards.

With the GcPdfDocument class, you can implement optimization strategies such as removing duplicate images, streamlining font usage, and enabling object streams. These methods target common areas of redundancy in PDFs, such as embedded resources and inefficient encoding, allowing for significant file size reductions without sacrificing visual fidelity. Whether your goal is to distribute documents quickly, conserve storage, or enhance user experience, the optimization capabilities of Document Solutions for PDF ensure that your files are both compact and professional.

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• Optimizing PDFs Documentation

ZUGFeRD Compliant

Document Solutions for PDF includes comprehensive support for creating and reading ZUGFeRD-compliant invoices, streamlining electronic invoicing processes with ease. ZUGFeRD, based on the PDF/A-3 standard, combines a fixed-layout PDF with embedded structured XML to enable both human-readable and machine-readable formats. This hybrid approach ensures interoperability across software systems and compliance with European e-invoicing standards.

Using the ZUGFeRD-csharp package, developers can generate ZUGFeRD-compliant invoices by embedding XML data into a PDF. The EmbeddedFiles collection of the GcPdfDocument class allows XML attachments to be added to the PDF, while setting the conformance level to PdfA3a ensures compliance with archival standards. Developers can further extract the structured XML for reuse or processing, simplifying workflows and reducing errors in financial documentation.

This capability makes it easier to integrate with business partners and comply with government regulations, while enhancing the efficiency and accuracy of invoice management.

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• Create ZUGFeRD-compliant PDF Invoices Blog

Apply Complex Text Formatting 

Achieve precise text formatting in your PDF documents with the TextFormat class, offering full control over typography and character styles. Define fonts, sizes, styles, and colors to match your design requirements, whether you're creating bold headings, styled paragraphs, or fine-tuned captions. The TextFormat class allows you to specify properties such as FontSize, FontStyle, and ForeColor, ensuring consistent and visually appealing text rendering.

This powerful formatting capability extends to multilingual support, making it easy to format text in various languages with options like Language. Whether for reports, brochures, or promotional materials, these tools provide the versatility needed to produce polished and professional documents tailored to your audience.

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• Format Text Documentation

Add Headers, Footers, & Page Numbers

Document Solutions for PDF simplifies adding headers, footers, and page numbers to your documents, ensuring a polished and professional appearance. Using the GcPdfDocument class, you can dynamically generate and customize these elements with features like text alignment (left, center, right), flexible margins, and adjustable font styles. The TextFormat class allows you to control the typography, while the TextLayout class ensures precise rendering, adapting to varying page orientations and sizes.

This powerful functionality is ideal for creating dynamic page elements like timestamps, document titles, and 'Page X of Y' indicators, ensuring consistency and enhancing navigation across corporate reports, academic papers, and more.

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Embed Audio & Videos

This PDF API library enables the seamless integration of audio and video files into PDF documents using C# and VB.NET, enhancing interactivity and engagement. Utilizing the RichMediaAnnotation class, you can embed multimedia content directly within PDFs, supporting various formats to suit your project's needs. This functionality is ideal for creating dynamic presentations, e-learning modules, or marketing materials that captivate your audience. The RichMediaAnnotation class offers properties such as ActivationCondition and DeactivationCondition to control when media plays, and PresentationStyle to define whether content is embedded or displayed in a windowed mode. By leveraging these features, you can deliver rich, interactive PDF experiences without compromising performance

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• RichMedia Annotation Documentation

Insert & Adjust Images

Document Solutions for PDF offers powerful tools for embedding and customizing images within your PDFs. With support for formats like JPEG, PNG, BMP, and GIF, the library ensures seamless integration of high-quality visuals, including logos, charts, and illustrations. Using the GcPdfGraphics.DrawImage method, you can precisely control image positioning, scaling, rotation, and transparency to align perfectly with your document layout.

Advanced features like maintaining aspect ratios and specifying clipping regions allow for tailored adjustments without compromising image quality. These tools enable you to create polished, professional documents with crisp, high-resolution visuals, enhancing the impact of your reports, brochures, and presentations.

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Draw Graphics & Shapes

This PDF API library provides comprehensive tools for creating and customizing graphics and shapes, enabling precise visual enhancements to your PDF documents. Using the GcPdfGraphics class, you can draw various shapes such as lines, rectangles, ellipses, and paths, with full control over their size, position, color, and transparency. Advanced options like gradient fills, line styles, and clipping regions allow you to design visually compelling layouts that align with your document’s purpose.

