Convert HTML to PDF file in AWS Lambda

20 Jul 20266 minutes to read

The HTML to PDF converter is a .NET library for converting webpages, SVG, MHTML, and HTML to PDF documents using C#. Using this library, you can convert HTML to PDF documents in AWS Lambda functions.

This guide covers two main workflows:

• Create an AWS Lambda function to convert HTML to PDF and publish it to AWS
• Invoke the AWS Lambda function from a console application using AWS SDKs

Prerequisites

Version Compatibility

The Syncfusion.HtmlToPdfConverter.Net.Aws NuGet package uses the Blink rendering engine for HTML to PDF conversion. This library is compatible with .NET 8.0 and later versions.

Supported Inputs

The HTML to PDF converter supports the following input types:

• HTML String: Direct HTML content.
• URL: Web pages and online HTML content.
• HTML Files: Local HTML files.
• MHTML Files: Web archive (.mhtml/.mht) content.
• Authenticated Web Pages: Pages that require cookies, form authentication, or HTTP authentication.
• HTTP GET/POST Requests: HTML content accessed through GET or POST methods

Required Software

• .NET 8 SDK or later
• AWS Account: Active AWS account with Elastic Beanstalk access
• AWS Toolkit: AWS Toolkit for Visual Studio extension installed

Register the license key

NOTE

Starting with v16.2.0.x, if you reference Syncfusion^® assemblies from trial setup or from the NuGet feed, you must add the “Syncfusion.Licensing” assembly reference and register a license key in your application. Please refer to this link for details on registering a Syncfusion^® license key.

Include a license key in your HomeController.cs file before creating an HtmlToPdfConverter instance. Refer to the Syncfusion License documentation to learn about registering the Syncfusion license key in your application.

C#

using Syncfusion.Licensing;

namespace BlinkHtmlConversion.Controllers
{
    public class HomeController : Controller
    {
        public HomeController()
        {
            // Register the Syncfusion license
            SyncfusionLicenseProvider.RegisterLicense("YOUR LICENSE KEY");
        }
    }
}

NOTE

Starting from version 29.2.4, it is no longer necessary to manually add the following command-line arguments when using the Blink rendering engine:

settings.CommandLineArguments.Add("--no-sandbox");
settings.CommandLineArguments.Add("--disable-setuid-sandbox");

These arguments are only required when using older versions of the library that depend on Blink in sandbox-restricted environments.

Steps to convert HTML to PDF in AWS Lambda

Create an AWS Lambda Function to Convert HTML to PDF

Step 1: Create a new AWS Lambda project:

Step 2: In the configuration window, name your project and select Create:

Step 3: Select Empty Function as the blueprint and click Finish:

Step 4: Install the Syncfusion.HtmlToPdfConverter.Net.Aws NuGet package into your AWS Lambda project from NuGet.org:

Step 5: Include the following namespaces in the Function.cs file:

C#

using Syncfusion.HtmlConverter;
using Syncfusion.Pdf;

Step 6: Add the following code snippet to Function.cs to convert HTML to PDF document using the Convert method of the HtmlToPdfConverter class:

C#

// Initialize the HTML to PDF converter with Blink rendering engine
HtmlToPdfConverter htmlConverter = new HtmlToPdfConverter();
// Convert URL to PDF document
PdfDocument document = htmlConverter.Convert(input);
// Create memory stream for output
MemoryStream memoryStream = new MemoryStream();
// Save the document to memory stream
document.Save(memoryStream);
// Close the document and dispose resources
document.Close(true);
// Return Base64 encoded PDF for AWS Lambda response
return Convert.ToBase64String(memoryStream.ToArray());

Step 7: Right-click the project and select Publish to AWS Lambda:

Step 8: Create a new AWS profile in the Upload Lambda Function window. After creating the profile, add a name for the Lambda function to publish, then click Next:

Step 9: In the Advanced Function Details window, specify the Role Name based on the AWS Managed policy. After selecting the role, click the Upload button to deploy your application:

Step 10: After deploying the application, sign in to your AWS account and you can view the published Lambda function in the AWS Console:

Invoke the AWS Lambda Function from a Console Application

Step 1: Create a new console project:

Step 2: In the project configuration window, name your project and select Create:

Step 3: Install the AWSSDK.Core, AWSSDK.Lambda, and Newtonsoft.Json NuGet packages into your console application from NuGet.org:

Step 4: Include the following namespaces in the Program.cs file:

C#

using Amazon;
using Amazon.Lambda;
using Amazon.Lambda.Model;
using Newtonsoft.Json;
using System.IO;

Step 5: Add the following code snippet to the Program class to invoke the published AWS Lambda function using the function name and access keys:

C#

// Create a new AmazonLambdaClient with AWS credentials and region
AmazonLambdaClient client = new AmazonLambdaClient("awsaccessKeyID", "awsSecreteAccessKey", RegionEndpoint.USEast1);
// Create InvokeRequest with the published Lambda function name
InvokeRequest invoke = new InvokeRequest
{
    FunctionName = "AwsLambdaFunctionHtmlToPdfConversion",
    InvocationType = InvocationType.RequestResponse,
    Payload = "\" https://www.google.co.in/ \""
};
// Invoke the AWS Lambda function and get the response
InvokeResponse response = client.Invoke(invoke);
// Read the response payload stream
var stream = new StreamReader(response.Payload);
JsonReader reader = new JsonTextReader(stream);
var serializer = new JsonSerializer();
var responseText = serializer.Deserialize(reader);
// Convert Base64 string response to PDF document bytes
byte[] bytes = Convert.FromBase64String(responseText.ToString());
// Create file stream to save the PDF document
FileStream fileStream = new FileStream("Sample.pdf", FileMode.Create);
BinaryWriter writer = new BinaryWriter(fileStream);
// Write PDF bytes to file
writer.Write(bytes, 0, bytes.Length);
writer.Close();
// Open the PDF document in the default viewer
System.Diagnostics.Process.Start("Sample.pdf");

By executing the program, you will obtain the following PDF document output:

A complete working sample for converting HTML to PDF in AWS Lambda can be downloaded from GitHub.

Click here to explore the rich set of Syncfusion^® HTML to PDF converter library features.

You can also view the online sample to convert HTML to PDF documents in ASP.NET Core.