How to Automate PDF Generation in .NET Using IronPDF

PDFs are the silent workhorses of the digital world. Whether it’s invoices, contracts, HR forms, or compliance documents, nearly every business workflow depends on them. Yet for developers, creating and managing PDFs in .NET has traditionally been cumbersome involving complex XML structures, limited design flexibility, and poor CSS support.

That’s where IronPDF stands out. Built by Iron Software, IronPDF is a modern, Chromium-based PDF library for C# and .NET that allows developers to generate, edit, secure, and automate PDFs with remarkable simplicity. In this article, we’ll explore how IronPDF streamlines end-to-end PDF workflows  from rendering HTML templates to applying digital signatures while improving developer productivity and compliance.

As a .NET developer, I’ve worked on a variety of web applications where generating PDFs was a critical feature from invoice generation to report exports. At first glance, creating PDFs might seem straightforward, but in reality, it’s often one of the trickiest and most time-consuming parts of backend development.

In this article, I want to share my real-world experience using IronPDF to automate PDF generation in a C# web application, the challenges I faced with other libraries, and why IronPDF turned out to be the most practical choice for production.

Why PDF Automation Still Matters

Even in the era of digital-first workflows, PDF remains the most reliable and legally accepted document format. It’s universally supported, printable, and secure. Businesses rely on PDFs for invoices, certificates, pay slips, reports, and more especially when they need consistent layout and branding across systems.

For .NET developers, automating these workflows often involves:

• Generating PDFs from dynamic data (HTML or Razor views)
• Merging or splitting files
• Applying digital signatures or encryption
• Ensuring long-term archiving compliance (PDF/A)

Open-source libraries like PDFSharp and iTextSharp have served developers for years, but they come with trade-offs limited HTML support, complex APIs, or licensing hurdles. Tools like QuestPDF are newer but still rely on manual layout definitions.

IronPDF takes a different approach. It leverages the full power of Chromium, letting you render real HTML, CSS, and JavaScript directly into professional-grade PDFs just like a browser would. The result? Beautiful, pixel-perfect PDFs created with minimal code.

The Real-World Problem: Dynamic Reports in a .NET Web Application

A client approached me with a requirement for a web-based reporting tool that allows users to:

1. View real-time business data in dashboards.
2. Export filtered data into PDF reports.
3. Include charts, logos, page numbers, and digital signatures.
4. Automatically email the generated PDF after export.

This sounds simple, but the challenge was in the details:

• Each report layout was dynamic, based on the user’s role and filters.
• Reports needed to include complex HTML elements, CSS styling, and sometimes embedded images or charts.
• The client required PDF/A compliance for long-term archiving.

Initially, I used iTextSharp, an open-source library I had worked with in the past. It worked fine for basic text and tables, but as soon as we started embedding HTML and CSS, things got messy.

Why I Needed Something Better

Here’s what I struggled with using open-source tools like iTextSharp and QuestPDF:Why I Needed Something Better

Here’s what I struggled with using open-source tools like iTextSharp and QuestPDF:

At this point, I decided to try IronPDF, which advertises full HTML-to-PDF rendering with CSS and JavaScript support similar to how Chrome prints a webpage. That was exactly what I needed.

Getting Started with IronPDF

Installation was simple using NuGet:

Install-Package IronPdf

In my ASP.NET Core project, I added IronPDF to a service class responsible for generating reports.

Here’s the simplest example I started with:

using IronPdf;
 
namespace IronPDFExample
{
    public class PdfReportService
    {
        public byte[] GenerateReport(string htmlContent)
        {
            var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
            var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(htmlContent);
            return pdf.BinaryData;
        }
    }
}

Generating Dynamic Reports from Razor Views

In a real web app, your HTML isn’t static. You typically use Razor views or Blazor components to build HTML dynamically.

