Create or Generate PDF file in Blazor

4 Aug 202318 minutes to read

The Syncfusion Blazor PDF library is used to create, read, and edit PDF documents. This library also offers functionality to merge, split, stamp, forms, and secure PDF files.

To include the Syncfusion Blazor PDF library into your Blazor application, please refer to the NuGet Package Required or Assemblies Required documentation.

To quickly get started with creating a PDF document in Blazor, check this video:

Steps to create PDF document in Blazor Server-Side application

Step 1: Create a new C# Blazor server-side application project. Select Blazor App from the template and click the Next button.
Blazor sample creation

Step 2: Now, the project configuration window appears. Click Create button to create a new project with the default project configuration.
Blazor project configuration window

Step 3: Choose Blazor Server App from the dashboard and click Create button to create a new Blazor server-side application.
Blazor Server side application

Step 4: Install the Syncfusion.PDF.Net.Core NuGet package as a reference to your Blazor application from NuGet.org.
Blazor NuGet installation

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 know about registering Syncfusion license key in your application to use our components.

Step 5: Create a new cs file named ExportService under Data folder and include the following namespaces in the file.

using Syncfusion.Pdf;
using Syncfusion.Pdf.Graphics;
using Syncfusion.Pdf.Grid;
using Syncfusion.Drawing;

Step 6: The PdfDocument object represents an entire PDF document that is being created. The PdfTextElement is used to add text in a PDF document and which provides the layout result of the added text by using the location of the next element that decides to prevent content overlapping. The PdfGrid allows you to create table by entering data manually or from an external data sources.

Add the following code sample in ExportService class which illustrates how to create a simple PDF document using PdfTextElement and PdfGrid.

//Export weather data to PDF document.
public static MemoryStream CreatePdf(WeatherForecast[] forecasts)
{
    if (forecasts == null)
    {
        throw new ArgumentNullException("Forecast cannot be null");
    }
    //Create a new PDF document.
    using (PdfDocument pdfDocument = new PdfDocument())
    {
        int paragraphAfterSpacing = 8;
        int cellMargin = 8;
        //Add page to the PDF document.
        PdfPage page = pdfDocument.Pages.Add();
        //Create a new font.
        PdfStandardFont font = new PdfStandardFont(PdfFontFamily.TimesRoman, 16);

        //Create a text element to draw a text in PDF page.
        PdfTextElement title = new PdfTextElement("Weather Forecast", font, PdfBrushes.Black);
        PdfLayoutResult result = title.Draw(page, new PointF(0, 0));
        PdfStandardFont contentFont = new PdfStandardFont(PdfFontFamily.TimesRoman, 12);
        PdfTextElement content = new PdfTextElement("This component demonstrates fetching data from a service and Exporting the data to PDF document using Syncfusion .NET PDF library.", contentFont, PdfBrushes.Black);
        PdfLayoutFormat format = new PdfLayoutFormat();
        format.Layout = PdfLayoutType.Paginate;
        //Draw a text to the PDF document.
        result = content.Draw(page, new RectangleF(0, result.Bounds.Bottom + paragraphAfterSpacing, page.GetClientSize().Width, page.GetClientSize().Height), format);

        //Create a PdfGrid.
        PdfGrid pdfGrid = new PdfGrid();
        pdfGrid.Style.CellPadding.Left = cellMargin;
        pdfGrid.Style.CellPadding.Right = cellMargin;
        //Applying built-in style to the PDF grid.
        pdfGrid.ApplyBuiltinStyle(PdfGridBuiltinStyle.GridTable4Accent1);

        //Assign data source.
        pdfGrid.DataSource = forecasts
        pdfGrid.Style.Font = contentFont;
        //Draw PDF grid into the PDF page.
        pdfGrid.Draw(page, new Syncfusion.Drawing.PointF(0, result.Bounds.Bottom + paragraphAfterSpacing));

        using (MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream())
        {
            //Saving the PDF document into the stream.
            pdfDocument.Save(stream);
            //Closing the PDF document.
            pdfDocument.Close(true);
            return stream;                
        }
    }
}

Register your service in the ConfigureServices method available in the Startup.cs class as follows.

public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
{
    services.AddRazorPages();
    services.AddServerSideBlazor();
    services.AddSingleton<WeatherForecastService>();
    services.AddSingleton<ExportService>();
}

Step 6: Inject ExportService in-to FetchData.razor using the following code.

