Create PDF/Image Download Of A Webpage

What is CutyCapt?

1. The process of PDF creation is done using an executable file called CutyCapt.exe. Download the exe and add it to the solution.
2. If we are working with the ASP.NET project, the exe can be called on a redirection page. This page will be blank with the following code on page load.

1. Create a file name and path: To make the filename unique I would prefer a GUID. (It is the choice of the developer according to the requirement and logic). The file Url is then added to a string.
   1. string filename = Guid.NewGuid() + ".pdf"; //unique file name
   2. // url of the pdf file name
   3. string url = “http://example.org” +"/CutyCapt/" + filename;
2. Location of the executable: The location of the CutyCapt.exe is assigned to a string.
   1. //location of Executable
   2. string cutycaptLocation = "D:\\CutyCapt";
3. Command creation: For creating the command in ASP.NET, we use the ProcessStartInfo object. Different parameters are assigned to the object as properties like the following:
   a. CreateNoWindow
   b. WorkingDirectory
   c. FileName
   d. Arguments
   - link of the page which needs to be converted to PDF
   - the destination folder
   e. UseShellExecute
   1. // Command for execution
   2. System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo pi = new System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo();
   3. pi.CreateNoWindow = false;
   4. pi.WorkingDirectory = cutycaptLocation;
   5. pi.FileName = cutycaptLocation + "\\CutyCapt.exe";
   6. pi.Arguments = "--url=" + link + " --out-format=pdf -out=" + System.IO.Path.GetFullPath(Server.MapPath("~/CutyCapt")) + "\\" + filename;
   7. pi.UseShellExecute = false;
4. Process execution: Process object in ASP.Net is used to execute the process, for the info created.
   1. try {
   2. // Start the process with the info we specified.
   3. // Call WaitForExit and then the using statement will close.
   4. using(System.Diagnostics.Process exeProcess = System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(pi)) {
   5. exeProcess.WaitForExit();
   6. }
   7. }
   8. catch (Exception ex)
   9. {
   10. Response.Write(ex.Message);
   11. }
5. Redirect to PDF: Once the PDF is created the browser is redirected to the PDF link loading the PDF created.
   1. Response.Redirect(url);