IronPDF works seamlessly with Razor templates. I created a helper function that renders a .cshtml view into HTML before passing it to IronPDF:

Step 1: Install the Required NuGet Packages

Install - Package IronPdf
Install-Package Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Razor.RuntimeCompilation

Step 2: Create the Razor View Renderer Helper

Create a new class file:

Services/RazorViewRenderer.cs

using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.ModelBinding;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Razor;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Rendering;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.ViewFeatures;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Http;
using System.IO;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
 
namespace IronPDFExample.Services
{
    public class RazorViewRenderer
    {
        private readonly IRazorViewEngine _viewEngine;
        private readonly ITempDataProvider _tempDataProvider;
        private readonly IServiceProvider _serviceProvider;
 
        public RazorViewRenderer(
            IRazorViewEngine viewEngine,
            ITempDataProvider tempDataProvider,
            IServiceProvider serviceProvider)
        {
            _viewEngine = viewEngine;
            _tempDataProvider = tempDataProvider;
            _serviceProvider = serviceProvider;
        }
 
        public async Task<string> RenderViewToStringAsync<TModel>(string viewPath, TModel model)
        {
            var actionContext = new ActionContext(
                new DefaultHttpContext { RequestServices = _serviceProvider },
                new Microsoft.AspNetCore.Routing.RouteData(),
                new ActionDescriptor());
 
            using var sw = new StringWriter();
 
            var viewResult = _viewEngine.GetView(executingFilePath: null, viewPath: viewPath, isMainPage: true);
            if (!viewResult.Success)
                throw new FileNotFoundException($"View '{viewPath}' not found.");
 
            var viewDictionary = new ViewDataDictionary<TModel>(
                new EmptyModelMetadataProvider(),
                new ModelStateDictionary())
            {
                Model = model
            };
 
            var viewContext = new ViewContext(
                actionContext,
                viewResult.View,
                viewDictionary,
                new TempDataDictionary(actionContext.HttpContext, _tempDataProvider),
                sw,
                new HtmlHelperOptions()
            );
 
            await viewResult.View.RenderAsync(viewContext);
            return sw.ToString();
        }
    }
}

Step 3: Register the Renderer in Program.cs

Add this inside your Program.cs (or Startup.cs for older versions):

builder.Services.AddControllersWithViews();
builder.Services.AddTransient<IronPDFExample.Services.RazorViewRenderer>();

Step 4: Create the PDF Generation Service

Services/PdfReportService.cs

using IronPdf;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
 
namespace IronPDFExample.Services
{
    public class PdfReportService
    {
        private readonly RazorViewRenderer _razorRenderer;
 
        public PdfReportService(RazorViewRenderer razorRenderer)
        {
            _razorRenderer = razorRenderer;
        }
 
        public async Task<byte[]> GenerateUserReportAsync(UserReportModel model)
        {
            // Convert Razor view to HTML string
            string html = await _razorRenderer.RenderViewToStringAsync("/Views/Reports/UserReport.cshtml", model);
 
            // Create IronPDF renderer
            var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
 
            // Set options (margins, headers, footers)
            renderer.RenderingOptions.MarginTop = 20;
            renderer.RenderingOptions.MarginBottom = 20;
            renderer.RenderingOptions.TextHeader = new TextHeaderFooter()
            {
                CenterText = "User Report",
                DrawDividerLine = true
            };
            renderer.RenderingOptions.TextFooter = new TextHeaderFooter()
            {
                LeftText = "Generated on: {date}",
                RightText = "Page {page} of {total-pages}",
                DrawDividerLine = true
            };
 
            // Render HTML to PDF
            var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(html);
 
            return pdf.BinaryData;
        }
    }
}

Step 5: Create a Sample Razor View

Views/Reports/UserReport.cshtml

@model IronPDFExample.Models.UserReportModel
@{
    Layout = null;
}
 
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <title>User Report</title>
    <style>
        body { font-family: Arial; padding: 20px; }
        h1 { color: #223c88; }
        table { width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; margin-top: 20px; }
        th, td { border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 8px; text-align: left; }
        th { background-color: #f2f2f2; }
    </style>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>User Report</h1>
    <p>Generated for: <strong>@Model.UserName</strong></p>
    <p>Date: @DateTime.Now.ToString("dd-MMM-yyyy")</p>
 