These features are ideal for adding decorative elements, data visualizations, or branding components to reports, presentations, and brochures. By leveraging these robust graphic capabilities, you can create professional, polished PDFs that leave a lasting impression.

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• Graphics Documentation

Barcodes in PDFs

Document Solutions for PDF offers powerful barcode generation capabilities via the GcBarcode class, enabling seamless integration of high-quality barcodes into your PDF documents. With support for 38 different barcode symbologies, including QR codes, Code 128, Data Matrix, and more, the GcBarcode class ensures versatility across industries such as inventory management, ticketing, and shipping.

Users can customize properties like CodeType to define the barcode symbology, Text to set the encoded value, and ScaleFactor to adjust the barcode's size. Additional alignment options, such as HorizontalAlignment and VerticalAlignment, allow for precise placement within your PDFs. By leveraging the DrawBarcode method of the GcPdfGraphics class, barcodes can be seamlessly embedded into any page layout.

These capabilities makes our server-side PDF API an ideal tool for creating professional documents like labels, invoices, and shipping materials while ensuring accuracy and easy scanning in any workflow.

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• Barcodes in PDFs Documentation

Unicode Fonts for International Languages

Document Solutions for PDF fully supports Unicode fonts, enabling you to create PDFs in any language with precise rendering of complex characters and scripts. This feature is essential for creating multilingual documents that maintain clarity, accuracy, and readability. Using the TextFormat class, developers can define font properties such as size, style, and color, while leveraging the TextLayout class for arranging text across pages. The library also provides font fallback capabilities, ensuring that characters from multiple languages are seamlessly integrated within a single document.

This functionality is particularly valuable for applications requiring support for diverse languages like Chinese, Arabic, Hindi, and other non-Latin scripts, as well as for global enterprise workflows. By combining flexibility and precision, this PDF API library simplifies the process of creating professional, standards-compliant documents that meet the needs of international users.

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Right-to-Left Text Support

With Document Solutions for PDF, you can create professional, high-quality PDFs that include right-to-left (RTL) text for languages like Arabic, Hebrew, and others. This built-in support ensures that text formatting and alignment are preserved, maintaining readability and consistency throughout the document. Whether you’re preparing documents for international clients or internal reports, the RTL text functionality helps create documents that are culturally and linguistically appropriate.

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PDF Language Layers

Document Solutions for PDF includes powerful language layer capabilities that allow developers to create multilingual PDF documents with organized and toggled content. Using the OptionalContentProperties class, you can define separate layers for each language, ensuring clarity and flexibility in displaying multilingual text. Layers can be easily toggled on or off in a PDF viewer to show or hide specific language content without duplicating document structure.

With methods like AddLayer for defining layers, and BeginLayer and EndLayer for associating content with these layers, you can add language-specific text, graphics, and annotations seamlessly. For example, you can include multiple translations of the same content within a single PDF while maintaining a clean and professional layout. This feature is ideal for international marketing materials, global product documentation, and localized reports, making it easy to deliver tailored content to a diverse audience.

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• Layers Documentation

Load a Font from a Font File

Document Solutions for PDF empowers enterprise developers to enhance document design by importing custom fonts directly from font files, ensuring complete control over typography. Using the Font classes FromFile method, you can easily embed custom typefaces, including TrueType and OpenType formats, into your PDFs. This feature enables seamless integration of brand-specific fonts or unique styles, maintaining consistent branding and design throughout your documents.

With support for font fallback, you can also define linked fonts to handle missing glyphs for complex scripts or multilingual content, ensuring comprehensive character coverage. This is particularly valuable when working with documents that require a mix of custom and standard fonts across different languages. Whether you're creating polished marketing materials, professional reports, or visually distinct documents, custom fonts enhance the visual appeal, ensure accuracy, and align with your design vision across all platforms.

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• Using Font from File Documentation 

Add Embedded Fonts

Document Solutions for PDF ensures consistent text rendering across devices by embedding fonts directly into your PDF documents. By default, the library uses font subsets containing only the glyphs required for the document to minimize file size. For cases where the full font needs to be embedded—such as ensuring compatibility or retaining all characters for potential edits—you can use the FontEmbedMode property of the GcPdfDocument class.

With the FontEmbedMode.EmbedFullFont option, the entire font can be embedded into the PDF, providing complete control over font usage and ensuring that your documents display accurately across all platforms, regardless of the viewer's environment.

