Convert Word File to PDF Using C# dLL

Convert Word to PDF C#

I am writing this article to share the details regarding a solution found in my research to convert Word files to PDFs. I had my library even though I found this one more efficient and easy to use in different applications.

IronPDF is the solution I found to convert Word documents to PDF. This library will work even if you don't have an MS work license. Let's discuss in the document how we can convert a Word document to a PDF file.

What I found interesting?

• We can convert Word files to PDF files.
• We can generate PDF files from different sources other than the Word files.
• No MS Office license is needed to generate the PDF; it works on the C# libraries.
• We can create custom PDFs, like documents using templates.
• Adding watermarks, designing or editing a PDF template in MS Word, and creating custom copies on a web server with customized information.

What is IronPDF?

IronPDF is a C# PDF library that makes it easy for .NET developers to create and manipulate PDFs. With IronPDF, you can easily convert Word /HTML content into a PDF in C#. The IronPDF library also supports digital signatures, form filling, PDF-to-image conversion, and more.

Whether you need to generate PDFs for your web application or simply want to add some PDF functionality to your existing .NET app, IronPDF is a .NET API. Check out our comprehensive documentation for converting MS Office Word docx to PDF to start today.

IronPDF will be utilized throughout this article to demonstrate how to convert and save a Word document into a PDF document using C# and .NET.

Prerequisites

• Visual Studio 2022 (Recommended)
• A running .NET application system with the latest .NET framework (Recommended)
• Microsoft Office installed (not mandatory)
• A stable internet connection to install the IronWordToPdf library for PDF conversion

Convert WORD Document to PDF

Step 1. Add WordToPdf to your solution

NuGet Package Manager

We must add the library to convert Word files to our project solution. In Visual Studio, right-click on your project's Solution Explorer and select `Manage NuGet Packages for Solution.

From there, simply search for IronPDF and install the latest version of your solution to use its reference. Click OK on any dialog boxes that come up.

Install via DLL

Another option is to install the IronPdf DLL download and add it to the project. Please click here to download. See the screenshot; this can be downloaded and manually installed on the project or GAC.

on NuGet Website

For a comprehensive rundown of IronPDF's features, compatibility, and downloads, please check out IronPDF on NuGet's official website.

Package Manager Console

Alternatively, in Visual Studio, navigate to the 'Tools' menu at the top and select 'NuGet Package Manager' and choose 'Package Manager Console' from the menu.

In the shell that opens, paste the following and press enter:

NuGet\Install-Package IronPdf

Step 2. Word document To HTML

We have to convert the Word file to HTML; then, we can convert it to PDF. This can be done manually using the "Save As" method or achieved using custom coding.

Why we are converting to HTML, IronPDF will assist us in adding HTML Fragments in the document before converting it; see below.

HTML Fragment helps to add an HTML string at the header of the PDF file. You can set multiple rendering options like header, footer, margin, paper size, and much more.

Why I converted to HTML? Here am discussing only surface-level details and leaving the rest for you all to try and use if you find it interesting.

Step 3. Adding namespaces of IronPdf

Open program.cs file and include the namespace "IronPDF" in your application as below.

Convert the Word document to PDF.

ChromePdfRenderer helps us to convert any webpage or HTML page, or "snippet" to a PDF document using an up-to-date embedded Chrome browser. This method helps us to add HTML fragments like the HTML header; you will see the details below.

I wrote a method to use in my application, as below.

public void WordtoPDF()
{
  var ironRenderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
}

This library is capable of converting to PDF from different sources; select which one you need.

I tried only the HTML to PDF conversion technique, and you can try the other methods per your requirements.

The RenderHTMLAsPdf class also has more flexibility to achieve what may require PDF features; please see the screenshot below. Try as per your requirement.

SaveAs method converting Word to the corresponding PDF. See the sample code I tried to convert the docx File. As we discussed above, we are not converting Word documents to PDF directly. We convert docx files to HTML and then convert the output HTML file to PDF files. I feel the ironPDF makes the pdf conversion easy.

static void Main(string[] args)
{
  try
  {
    var ironPdfRender = new ChromePdfRenderer();
    var pdfFile = ironPdfRender.RenderHtmlFileAsPdf("D:\\Tedz\\App\\Word2Pdf\\Word2Pdf\\docs\\TestFile.htm");
    pdfFile.ApplyWatermark("PDF OUTPUT FILE !!!!!!!!!!!!!", 45, 100);
    pdfFile.SaveAs("D:\\Tedz\\App\\Word2Pdf\\Word2Pdf\\docs\\TestFile.pdf");
  } catch (Exception ex) {
    throw ex;
  }
}

Output pdf document

I created a sample HTML file manually and tried to convert it into a PDF file. Also, I just tried to add a watermark as well. See the output PDF screenshot below.

"PDF OUTPUT FILE !!!!!!!!!!!!!" is the watermark we added, highlighted in the below screenshot.

Summary

If you're looking for an easy way to convert docx files to PDF programmatically, you can easily use this ironPDF library to convert your Word files. IronPDF helps us to generate PDFs programmatically from different sources. This library makes PDF conversion easy for us. Without documented support, you can easily use this library to convert your files to PDF.

Reference

• https://ironpdf.com/docs/
• https://www.nuget.org/packages/IronPdf