@inject ExportToFileService exportService
@inject Microsoft.JSInterop.IJSRuntime JS
@using  System.IO;

Create a button in the FetchData.razor using the following code.

<button class="btn btn-primary" @onclick="@ExportToPdf">Export to PDF</button>

Add the ExportToPdf method in FetchData.razor page to call the export service.

@functions
{
    protected async Task ExportToPdf()
    {
        using (MemoryStream excelStream = ExportService.CreatePdf(forecasts))
        {
            await JS.SaveAs("Sample.pdf", excelStream.ToArray());
        }
    }
}

Step 7: Create a class file with FileUtil name and add the following code to invoke the JavaScript action to download the file in the browser.

public static class FileUtil
{
    public static ValueTask<object> SaveAs(this IJSRuntime js, string filename, byte[] data)
       => js.InvokeAsync<object>(
           "saveAsFile",
           filename,
           Convert.ToBase64String(data));
}

Step 8: Add the following JavaScript function in the _Host.cshtml available under the Pages folder.

<script type="text/javascript">
    function saveAsFile(filename, bytesBase64) {
            if (navigator.msSaveBlob) {
                //Download document in Edge browser
                var data = window.atob(bytesBase64);
                var bytes = new Uint8Array(data.length);
                for (var i = 0; i < data.length; i++) {
                    bytes[i] = data.charCodeAt(i);
                }
                var blob = new Blob([bytes.buffer], { type: "application/octet-stream" });
                navigator.msSaveBlob(blob, filename);
            }
            else {
        var link = document.createElement('a');
        link.download = filename;
        link.href = "data:application/octet-stream;base64," + bytesBase64;
        document.body.appendChild(link); // Needed for Firefox
        link.click();
        document.body.removeChild(link);
    }
        }
</script>

You can download a complete working sample from GitHub.

By executing the program, you will get the following output in the browser.
Blazor server side browser window

Click the Export to PDF button, and you will get the PDF document with the following output.
Blazor server side output PDF document

NOTE

It is recommended to use Blazor Server-Side application to reduce the pay back load which is high in Blazor Client-Side.

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

An online sample link to create PDF document in Blazor.

Steps to create PDF document in Blazor client-side application:

Step 1: Create a new C# Blazor client-side application project. Select Blazor App from the template and click the Next button.
Blazor client project creation step1

Step 2: Now, the project configuration window appears. Click Create button to create a new project with the default project configuration.
Blazor client configuration window

Step 3: Blazor WebAssembly App from the dashboard and click Create button to create a new Blazor client-side application.
Select Blazor WASM app

Step 4: Install the Syncfusion.PDF.Net.Core NuGet package as a reference to your Blazor application from NuGet.org.
Blazor WASM NuGet package installation

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 know about registering Syncfusion license key in your application to use our components.

Step 5: Next, include the following namespaces in that FetchData.razor file.

@using Syncfusion.Pdf
@using Syncfusion.Pdf.Grid;
@using Syncfusion.Drawing;
@using Syncfusion.Pdf.Graphics;
@inject Microsoft.JSInterop.IJSRuntime JS
@using System.IO;

Step 6: Create a button in the FetchData.razor using the following code.

<button class="btn btn-primary" @onclick="@ExportToPdf">Export to PDF</button>

Step 7: Define the @ExportToPdf click function on FetchData.razor file.