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• Font Embedding Documentation

Convert HTML to PDF (Files, Strings, URLs)

Document Solutions for PDF, in conjunction with the DsHtml library, simplifies the process of converting HTML content into high-quality, fully formatted PDFs. This powerful feature supports HTML input from strings, files, or URLs, ensuring the retention of original layout, design, and formatting. Whether creating polished reports, converting web-based forms, or archiving web content, this functionality streamlines the generation of visually accurate and professional PDF documents.

Using the GcHtmlBrowser class, built on the industry-standard Chromium engine, you can render HTML seamlessly across Windows, Linux, and macOS platforms. This cross-platform capability ensures compatibility, regardless of your application’s target architecture (x64, x86, or AnyCPU). Additionally, by leveraging PdfOptions and methods such as SaveAsPdf or DrawHtml, you have granular control over output settings, such as page dimensions and resolution.

For advanced use cases, like rendering dynamic content or processing large datasets, you can rely on the DsHtml library to handle complex HTML rendering while maintaining accuracy and performance. This integration ensures that your documents remain consistent and visually appealing, regardless of the viewer's environment or device.

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• Render HTML to PDF Documentation
• Learn More About Converting HTML to PDF

PDF to Image (JPEG, PNG, BMP, etc.)

Document Solutions for PDF enables seamless conversion of PDF pages into high-resolution images in various formats, including JPEG, PNG, BMP, GIF, and TIFF. This feature is ideal for repurposing visuals, enhancing presentations, and integrating PDF content into web pages, word processors, or other applications. By leveraging the library’s robust tools, you can maintain the original content’s clarity and quality, ensuring that your images are ready for professional use.

The conversion process is powered by the SaveAs methods provided by the GcPdfDocument class, including: SaveAsBmp, SaveAsPng, SaveAsJpeg, and more. These methods allow you to define output ranges, customize rendering settings such as background color and resolution, and control annotation or form field visibility using the SaveAsImageOptions class. Additionally, the InterpolationMode property ensures precise bitmap rendering and scaling for embedded images.

Whether you need to extract a single page or an entire document, the ability to fine-tune output settings and image formats ensures seamless integration into any project or workflow, while preserving the integrity of your original PDF content.

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• Save PDF as Image Documentation

PDF to SVG

This C#/VB.NET PDF API library supports the conversion of PDF pages into scalable vector graphics (SVG) or compressed SVGZ formats, preserving the visual quality and precision of your content. Using the SaveAsSvg and ToSvgz methods from the Page class, you can easily export PDF pages to high-quality, resolution-independent SVG files.

This feature is ideal for web and graphic design applications where scalability is essential, such as logos, icons, or graphics that need to adapt to various sizes and resolutions. With options to configure zoom levels and XML formatting, the API ensures flexibility and precise output, making it a versatile tool for creating graphics-ready documents for both print and digital platforms.

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• Save as SVG Documentation

Create Interactive Form Fields – AcroForms

Document Solutions for PDF provides API functionality for creating interactive PDF forms through the AcroForm class. This class enables the addition and management of form fields such as text boxes, checkboxes, radio buttons, combo boxes, list boxes, and signature fields. Using the Fields property of the AcroForms class, developers can programmatically add, retrieve, modify, or remove form fields within a PDF document. This flexibility makes it easy to design forms tailored to a wide range of input requirements, such as surveys, feedback forms, or applications. By leveraging the capabilities of the AcroForm class, you can build intuitive and interactive forms that facilitate seamless data collection and enhance the functionality of your PDFs.

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• Forms Documentation

Import & Extract PDF Form Data

This server-side PDF API library simplifies automated data collection and analysis by enabling the programmatic import and export of form data in various widely used formats such as FDF, XFDF, and XML. This functionality, implemented through methods of the GcPdfDocument class, allows seamless integration of PDF forms into data-driven workflows.

FDF (Forms Data Format) and its XML-based counterpart XFDF facilitate lightweight data transfers by storing form values in a structured format, making them ideal for web submissions or data synchronization tasks. XML provides a versatile plain-text format preferred by many applications for compatibility and ease of use. The ImportFormDataFromFDF, ImportFormDataFromXFDF, and ImportFormDataFromXML methods allow developers to populate PDF forms programmatically using these data formats. Similarly, the ExportFormDataToFDF, ExportFormDataToXFDF, and ExportFormDataToXML methods enable efficient extraction of form data for storage or further processing.

By leveraging these capabilities, developers can automate repetitive tasks like processing form submissions, simplifying workflows, and reducing errors. This robust feature set is invaluable for applications in data collection, survey processing, and automated reporting, where accuracy and efficiency are paramount.