    <table>
        <thead>
            <tr>
                <th>Project</th>
                <th>Hours Worked</th>
                <th>Status</th>
            </tr>
        </thead>
        <tbody>
            @foreach (var item in Model.Projects)
            {
                <tr>
                    <td>@item.ProjectName</td>
                    <td>@item.Hours</td>
                    <td>@item.Status</td>
                </tr>
            }
        </tbody>
    </table>
</body>
</html>

Step 6: Create the Model

Models/UserReportModel.cs

using System.Collections.Generic;
 
namespace IronPDFExample.Models
{
    public class UserReportModel
    {
        public string UserName { get; set; }
        public List<ProjectInfo> Projects { get; set; } = new();
    }
 
    public class ProjectInfo
    {
        public string ProjectName { get; set; }
        public int Hours { get; set; }
        public string Status { get; set; }
    }
}

Step 7: Create a Controller

Controllers/ReportController.cs

using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;
using IronPDFExample.Models;
using IronPDFExample.Services;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
 
namespace IronPDFExample.Controllers
{
    public class ReportController : Controller
    {
        private readonly PdfReportService _pdfService;
 
        public ReportController(PdfReportService pdfService)
        {
            _pdfService = pdfService;
        }
 
        [HttpGet("/report/download")]
        public async Task<IActionResult> DownloadReport()
        {
            var model = new UserReportModel
            {
                UserName = "Nikunj Satasiya",
                Projects = new List<ProjectInfo>
                {
                    new() { ProjectName = "Codingvila Website", Hours = 48, Status = "Completed" },
                    new() { ProjectName = "PDF Export Module", Hours = 24, Status = "In Progress" }
                }
            };
 
            var pdfBytes = await _pdfService.GenerateUserReportAsync(model);
 
            return File(pdfBytes, "application/pdf", "UserReport.pdf");
        }
    }
}

Step 8: Run the App

Run the project and visit:

https://localhost:5001/report/download

You’ll get a PDF file download (UserReport.pdf) that looks identical to your Razor view including CSS, dynamic data, and headers/footers.

This approach gave us full control over the layout while keeping the code clean. The same Razor view that powered our browser reports could now generate downloadable PDFs.

Handling Charts and Images

One of the toughest parts of PDF generation is embedding charts or dynamic images. In my case, the dashboard used Chart.js for interactive graphs.

IronPDF supports JavaScript execution, so charts rendered in HTML worked perfectly in the generated PDF. I only had to ensure that the charts were fully loaded before rendering:

window.onload = function () {
    setTimeout(() => { window.status = "ready"; }, 2000);
};

Then in C#, I added:

renderer.RenderingOptions.WaitFor = "window.status == 'ready'";

This ensured the renderer waited for JavaScript to finish drawing the chart before converting the page to PDF. That’s a small but powerful detail that made a huge difference.

PDF/A Compliance and Digital Signing

One of the client’s business requirements was archival compliance. IronPDF made PDF/A conversion simple:

var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(html);
pdf.MakePdfA();
pdf.SaveAs("Report_PDF-A.pdf");

Adding a digital signature was equally straightforward:

pdf.SignWithPfx("certificate.pfx", "password");

These features saved me hours of manual setup that I previously had to do with iTextSharp.

Example:

using System;
using IronPdf;
 
namespace IronPDFExample
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main()
        {
            // 1. Create the IronPDF Chrome renderer
            var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
 
            // Optional: configure basic settings
            renderer.RenderingOptions.MarginTop = 20;
            renderer.RenderingOptions.MarginBottom = 20;
            renderer.RenderingOptions.Footer = new HtmlHeaderFooter()
            {
                HtmlFragment = "<center>Page {page} of {total-pages}</center>",
                DrawDividerLine = true
            };
 
            // 2. Define the HTML content for the PDF
            string html = @"
                <html>
                    <head>
                        <style>
                            body { font-family: Arial; margin: 40px; }
                            h1 { color: #223c88; }
                            p { font-size: 14px; }
                            .note { margin-top: 40px; font-style: italic; color: #555; }
                        </style>
                    </head>
                    <body>
                        <h1>Monthly Report</h1>
                        <p>This document is generated automatically using IronPDF.</p>
                        <p>Date: " + DateTime.Now.ToString("dd-MMM-yyyy") + @"</p>
                        <div class='note'>
                            <p>This version is PDF/A compliant and digitally signed for authenticity.</p>
                        </div>
                    </body>
                </html>
            ";
 
