Create PDF document on macOS

24 Jul 202612 minutes to read

The .NET PDF library is used to create, read, and edit PDF documents programmatically without the dependency on Adobe Acrobat. Using this library, you can create a PDF document on macOS.

Steps to create PDF document programmatically in .NET application on macOS

• Visual Studio
• Visual Studio Code

Prerequisites:

• .NET SDK 8.0 (or later)
• Visual Studio for Mac 2022 (or later) with the .NET workload installed
• An active Syncfusion® license key (a free 30-day trial is available)

NOTE

Visual Studio for Mac was retired by Microsoft in August 2022 and is no longer receiving new features. Existing installations still work, but new users are encouraged to use Visual Studio Code with the C# extension as shown in the Visual Studio Code tab.

Step 1: Create a new .NET console application project in your IDE.

Step 2: Name the project and select a target framework (we recommend .NET 8.0 or later).

Step 3: Install the Syncfusion.Pdf.Net.Core NuGet package as a reference to your project from NuGet.org.

NOTE

Starting with v16.2.0.x, if you reference Syncfusion^® assemblies from trial setup or from the NuGet feed, you also have to add “Syncfusion.Licensing” assembly reference and include a license key in your projects. Please refer to this link to learn about registering Syncfusion^® license key in your application to use our components.

Step 4: Register the Syncfusion^® license key. An evaluation watermark is added to every page of the generated PDF until a valid key is registered. Include the license key at the top of Program.cs before creating a PdfDocument instance. Refer to the Syncfusion License documentation to learn about registering the Syncfusion^® license key in your application.

C#

using Syncfusion.Licensing;

// Register the Syncfusion license
Syncfusion.Licensing.SyncfusionLicenseProvider.RegisterLicense("YOUR LICENSE KEY");

Replace "YOUR LICENSE KEY" with the license key associated with your Syncfusion^® account. If you do not have a license key, you can request a free 30-day trial or apply for a Community License from the Syncfusion^® website. For more information about registering a license key in your application, refer to the Syncfusion^® Licensing Documentation.

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

C#

using Syncfusion.Pdf;
using Syncfusion.Pdf.Graphics;
using Syncfusion.Drawing;
using System.IO;

Step 6: Add the following code sample to the Program.cs file to create a PDF document in a .NET application on macOS.

C#

//Create a new PDF document.
PdfDocument document = new PdfDocument();
// Set the page size.
document.PageSettings.Size = PdfPageSize.A4;
//Add a page to the document.
PdfPage page = document.Pages.Add();

//Create PDF graphics for the page.
PdfGraphics graphics = page.Graphics;
//Load the image from the disk.
FileStream imageStream = new FileStream("AdventureCycle.jpg", FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read);
PdfBitmap image = new PdfBitmap(imageStream);
//Draw an image.
graphics.DrawImage(image, new RectangleF(130,0, 250, 100));

//Draw header text.
graphics.DrawString("Adventure Works Cycles", new PdfStandardFont(PdfFontFamily.TimesRoman, 20, PdfFontStyle.Bold), PdfBrushes.Gray, new PointF(150, 150));

//Add paragraph.
string text = "Adventure Works Cycles, the fictitious company on which the AdventureWorks sample databases are based, is a large, multinational manufacturing company. The company manufactures and sells metal and composite bicycles to North American, European and Asian commercial markets. While its base operation is located in Washington with 290 employees, several regional sales teams are located throughout their market base.";
//Create a text element with the text and font.
PdfTextElement textElement = new PdfTextElement(text, new PdfStandardFont(PdfFontFamily.TimesRoman, 12));
//Draw the text in the first column.
textElement.Draw(page, new RectangleF(0, 200, page.GetClientSize().Width, page.GetClientSize().Height));

//Create a PdfGrid.
PdfGrid pdfGrid = new PdfGrid();
//Add values to the list.
List<object> data = new List<object>();
Object row1 = new { Product_ID = "1001", Product_Name = "Bicycle", Price = "10,000" };
Object row2 = new { Product_ID = "1002", Product_Name = "Head Light", Price = "3,000" };
Object row3 = new { Product_ID = "1003", Product_Name = "Break wire", Price = "1,500" };
data.Add(row1);
data.Add(row2);
data.Add(row3);
//Add list to IEnumerable.
IEnumerable<object> dataTable = data;
//Assign data source.
pdfGrid.DataSource = dataTable;
//Apply built-in table style.
pdfGrid.ApplyBuiltinStyle(PdfGridBuiltinStyle.GridTable4Accent3);
//Draw the grid to the page of PDF document.
pdfGrid.Draw(graphics, new RectangleF(0, 300, page.Size.Width - 80, 0));

//Create file stream.
using (FileStream outputFileStream = new FileStream("Output.pdf", FileMode.Create, FileAccess.ReadWrite))
{
    //Save the PDF document to file stream.
    document.Save(outputFileStream);
    //Close the document.
    document.Close(true);
}

Step 7: Add the AdventureCycle.jpg image to the project root (or the output directory) so the program can locate it at runtime.

Step 8: Build the project.

Click the Build button in the toolbar or press Cmd+Shift+B to build the project.

Step 9: Run the project.

Click the Run button (green arrow) in the toolbar or press F5 to run the app.