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• Import and Export Forms Data Documentation

Customize Form Appearance & Field Properties

The PDF API provides robust support to customize and format PDF form fields to meet specific requirements. By utilizing the TextField, CombTextField, and ComboBoxField classes, you can define field formats such as percentage, number, date, time, and specialized formats like phone numbers or Social Security numbers. The API offers methods such as SetPercentFormat, SetNumberFormat, and SetDateFormat, which allow developers to programmatically apply formatting styles, ensuring that values entered into form fields conform to expected patterns. This level of customization enhances the usability and professionalism of your forms, making them adaptable to various use cases such as financial data entry, registration forms, and more.

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• Set Field Format Documentation

Fill & Flatten PDF Forms

Document Solutions for PDF offers the capability to fill PDF forms programmatically and then flatten them into non-editable, finalized documents. This ensures that the form content is secure and maintains its integrity, preventing any modifications after submission. Flattening transforms interactive fields, such as text boxes or checkboxes, into static elements, preserving the document’s original layout and formatting.

Using the GcPdfDocument class, developers can load, populate, and render form content while ensuring a consistent appearance. Additionally, leveraging the FormXObject class capabilities, repeated content, such as form fields or graphics, can be optimized by storing them once and referencing them multiple times within the PDF. This approach ensures efficient document structure while maintaining high-quality output for applications like official records, legal agreements, and compliance documents.

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• Form XObjects Documentation

Extract PDF Table Data

Document Solutions for PDF provides a powerful method for extracting tabular data from PDFs with precision and accuracy. Using the GetTable method of the Page class, developers can specify a table's area within a PDF and extract its structured data, including rows, columns, and cell content. This functionality is highly beneficial for turning complex, static tables into actionable datasets that can be analyzed or integrated into spreadsheets, databases, or other applications.

By supporting customizable extraction options through the TableExtractOptions parameter, the API allows fine-tuning of table parsing, such as adjusting column widths, row heights, and spacing. While this feature requires defining the table's area, it provides an efficient way to capture tabular data for various purposes, including financial reports, business analytics, and research documentation. With precise data extraction, this capability enhances productivity and simplifies data management tasks.

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• Extract Data from Tables Documents

Extract PDF Text

This .NET PDF API library offers robust text extraction capabilities, allowing developers to access and utilize content from PDF documents with precision. The GetText method, part of the GcPdfDocument and Page classes, simplifies extracting text from entire documents or specific pages, enabling seamless integration into applications for indexing, search, or repurposing content.

For advanced use cases, the ITextMap interface provides a detailed map of the text on a page, including geometric positions and layout details. This feature enables targeted text extraction from specific regions, ensuring accurate capture of structured or unstructured data. The ability to retrieve and manipulate text directly from PDFs streamlines workflows, whether for creating searchable databases, generating reports, or repurposing content for research or business analysis.

With precise tools for text mapping and retrieval, Document Solutions for PDF ensures that extracting and working with PDF text is efficient, accurate, and tailored to your needs.

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• Extract Text Documentation

Extract PDF Paragraphs

Document Solutions for PDF allows for the precise extraction of text paragraphs from PDF documents while maintaining their original structure and formatting. Leveraging the Paragraphs property of the ITextMap interface, you can programmatically access and retrieve text content organized into distinct paragraphs. This capability ensures that even multi-line text within tables or overlapping text styles, such as bold, are correctly identified without redundancy.

This functionality is particularly valuable for tasks like content analysis, editing, and repurposing, allowing you to adapt document content for reports, articles, or presentations with ease. While limitations such as page breaks and complex table layouts may affect paragraph recognition in some cases, the feature remains a powerful tool for extracting and preserving text integrity.

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• Extract Text Paragraphs

Extract Images

Document Solutions for PDF makes it simple to extract images from PDF documents, using C# or VB.NET, while maintaining their original quality. By utilizing the GetImages method of the GcPdfDocument class, developers can retrieve embedded visuals such as charts, illustrations, and photos without any loss in resolution or clarity.

This feature enables seamless reuse of high-quality image assets for projects, presentations, or design work. The extracted images, along with metadata like their page indices and locations, can be drawn onto new PDF documents or saved for other applications. With this powerful capability, Document Solutions for PDF simplifies the task of repurposing visual content, streamlining workflows for creative, professional, or analytical projects.