            // 3. Render HTML to PDF
            var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(html);
 
            // 4. Convert the PDF to PDF/A format (for archival compliance)
            pdf.MakePdfA();
 
            // 5. Digitally sign the PDF using a PFX certificate
            // Make sure you have a valid .pfx file and its password
            string certificatePath = "certificate.pfx"; // Path to your .pfx file
            string certificatePassword = "your-password"; // Replace with your actual password
 
            // Apply digital signature
            pdf.SignWithPfx(
                certificatePath,
                certificatePassword,
                new PdfSignature()
                {
                    Reason = "Document approved for archiving",
                    Location = "Puna, India",
                    ContactInfo = "support@codingvila.com"
                }
            );
 
            // 6. Save the final signed PDF
            string outputPath = "Signed_Report_PDF-A.pdf";
            pdf.SaveAs(outputPath);
 
            Console.WriteLine("PDF/A compliant and digitally signed PDF created:");
            Console.WriteLine(System.IO.Path.GetFullPath(outputPath));
        }
    }
}

What You’ll Need

1. IronPDF NuGet Package
   
   
2. A valid PFX Certificate
   
   You can create one for testing using PowerShell:
   

   New - SelfSignedCertificate - Type CodeSigningCert - Subject "CN=Demo Cert" - CertStoreLocation "Cert:\CurrentUser\My"
   

   Then export it to .pfx from Windows Certificate Manager (MMC).
   
   
3. Password for the .pfx file (required when signing).

How It Works

MakePdfA() ensures the PDF meets PDF/A-1b compliance for long-term archiving.

It embeds fonts, standardizes metadata, and ensures it opens identically years later.

SignWithPfx() embeds a digital signature using your .pfx file.

When opened in Adobe Acrobat, you’ll see a signature validation badge at the top.

If you want to show the signature visually (like a stamp or watermark), you can specify a signature rectangle:

var signature = new PdfSignature()
{
    Reason = "Approved",
    Location = "Puna, India",
    ContactInfo = "support@codingvila.com",
    VisibleSignature = new PdfSignatureVisible()
    {
        X = 50,
        Y = 50,
        Width = 200,
        Height = 50
    }
};
 
pdf.SignWithPfx(certificatePath, certificatePassword, signature);

Automating and Emailing the Reports

Once the PDF was generated, we needed to automatically send it to the user. I combined IronPDF with the built-in System.Net.Mail class:

Step 1. Add Required NuGet Packages

Install - Package IronPdf
Install-Package System.Net.Mail

Step 2. Create the Email + PDF Service

Services/ReportEmailService.cs

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Net;
using System.Net.Mail;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using IronPdf;
 
namespace IronPDFExample.Services
{
    public class ReportEmailService
    {
        private readonly string _smtpHost = "smtp.yourserver.com"; // Replace with your SMTP host
        private readonly int _smtpPort = 587;                      // Common ports: 25, 465, or 587
        private readonly string _smtpUser = "noreply@yourdomain.com";
        private readonly string _smtpPassword = "your_smtp_password";
 
        public async Task SendSignedReportByEmailAsync(string email, string userName)
        {
            try
            {
                // 1. Create HTML for the PDF
                string html = $@"
                    <html>
                        <head>
                            <style>
                                body {{ font-family: Arial; margin: 40px; }}
                                h1 {{ color: #223c88; }}
                                p {{ font-size: 14px; }}
                            </style>
                        </head>
                        <body>
                            <h1>Monthly Report</h1>
                            <p>Hello {userName},</p>
                            <p>This report was generated automatically using IronPDF.</p>
                            <p>Date: {DateTime.Now:dd-MMM-yyyy}</p>
                            <p><i>This version is PDF/A compliant and digitally signed.</i></p>
                        </body>
                    </html>
                ";
 
                // 2. Generate PDF from HTML
                var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
                var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(html);
 
                // 3. Convert to PDF/A for compliance
                pdf.MakePdfA();
 
