Getting started with GemBox.Pdf

GemBox.Pdf is a .NET component that enables you to read, write, edit, and print PDF files from .NET applications.

Requirements

GemBox.Pdf requires only .NET. It supports a wide range of .NET versions, as listed below:

  • .NET 6.0+ (Windows only)
  • .NET Standard 2.0+ (Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, Windows)
  • .NET Framework 3.5+ (Windows only)

Installation

Before you can use GemBox.Pdf, you need to install it in your project. The best way is by adding a GemBox.Pdf NuGet package via NuGet Package Manager in Visual Studio.

To install the package, you can follow the steps listed below. However, please note that this guide assumes you have already set up a Visual Studio project. If you haven't done that yet, you can refer to the official tutorial for guidance.

  1. Right-click on the project's solution in the Solution Explorer and select 'Manage NuGet Packages for Solution'.
    Manage NuGet Packages
  2. On the newly opened view, click the 'Browse' tab and search for GemBox.Pdf. Once found, click on 'Install'.
    Install GemBox.Pdf NuGet package
  3. That is it. Once the installation finishes, you will be able to use the component in your code.

As an alternative, you can open the NuGet Package Manager Console (Tools -> NuGet Package Manager -> Package Manager Console) and run the following command:

Install-Package GemBox.Pdf

We also provide DLL and setup downloads on GemBox.Pdf's BugFixes page. Setup download links are at the bottom of the page, under the 'Global Assembly' section.

Usage

Once you have installed GemBox.Pdf, all you have to do is add the using directive and make sure you call the ComponentInfo.SetLicense method before using any member of the component. We suggest putting the call at the beginning of the Main() method.

The ComponentInfo.SetLicense requires a license key as a parameter. If you are using the component in a Free mode, use "FREE-LIMITED-KEY" as a license key, and if you have purchased a Professional license, use the key you got in your email after the purchase. You can read more about GemBox.Pdf's working modes on the Evaluation and Licensing page.

After that, you can write your application code for working with PDFs, like the code below. It shows how to create a simple PDF document using GemBox.Pdf's document structure, add a PdfPage, draw some PdfFormattedText on it, and then save the PdfDocument to a PDF file.

You can click the 'Run Example' button to run the code and download the resulting file.

using GemBox.Pdf;
using GemBox.Pdf.Content;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // If using the Professional version, put your serial key below.
        ComponentInfo.SetLicense("FREE-LIMITED-KEY");

        using (var document = new PdfDocument())
        {
            // Add a page.
            var page = document.Pages.Add();

            // Write a text.
            using (var formattedText = new PdfFormattedText())
            {
                formattedText.Append("Hello World!");

                page.Content.DrawText(formattedText, new PdfPoint(100, 700));
            }

            document.Save("HelloWorld.pdf");
        }
    }
}
Imports GemBox.Pdf
Imports GemBox.Pdf.Content

Module Program

    Sub Main()

        ' If using the Professional version, put your serial key below.
        ComponentInfo.SetLicense("FREE-LIMITED-KEY")

        Using document = New PdfDocument()

            ' Add a page.
            Dim page = document.Pages.Add()

            ' Write a text.
            Using formattedText = New PdfFormattedText()

                formattedText.Append("Hello World!")

                page.Content.DrawText(formattedText, New PdfPoint(100, 700))
            End Using

            document.Save("HelloWorld.pdf")
        End Using
    End Sub
End Module
Screenshot of a PDF file created with GemBox.Pdf
Screenshot of a PDF file created with GemBox.Pdf

To learn more about GemBox.Pdf, check out our collection of examples listed on the menu. These examples will show you how to use the component in various PDF-processing tasks and platforms. Additionally, for detailed information on the API, head to our documentation pages. This resource offers a comprehensive API reference, explaining each method and property available within the component.

See also


Next steps

GemBox.Pdf is a .NET component that enables developers to read, merge and split PDF files or execute low-level object manipulations from .NET applications in a simple and efficient way.

Download Buy