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• Get Images Documentation

Extract Data Based on Structure Tags

With Document Solutions for PDF, you can programmatically extract structured data from tagged PDFs by leveraging the LogicalStructure class. This feature provides precise access to elements such as headings, tables, and paragraphs, enabling efficient parsing of complex document structures. The StructElement property identifies specific element types, such as headings (H), paragraphs (P), or table rows (TR), ensuring accurate data retrieval. This capability is ideal for automating workflows involving content analysis, reporting, or archiving. By extracting tagged elements, developers can maintain the logical flow and formatting of document content, ensuring seamless integration into various applications.

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• Extract Content from Tagged PDF

Extract Metadata & Document Properties

Document Solutions for PDF offers comprehensive tools to extract detailed metadata and document properties from PDF files. Leveraging the GcPdfDocument’s DocumentInfo property, developers can access critical information, including the author, title, subject, keywords, and creation date of a document. The DocumentInfo class provides structured access to this metadata including: Author, Title, Subject, ModifyDate, and more.

This feature is particularly valuable for archiving, organizing, and retrieving documents efficiently. By ensuring accurate and accessible metadata, organizations can streamline their documentation processes and meet internal or regulatory requirements with confidence.

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• Get Document Properties Documentation

Merge Multiple PDFs Into One

This server-side PDF API simplifies the process of merging multiple PDF documents into a single, unified file using the MergeWithDocument method of the GcPdfDocument class. This functionality enables you to seamlessly append the content of one PDF to another, ensuring a streamlined workflow for managing related documents. Whether merging reports, combining presentations, or consolidating project files, the resulting cohesive document maintains the integrity and formatting of the original content. 

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• Merge Documents Documentation

Clone a Page

Document Solutions for PDF streamlines the process of duplicating pages within a PDF using the ClonePage method available in the PageCollection class. This feature allows you to replicate a specific page and insert it at any position within the same document, ensuring consistency and efficiency when reusing layouts, templates, or content sections. The method also provides options to include or exclude annotations and fields during the cloning process, offering flexibility for various use cases. Whether you’re developing new templates or modifying existing documents, duplicating pages saves time and effort while maintaining the integrity of your content.

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• Clone a Page Documentation

Split a PDF

Document Solutions for PDF makes it simple to split large PDF documents into smaller, more manageable files using precise methods. For instance, the FormXObject class can split content, such as A3 landscape-oriented pages, into two A4 portrait pages. This ensures each section of the original document is preserved and formatted correctly, allowing for seamless extraction of specific content or segmentation of lengthy documents. Whether working with reports, contracts, or technical manuals, this feature empowers users to streamline document organization, enhance accessibility, and adapt documents for varied purposes efficiently.

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Add Attachments

Document Solutions for PDF enables you to embed supplementary files as attachments within your PDF documents, enhancing their utility and providing seamless access to additional resources. Attachments can be added at both the document and page levels. At the document level, the EmbeddedFileStream class is used to store the content of referenced files directly within the PDF. This ensures that the attachments remain accessible, even when the PDF is shared or transmitted, improving the portability and completeness of the document.

For page-level attachments, the FileAttachmentAnnotation class allows you to link files directly to specific locations in the PDF. With properties like Icon, which defines the attachment's visual representation, and Contents, which describes the attachment, these annotations provide an interactive way to include resources such as images, videos, or documents. This capability is ideal for reports, proposals, or comprehensive information packets, ensuring that readers have all relevant materials in one accessible PDF.

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• Attachment Documentation

Outlines & Bookmarks

Programmatically create, manage, and enhance outlines and bookmarks in PDF documents, improving navigation and accessibility. Using the OutlineNode class, you can define hierarchical structures that allow users to interactively jump to specific sections or topics within a document. This capability is especially useful for creating eBooks, user manuals, or detailed reports where quick and organized navigation is essential.

Outlines can be customized by adding child nodes to create a detailed structure, and you can control their display using the Expanded property to show or hide child nodes. The OutlineNodeCollection class provides methods to retrieve, modify, or delete outline nodes, offering full flexibility in organizing document navigation. For example, you can rename a node by updating its Title property or remove specific nodes using the RemoveAt method.

By integrating outlines and bookmarks, you can ensure that readers have an efficient and user-friendly way to explore content, making your documents more accessible and professional.

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• Outline Documentation

Organize Content with Layers

Document Solutions for PDF provides advanced support for managing layers (optional content) in your PDFs, allowing developers to selectively show or hide specific content sections. Using the OptionalContentProperties class, you can create and name layers, associate content such as text, graphics, and annotations with those layers, and control their visibility. 

