Generate PDFs programmatically in your .NET applications

Nutrient .NET SDK supports .NET Framework 4.6.2 and later; .NET Core 3.1 and later; and .NET 5+, including .NET 6, 7, and 8. You can deploy on Windows Server, Linux servers, Azure App Service, AWS Lambda, Docker containers, and on-premises infrastructure. Both 32-bit and 64-bit environments are supported, with full compatibility across Windows, Linux, and containerized deployments.

Yes, absolutely. The SDK includes built-in rendering engines for Office documents, so you don’t need Microsoft Office installed on your server. You can convert Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files directly to PDF, or use Word documents as templates for PDF generation without any Office licenses or dependencies. This makes server-side deployment straightforward and reduces licensing costs.

The SDK provides HTML-to-PDF conversion using Chrome-based rendering. You can convert local HTML files, render HTML strings from memory, or capture live websites by URL. The converter supports modern CSS, responsive layouts, custom page sizes, margins, and orientation. You control the rendering through the GdPictureDocumentConverter API with configurable options for page dimensions, CSS handling, and browser emulation settings.

For database-driven PDF generation, Word template-based generation is often the best choice. Your team designs templates in Microsoft Word with placeholders for data, loops for tables, and conditionals for business logic. Your code binds data from the database to these templates and generates PDFs automatically. This separates design from code, allows non-developers to update layouts, and supports complex formatting without programmatic layout code. Alternatively, generate from scratch for maximum control or HTML conversion for web-style layouts.

Yes. The SDK supports creating tagged PDFs that comply with PDF/UA (Universal Accessibility) standards, Section 508, and WCAG 2.0 requirements. You can programmatically add document structure tags, define reading order, provide alternative text for images, set document language and title metadata, and create logical content hierarchies that screen readers can navigate. The SDK provides specific APIs for marking content sequences and building accessible document structures.

When creating PDFs from scratch, use the AddTextFormField method to add fillable text fields, checkboxes, radio buttons, dropdowns, and signature fields. You can set field names for programmatic access, configure validation rules, set default values, control appearance, and define character limits. For template-based generation, form fields are preserved from the source document. This enables you to create fillable PDFs where users can input data and you can extract that data later for processing.

The SDK is optimized for server-side batch processing and high-volume generation. You can process multiple documents in parallel using .NET’s asynchronous patterns, configure memory management for large batches, and run headless without UI dependencies. Performance depends on document complexity and generation method, but typical documents generate in milliseconds. For very high volumes, consider distributed processing across multiple servers or containers. The SDK includes no per-document licensing restrictions, so you can scale horizontally.

Yes. You have complete control over typography and styling. The SDK supports standard PDF fonts (Helvetica, Times Roman, Courier, Symbol, Zapf Dingbats) out of the box, plus you can embed TrueType fonts from your system or application directory. Configure font size, color (RGB or CMYK), text alignment, rotation, and positioning. When converting from HTML or Word, source styling is preserved. For PDFs created from scratch, you programmatically control every visual aspect of text and layout.

The SDK uses standard .NET exception handling patterns with detailed error messages and status codes. Every API method returns status indicators you can check, and you can validate generated PDFs using the SDK’s built-in PDF validation tools. For production deployments, implement try-catch blocks around generation code, log errors with context for debugging, validate output before delivering to users, and use the SDK’s status codes to handle specific failure scenarios like memory limits or invalid source documents.

The SDK uses a per-server licensing model based on the number of servers or containers running the SDK, not per document or per user. A single license allows unlimited document processing on that server. Licensing covers development, staging, and production environments, with volume discounts for multi-server deployments. You can start with a free trial that includes full functionality to evaluate the SDK in your environment. Contact Sales for pricing tailored to your deployment scale and support needs.

Yes. The SDK works in containerized and serverless deployments. It runs in Docker containers on any orchestrator (Kubernetes, Docker Swarm, ECS), supports Linux-based containers for cost-effective cloud deployment, works in AWS Lambda with appropriate memory configuration, and runs on Azure Functions and Google Cloud Functions. The SDK has no UI dependencies and runs headless, making it ideal for cloud-native architectures. Example Docker files and deployment configurations are available in the documentation.

Our comprehensive documentation includes getting started guides with code examples, API reference documentation for every class and method, sample projects demonstrating common scenarios, and best practices for production deployment. Support options include standard support with email and forum access, premium support with dedicated engineers and SLA guarantees, and architectural consultation for complex implementations. During your trial, you have full access to documentation and support to ensure the SDK meets your requirements.