Prerequisites:

• .NET SDK 8.0 (or later)
• Visual Studio Code
• C# extension for Visual Studio Code (search for C# in the Extensions view (Cmd+Shift+X) and install the official Microsoft extension)
• An active Syncfusion® license key (a free 30-day trial is available)

Step 1: Open the integrated terminal (Cmd+ ) from the parent directory where you want the project to be created, and run the following command to create a new .NET console application. Replace CreatePdfMacOSApp` with your desired project name.

dotnet new console -n CreatePdfMacOSApp

NOTE

Use dotnet new console -f net8.0 -n CreatePdfMacOSApp to explicitly target a specific .NET version (for example, .NET 8.0).

Step 2: Navigate to the project directory using the following command.

cd CreatePdfMacOSApp

Step 3: Use the following command in the terminal to add the Syncfusion.Pdf.Net.Core package as a reference to your project.

dotnet add package Syncfusion.Pdf.Net.Core

NOTE

Starting with v16.2.0.x, if you reference Syncfusion^® assemblies from trial setup or from the NuGet feed, you also have to add “Syncfusion.Licensing” assembly reference and include a license key in your projects. Please refer to this link to learn about registering Syncfusion^® license key in your application to use our components.

Step 4: Register the Syncfusion^® license key. An evaluation watermark is added to every page of the generated PDF until a valid key is registered. Include the license key at the top of Program.cs before creating a PdfDocument instance. Refer to the Syncfusion License documentation to learn about registering the Syncfusion^® license key in your application.

C#

using Syncfusion.Licensing;

// Register the Syncfusion license
Syncfusion.Licensing.SyncfusionLicenseProvider.RegisterLicense("YOUR LICENSE KEY");

Replace "YOUR LICENSE KEY" with the license key associated with your Syncfusion^® account. If you do not have a license key, you can request a free 30-day trial or apply for a Community License from the Syncfusion^® website. For more information about registering a license key in your application, refer to the Syncfusion^® Licensing Documentation.

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

C#

using Syncfusion.Pdf;
using Syncfusion.Pdf.Graphics;
using Syncfusion.Drawing;
using System.IO;

Step 6: Add the following code sample to the Program.cs file to create a PDF document in a .NET application on macOS.

C#

//Create a new PDF document.
PdfDocument document = new PdfDocument();
// Set the page size.
document.PageSettings.Size = PdfPageSize.A4;
//Add a page to the document.
PdfPage page = document.Pages.Add();

//Create PDF graphics for the page.
PdfGraphics graphics = page.Graphics;
//Load the image from the disk.
FileStream imageStream = new FileStream("AdventureCycle.jpg", FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read);
PdfBitmap image = new PdfBitmap(imageStream);
//Draw an image.
graphics.DrawImage(image, new RectangleF(130,0, 250, 100));

//Draw header text.
graphics.DrawString("Adventure Works Cycles", new PdfStandardFont(PdfFontFamily.TimesRoman, 20, PdfFontStyle.Bold), PdfBrushes.Gray, new PointF(150, 150));

//Add paragraph.
string text = "Adventure Works Cycles, the fictitious company on which the AdventureWorks sample databases are based, is a large, multinational manufacturing company. The company manufactures and sells metal and composite bicycles to North American, European and Asian commercial markets. While its base operation is located in Washington with 290 employees, several regional sales teams are located throughout their market base.";
//Create a text element with the text and font.
PdfTextElement textElement = new PdfTextElement(text, new PdfStandardFont(PdfFontFamily.TimesRoman, 12));
//Draw the text in the first column.
textElement.Draw(page, new RectangleF(0, 200, page.GetClientSize().Width, page.GetClientSize().Height));

//Create a PdfGrid.
PdfGrid pdfGrid = new PdfGrid();
//Add values to the list.
List<object> data = new List<object>();
Object row1 = new { Product_ID = "1001", Product_Name = "Bicycle", Price = "10,000" };
Object row2 = new { Product_ID = "1002", Product_Name = "Head Light", Price = "3,000" };
Object row3 = new { Product_ID = "1003", Product_Name = "Break wire", Price = "1,500" };
data.Add(row1);
data.Add(row2);
data.Add(row3);
//Add list to IEnumerable.
IEnumerable<object> dataTable = data;
//Assign data source.
pdfGrid.DataSource = dataTable;
//Apply built-in table style.
pdfGrid.ApplyBuiltinStyle(PdfGridBuiltinStyle.GridTable4Accent3);
//Draw the grid to the page of PDF document.
pdfGrid.Draw(graphics, new RectangleF(0, 300, page.Size.Width - 80, 0));

//Create file stream.
using (FileStream outputFileStream = new FileStream("Output.pdf", FileMode.Create, FileAccess.ReadWrite))
{
    //Save the PDF document to file stream.
    document.Save(outputFileStream);
    //Close the document.
    document.Close(true);
}

Step 7: Add the AdventureCycle.jpg image to the project root (alongside Program.cs) so the program can locate it at runtime.

Step 8: Open the project folder in Visual Studio Code by running the following command in the terminal.

code .

Step 9: Build the project.

Run the following command in terminal to build the project.

dotnet build

Step 10: Run the project.

Run the following command in terminal to run the project.

dotnet run

NOTE

Visual Studio for Mac was retired by Microsoft in August 2022. For the best experience on macOS, we recommend using Visual Studio Code with the C# extension as shown in the Visual Studio Code tab above.

A complete working sample can be downloaded from GitHub.

By executing the program, you will get the PDF document as follows.

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

An online sample to create a PDF document is also available.

Next steps

• Create a PDF on Linux
• Create a PDF in a Console application (cross-platform)
• Create a PDF in ASP.NET Core
• Create a PDF in WPF
• Open and read an existing PDF document
• Save the generated PDF to a file or stream