Layers offer powerful capabilities for creating multilingual documents, embedding watermarks, including animations or overlays, and adding conditional content like license agreements. By utilizing the BeginLayer and EndLayer methods of the GcPdfGraphics class, you can draw and organize content within defined layers, enabling precise content management and enhanced document versatility. This functionality makes it easier to design dynamic PDFs tailored to diverse use cases, improving both interactivity and usability.

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• Layers Documentation

Set & Modify PDF Metadata

Document Solutions for PDF enables you to set, retrieve, and customize metadata associated with your PDF documents. By leveraging the Metadata property, you can define critical details such as author, title, keywords, and descriptions. These attributes not only enhance document organization and searchability but also ensure compliance with metadata standards, making documents easier to manage across systems.

Predefined accessors within the Metadata property allow for efficient handling of various metadata fields, including contributors, creators, copyright information, and more. This functionality is particularly valuable for businesses and teams that rely on well-structured workflows, as it streamlines document indexing and retrieval. 

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• Get Document Properties Documentation

Text Search, Replace, & Delete

Streamline the process of locating, replacing, and deleting text within PDF documents using C# or VB.NET, enabling efficient document editing and management. With robust text search functionality, you can find specific phrases, patterns, or even text matching regular expressions across an entire document. Advanced options, such as case-sensitive and whole-word searches, ensure precision and flexibility in locating content. This makes it easier to update outdated information, correct errors, or make bulk edits efficiently.

The library also supports replacing text seamlessly. The ReplaceText method adjusts spacing automatically, ensuring that replacements integrate naturally into the document’s layout without disrupting its structure. For situations where text needs to be removed, the DeleteText method offers two modes: Standard, which shifts text to fill the void, and PreserveSpace, which retains the original space while deleting the content.

By automating these tasks, Document Solutions for PDF enhances productivity and accuracy, helping businesses and teams maintain professional, error-free documents without the need for manual adjustments.

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• Text Search, Replace and Delete Documentation

Redact PDF Content

Our server-side PDF API provides robust tools for securely redacting sensitive information in PDF documents. The RedactAnnotation class allows you to mark areas for redaction, ensuring that content such as personal data or proprietary information is permanently removed or obscured. Key properties of RedactAnnotation, such as OverlayText, MarkBorderColor, and Opacity, enable detailed customization of the redacted region's appearance, allowing developers to add visible overlays like "REDACTED" or adjust the fill and border colors for clarity.

The redaction process occurs in two phases: marking redact area and applying the redaction. In the marking phase, areas to be redacted are highlighted using annotations, making it clear where changes will occur. This step is often used to review sensitive content before finalizing the redaction. Once the review is complete, the Redact method is used to permanently remove the marked content. After redaction, the sensitive information is irretrievable, ensuring compliance with privacy regulations and safeguarding confidential data.

This feature is essential for industries like legal, financial, and healthcare, where protecting sensitive information is critical. Whether you need to redact specific text, hide images, or obscure sections of a document, Document Solutions for PDF ensures that your data remains secure and compliant.

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• Redaction Annotation Documentation
• Learn More About PDF Redaction

Add Annotations

PDF API libraries makes it easy to programmatically add and manage annotations in PDF documents, improving collaboration and simplifying reviews. With tools like TextAnnotation for comments, TextMarkupAnnotation for highlights, and other annotation types, you can add feedback, emphasize key points, or include multimedia elements directly within your PDFs. The Page.Annotations property, managed by the AnnotationCollection class, allows you to add annotations using the Add method, retrieve and modify them through their properties, or delete them with the Clear or RemoveAt methods.

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• Annotations Documentation

Add Images

Document Solutions for PDF simplifies the process of adding images to your PDF documents, making it easy to enhance your content with visuals like logos, graphics, and photographs. With support for a variety of image formats, including BMP, JPEG, PNG, and SVG, you can seamlessly integrate high-quality images into your documents.

Using the DrawImage method of the GcGraphics class, you can load images from files or streams and position them precisely on your pages. The library also provides the ImageAlign class, offering options for alignment, scaling, and tiling to ensure that images fit perfectly within your design.

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• Images Documentation

Watermarking

This C# PDF API library allows for PDF watermarking capabilities, letting developers enhance document branding, security, and professionalism. Add text or image watermarks to individual pages or entire documents, providing flexibility in design and implementation. Watermarks can serve various purposes, such as indicating confidentiality, reinforcing ownership, or verifying authenticity.

