The title of this post might be provocative, but the title represent how happy we are, when we found the suitable PDF library for .NET framework namely ABCPDF
PDF is anywhere, from creating an invoice to creating an eBook. PDF is the most used format for document transaction. However, on the developer side, pdf is the most complex technology to create and to maintain. Several complex scenario such as HTML to PDF or even on the fly generation PDF will be time consuming to develop.
Yesterday, we evaluate the several PDF library for our research project codenamed: MMC. The codenamed MMC is unique web application for registering students to enroll a membership course. There are several document to create and it’s should fulfill the compliant standard from the government. Here are the challenge that we receive.
- Generating massive PDF files for member profiles. Therefore we need a quick and robust “on-the-fly” PDF generator.
- Converting a html based file to pdf file. our designer create a set of html and css file and we need to convert it into PDF/A specification.
- Giving a watermark that show the unique identity of our PDF files.
After fighting for more than three days to select and choose the PDF library. we found that ABC pdf fulfill our need plus with a good performance. For example, the code to add a watermark based email is quote simple like this
int theID = 0;
for (int i = 1; i <= theCount; i++) {
theDoc.PageNumber = i;
theDoc.Layer = theDoc.LayerCount + 1;
if (i == 1) {
string thePath = Server.MapPath("../mypics/light.jpg");
theID = theDoc.AddImageFile(thePath, 1);
}
else
theDoc.AddImageCopy(theID);
}
theDoc.Save(Server.MapPath("watermark.pdf"));
theDoc.Clear();
As a result of the performance, the ABC pdf can help us to generate 1 pdf/second for on-the-fly generator, and be able convert the html to pdf seemlessly without lot of codes in the backend.
So if you are .net developer try to look some of the PDF library, you are on the right component with ABC PDF. The ABC PDF standard is great, but if you need more feature you can see the Professional one. You can see the comparison of the version here