The PdfDocument object represents an entire PDF document that is being created and add a PdfPage to it. The PdfTextElement is used to add text in a PDF document and which provides the layout result of the added text by using the location of the next element that decides to prevent content overlapping. The PdfGrid allows you to create table by entering data manually or from an external data sources.

@functions {
void ExportToPdf()
{
int paragraphAfterSpacing = 8;
int cellMargin = 8;
//Create a new PDF document.
PdfDocument pdfDocument = new PdfDocument();
//Add Page to the PDF document.
PdfPage page = pdfDocument.Pages.Add();

//Create a new font.
PdfStandardFont font = new PdfStandardFont(PdfFontFamily.TimesRoman, 16);
//Create a text element to draw a text in PDF page.
PdfTextElement title = new PdfTextElement("Weather Forecast", font, PdfBrushes.Black);
PdfLayoutResult result = title.Draw(page, new PointF(0, 0));
PdfStandardFont contentFont = new PdfStandardFont(PdfFontFamily.TimesRoman, 12);
//Create text element. 
PdfTextElement content = new PdfTextElement("This component demonstrates fetching data from a client side and Exporting the data to PDF document using Syncfusion .NET PDF library.", contentFont, PdfBrushes.Black);
PdfLayoutFormat format = new PdfLayoutFormat();
format.Layout = PdfLayoutType.Paginate;
//Draw a text to the PDF document.
result = content.Draw(page, new RectangleF(0, result.Bounds.Bottom + paragraphAfterSpacing, page.GetClientSize().Width, page.GetClientSize().Height), format);

//Create a PdfGrid.
PdfGrid pdfGrid = new PdfGrid();
pdfGrid.Style.CellPadding.Left = cellMargin;
pdfGrid.Style.CellPadding.Right = cellMargin;
//Applying built-in style to the PDF grid
pdfGrid.ApplyBuiltinStyle(PdfGridBuiltinStyle.GridTable4Accent1);
//Assign data source.
pdfGrid.DataSource = forecasts;
pdfGrid.Style.Font = contentFont;
//Draw PDF grid into the PDF page.
pdfGrid.Draw(page, new Syncfusion.Drawing.PointF(0, result.Bounds.Bottom + paragraphAfterSpacing));

//Create memory stream. 
MemoryStream memoryStream = new MemoryStream();
//Save the PDF document.
pdfDocument.Save(memoryStream);
//Download the PDF document
JS.SaveAs("Sample.pdf", memoryStream.ToArray());
}
}

Step 7: Create a class file with FileUtil name and add the following code to invoke the JavaScript action to download the file in the browser.

public static class FileUtil
{
    public static ValueTask<object> SaveAs(this IJSRuntime js, string filename, byte[] data)
       => js.InvokeAsync<object>(
           "saveAsFile",
           filename,
           Convert.ToBase64String(data));
}

Step 8: Add the following JavaScript function in the index.html available under the wwwroot folder.

<script type="text/javascript">
    function saveAsFile(filename, bytesBase64) {
            if (navigator.msSaveBlob) {
                //Download document in Edge browser
                var data = window.atob(bytesBase64);
                var bytes = new Uint8Array(data.length);
                for (var i = 0; i < data.length; i++) {
                    bytes[i] = data.charCodeAt(i);
                }
                var blob = new Blob([bytes.buffer], { type: "application/octet-stream" });
                navigator.msSaveBlob(blob, filename);
            }
            else {
        var link = document.createElement('a');
        link.download = filename;
        link.href = "data:application/octet-stream;base64," + bytesBase64;
        document.body.appendChild(link); // Needed for Firefox
        link.click();
        document.body.removeChild(link);
    }
        }
</script>

You can download a complete working sample from GitHub.

By executing the program, you will get the following output in the browser.
Blazor client browser window

Click the Export to PDF button and you will get the PDF document with the following output.
Blazor getting started output PDF document

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

An online sample link to create PDF document in Blazor.