With the TextLayout class, users can create custom text watermarks, adjusting font, color, transparency, and rotation to achieve the desired visual effect. The DrawImage method supports image watermarks, enabling you to overlay logos or other graphics on PDF pages while controlling alignment and opacity. For more advanced use cases, the WatermarkAnnotation class allows to apply dynamic watermarks with additional customization options, ensuring seamless integration.

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• Watermark Documentation

Password Protected PDFs

Programmatically set passwords to secure PDF files, ensuring only authorized users can access them. By leveraging the Security class, you can assign both a user password and an owner password to control document access and permissions. The StandardSecurityHandlerRev4 or StandardSecurityHandlerRev6 classes allow you to configure properties such as password strength, encryption algorithm, and permissions for actions like printing or copying. For example, you can restrict viewing of the document with a user password while granting specific permissions through the owner password. This functionality is particularly crucial for protecting sensitive content, such as financial records or legal documents, from unauthorized access. By integrating password protection into your workflow, you ensure robust document security while maintaining control over how the document is used.

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• Security Documentation

Encrypt & Decrypt PDFs

Document Solutions for PDF offers powerful tools for encrypting and decrypting PDFs programmatically using C# or VB.NET, giving you full control over document security. Using the Security class, you can encrypt your PDFs with advanced methods like AES 256-bit encryption, ensuring the document’s contents remain unreadable to unauthorized users. The StandardSecurityHandlerRev4 or StandardSecurityHandlerRev6 classes allow for tailored encryption settings, including key length, algorithms, and permissions management. Encryption ensures that sensitive data remains protected during storage or transmission, making it ideal for handling confidential business contracts, personal records, or proprietary content. Similarly, authorized decryption provides seamless access to secured content, ensuring usability without compromising security. By implementing encryption and decryption workflows, you can meet stringent compliance requirements while safeguarding your documents from unauthorized access and data breaches.

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• Encrypt PDF Documentation

Set Access Permissions

Set detailed access permissions to ensure comprehensive control over how PDF documents are viewed, edited, or printed. By utilizing the Security class and its integration with the StandardSecurityHandlerRev3, you can define specific permissions tailored to your document's needs. For instance, you can enable or disable editing, copying, or printing content by setting properties like EditingPermissions, CopyContentPermissions, and PrintingPermissions. Additionally, by assigning both a user password and an owner password, you create a dual-layer security model that restricts unauthorized access while allowing specific actions for trusted users. This feature is especially useful for safeguarding sensitive or proprietary information, meeting compliance standards, or securely distributing documents within a team or organization. Whether you’re protecting financial data, legal agreements, or confidential reports, Document Solutions for PDF provides robust tools to ensure your content remains secure and accessible only to the intended audience.

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• Set Permissions Documentation

Open Encrypted PDFs Without Passwords

Programmatically access encrypted PDF files without specifying a password, using the our PDF API’s Load(Stream stream, DecryptionOptions decryptionOptions) method of the GcPdfDocument class. By setting the ThrowExceptionIfInvalidPassword property in DecryptionOptions to False, you gain the ability to work with certain aspects of the document, such as reading and writing non-string-based properties or adding objects that don’t rely on encryption.

This capability is particularly useful when dealing with password-protected files where you need to update or inspect high-level document properties without requiring full decryption. While it provides a streamlined way to interact with secured PDFs in specific scenarios, full functionality remains accessible when the proper password is supplied.

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• Open Encrypted PDF Without Password Documentation

Standard PDF Viewer

Document Solutions for PDF includes a JavaScript PDF Viewer, called DsPdfViewer, that provides a seamless experience for viewing and interacting with PDFs directly in the browser. With its cross-platform support, DsPdfViewer enables users to access PDF documents effortlessly across Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android devices, while maintaining compatibility with major frameworks like Angular, React, Vue, and ASP.NET Core. A Standard license is included with a purchase of Document Solutions for PDF and offers robust capabilities for navigating, zooming, and searching within documents, enhancing both accessibility and productivity.  

For users with advanced needs, the Professional license unlocks powerful editing features such as PDF form-filling, collaborative editing, and comprehensive document modification. These features are available through two flexible options: a server-based editing mode, which connects to a .NET server running the Document Solutions for PDF and SupportApi, and a client-only mode leveraging WebAssembly (Wasm) for fully local, software-independent PDF processing.

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• Document Solutions PDF Viewer Documentation
• Learn More About the JavaScript PDF Viewer

Print PDFs

Document Solutions for PDF offers robust printing capabilities that deliver high-quality and precise output for a variety of document types. Whether you need to print detailed reports, professional marketing materials, or internal documents, this feature ensures your content looks clear and polished. On Windows, the library supports direct printing without relying on an external viewer by leveraging Direct2D technology through classes like GcPdfPrintManager. This allows developers to customize printing with settings such as paper size, orientation, and page scaling, ensuring complete control over the process.

