NetHtml2Pdf 1.0.0

NetHtml2Pdf

A .NET library for converting HTML content to PDF using QuestPDF with extensible architecture.

Overview

NetHtml2Pdf is a modern, extensible HTML-to-PDF conversion library that supports various HTML elements including tables, paragraphs, line breaks, divisions, and sections. The library is designed to ensure maintainability, testability, and extensibility. The goal is to create a pure .NET cross-platform library that runs on Windows and Linux without requiring GDI+ dependencies.

Defaults

• Page size: Letter (8.5×11 in)
• Margins: 1 inch on all sides
• Font: Inter (bundled) for deterministic rendering
• CSS: minimal inline subset (e.g., color, background-color, border width, padding/margin, font-size, font-weight); unsupported properties are ignored
• Unsupported elements: ignored, inner text preserved
• Pagination: explicit via builder (no auto-pagination)

Quick Start

1. Install the Package

dotnet add package NetHtml2Pdf

2. Basic Usage (single page)

using NetHtml2Pdf;

var html = @"
    <section>
        <h1>My Document</h1>
        <p>This is a sample document.</p>
    </section>
    
    <table>
        <thead>
            <tr><th>Name</th><th>Age</th></tr>
        </thead>
        <tbody>
            <tr><td>Alice</td><td>30</td></tr>
            <tr><td>Bob</td><td>25</td></tr>
        </tbody>
    </table>
";

var converter = new HtmlConverter();
var pdfBytes = await converter.ConvertToPdfBytes(html);
await File.WriteAllBytesAsync("output.pdf", pdfBytes);

3. Explicit Pagination (multi-page)

using NetHtml2Pdf;

var builder = new PdfDocumentBuilder();
builder.AddPdfPage("<section><h1>Page 1</h1><p>Hello</p></section>");
builder.AddPdfPage("<section><h1>Page 2</h1><p>World</p></section>");

var pdf = await builder.RenderAsync();
await File.WriteAllBytesAsync("multi-page.pdf", pdf);

4. Headers and Footers

Render a header and footer on every page using HTML fragments (same supported subset as body):

using NetHtml2Pdf;

var builder = new PdfDocumentBuilder();
builder.SetHeaderHtml("<div><strong>HeaderText</strong></div>");
builder.SetFooterHtml("<div><em>FooterText</em></div>");

builder.AddPdfPage("<section><h1>Page 1</h1><p>Alpha</p></section>");
builder.AddPdfPage("<section><h1>Page 2</h1><p>Beta</p></section>");

var pdf = await builder.RenderAsync();
await File.WriteAllBytesAsync("with-header-footer.pdf", pdf);

Styling notes

• Supported inline CSS in header/footer is the same minimal subset as body:
  • text-align, padding, margin, color, font-size, font-weight/font-style
• Use <strong>/<em> for bold/italic; unsupported properties (e.g., display, position) are ignored.
• Height adapts to content; keep header/footer concise for predictable layout.

Example (right-aligned header, centered footer):

builder.SetHeaderHtml("<div style='text-align: right; padding: 8px; color: #333; font-size: 12px;'>My Company</div>");
builder.SetFooterHtml("<div style='text-align: center; padding: 6px; color: #666; font-size: 10px;'><em>Confidential</em></div>");

Dependencies

• QuestPDF: PDF generation library
• AngleSharp: HTML parsing library
• .NET 8.0: Target framework

Building and Testing

# Clone the repository
git clone <repository-url>
cd NetHtml2Pdf

# Restore dependencies
dotnet restore

# Build all projects
dotnet build

# Run tests
dotnet test

# Run console application
cd src/NetHtml2Pdf.TestConsole
dotnet run example.html

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes following good coding practices
4. Add tests for new functionality
5. Ensure all tests pass
6. Submit a pull request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.