                // 4. Digitally sign the PDF
                string certificatePath = "certificate.pfx";      // Path to your PFX file
                string certificatePassword = "your-password";    // Certificate password
 
                var signature = new PdfSignature()
                {
                    Reason = "Approved for delivery",
                    Location = "Surat, India",
                    ContactInfo = "support@codingvila.com",
                    VisibleSignature = new PdfSignatureVisible()
                    {
                        X = 50,
                        Y = 50,
                        Width = 200,
                        Height = 50
                    }
                };
 
                pdf.SignWithPfx(certificatePath, certificatePassword, signature);
 
                // Convert to byte array (no need to save to disk)
                byte[] pdfBytes = pdf.BinaryData;
 
                // 5. Send the PDF by email
                using var message = new MailMessage();
                message.From = new MailAddress(_smtpUser, "Codingvila Reports");
                message.To.Add(email);
                message.Subject = "Your Signed Monthly Report";
                message.Body = "Please find your signed and compliant PDF report attached.";
                message.Attachments.Add(new Attachment(new MemoryStream(pdfBytes), "MonthlyReport.pdf"));
 
                using var smtp = new SmtpClient(_smtpHost, _smtpPort)
                {
                    Credentials = new NetworkCredential(_smtpUser, _smtpPassword),
                    EnableSsl = true // Use SSL if your server supports it
                };
 
                await smtp.SendMailAsync(message);
 
                Console.WriteLine($"Report emailed successfully to {email}");
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Failed to send email: " + ex.Message);
                throw;
            }
        }
    }
}

Step 3. Use the Service in Your Controller

Controllers/ReportController.cs

using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using IronPDFExample.Services;
 
namespace IronPDFExample.Controllers
{
    public class ReportController : Controller
    {
        private readonly ReportEmailService _reportEmailService;
 
        public ReportController(ReportEmailService reportEmailService)
        {
            _reportEmailService = reportEmailService;
        }
 
        [HttpGet("/report/send")]
        public async Task<IActionResult> SendReport(string email = "test@example.com")
        {
            await _reportEmailService.SendSignedReportByEmailAsync(email, "Nikunj Satasiya");
            return Ok("Report sent successfully.");
        }
    }
}

Step 4. Configure Dependency Injection

In Program.cs:

builder.Services.AddTransient<IronPDFExample.Services.ReportEmailService>();

Step 5. Run It

Run your app and visit:

https://localhost:5001/report/send?email=nikunj.satasiya@codingvila.com

You’ll receive an email with:

• A digitally signed
• PDF/A-compliant
• Automatically generated PDF report

Performance and Scalability in Production

Performance was surprisingly good. IronPDF’s Chrome-based rendering engine handled concurrent requests well, even when users generated large, image-heavy PDFs.

To manage heavy loads, I queued background jobs using Hangfire, which allowed reports to be processed asynchronously while keeping the UI responsive.

Comparing IronPDF to Other Libraries

IronPDF clearly wins for modern web apps that already use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for their report layout.

Lessons Learned

A few practical takeaways from this implementation:

• Prototype early: Test how your HTML renders before integrating dynamic data.
• Reuse Razor templates: Don’t duplicate design in code.
• Use headers and footers: Built-in support for page numbers and timestamps saves time.
• Validate compliance: Always verify PDF/A output with tools like VeraPDF.
• Consider background jobs: Use Hangfire or Azure Functions for large exports.

Key Takeaways

• IronPDF simplifies HTML-to-PDF rendering in .NET using the Chrome engine.
• It supports CSS, JavaScript, images, and Razor views natively.
• Ideal for PDF/A compliance, digital signatures, and automated reporting.
• A practical upgrade over iTextSharp or QuestPDF for modern .NET applications.

Summary

Before IronPDF, generating complex PDFs in .NET was frustrating constant formatting issues, broken CSS, and endless layout debugging. With IronPDF, I finally had a library that rendered my HTML exactly as it appeared in the browser.

It saved hours of development time and produced professional, compliant PDFs that met all the client’s needs.

If you’re building a .NET or ASP.NET Core application that needs reliable PDF export, IronPDF is worth it. It’s fast, accurate, and developer-friendly everything you want when deadlines are tight and quality matters.