For macOS and Linux, the library integrates seamlessly with built-in command-line utilities, making it straightforward to print PDFs programmatically. This functionality is ideal for workflows requiring automated printing or distribution across different operating systems. With Document Solutions for PDF, printing becomes an effortless and reliable task, ensuring professional results for any use case.

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• Print Documentation

Redact Sensitive PDF Content

Our server-side PDF API provides robust tools for securely redacting sensitive information in PDF documents. The RedactAnnotation class allows you to mark areas for redaction, ensuring that content such as personal data or proprietary information is permanently removed or obscured. Key properties of RedactAnnotation, such as OverlayText, MarkBorderColor, and Opacity, enable detailed customization of the redacted region's appearance, allowing developers to add visible overlays like "REDACTED" or adjust the fill and border colors for clarity.

The redaction process occurs in two phases: marking redact area and applying the redaction. In the marking phase, areas to be redacted are highlighted using annotations, making it clear where changes will occur. This step is often used to review sensitive content before finalizing the redaction. Once the review is complete, the Redact method is used to permanently remove the marked content. After redaction, the sensitive information is irretrievable, ensuring compliance with privacy regulations and safeguarding confidential data.

This feature is essential for industries like legal, financial, and healthcare, where protecting sensitive information is critical. Whether you need to redact specific text, hide images, or obscure sections of a document, Document Solutions for PDF ensures that your data remains secure and compliant.

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• Redaction Annotation Documentation
• Learn More About PDF Redaction

Digital Signatures

Secure digital signatures ensure PDF document authenticity and integrity while eliminating the need for physical signing. This feature is ideal for contracts, agreements, and other important documents where maintaining security and compliance is essential. With the SignatureField class, users can integrate digital signatures into their PDF documents seamlessly, along with features like timestamping to record the precise time and date of signing.

Digital signatures created with this tool adhere to legal standards and can be enhanced with trustworthy stamps from a Time Stamp Authority (TSA). Using the Sign method of the GcPdfDocument class, users can save signed documents incrementally, allowing multiple signatures without altering the original content. Additional flexibility includes setting permissions for subsequent changes, such as modifying fields or adding annotations, while ensuring the integrity of existing signatures.

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• Digital Signature Documentation
• Learn More About PDF Signature Support

Incremental Update

Document Solutions for PDF enables incremental updates, allowing modifications to signed PDFs without invalidating existing signatures. By appending changes to the end of the file, this approach avoids rewriting the entire document, ensuring efficiency and preserving content integrity. The GcPdfDocument class supports incremental updates through the Save method with the IncrementalUpdate option, making it ideal for adding annotations, modifying fields, or including additional signatures.

This feature is essential for workflows requiring multiple digital signatures, as it ensures compliance and maintains the validity of prior signatures. By preparing documents with sufficient signature fields and leveraging incremental updates, you can streamline signing processes while securely managing document changes.

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• Incremental Update Documentation

Long-Term Validation Signatures

Document Solutions for PDF empowers you to create Long-Term Validation (LTV) signatures, ensuring the authenticity and validity of your documents over extended periods. With support for advanced standards such as Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS) and Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), these signatures are ideal for certifying that a document was valid and unaltered at the time of signing. This functionality is critical for legal, financial, and regulatory compliance, making your documents secure and trustworthy.

Using the SignatureProperties class in conjunction with the GcPdfDocument.Sign method, you can create PAdES-compliant signatures, including B-B, B-T, B-LT, and B-LTA levels. The process involves integrating timestamps through trusted sources like a Time Stamp Authority (TSA) using the TimeStampProperties class. These tools allow for incremental updates, meaning additional signatures or verifications can be appended without invalidating previous signatures. The AddVerification method facilitates embedding certificate chains and verification information directly into the document, ensuring that signatures remain valid over time.

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• Digital Signatures Documentation

Image-Based Visual Signatures

Document Solutions for PDF allows you to embed personalized, image-based visual signatures directly into your PDFs. Using the SignatureField and SignatureProperties classes, you can add custom images, such as handwritten signatures or company logos, to designated areas within the document. This feature not only enhances the aesthetic appeal of contracts, agreements, and other formal documents but also reinforces their credibility and authenticity. By integrating visual signatures with digital certificates, you can create professional, secure, and legally compliant PDFs that streamline workflows and build trust.

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