iText for .NET is a free open-source .NET API for creating and working with PDF documents in C#/VB.NET applications. It lets .NET application developers write applications for generating, modifying, and extracting content from PDF files.

iText for .NET is a port of the original iText API, which was written in Java programming language. It was developed to provide PDF document processing features to .NET application developers. It is used in various domains such as document management systems, reporting tools, and other applications that require PDF generation and manipulation.

Key Features of iText API for .NET

  • PDF Generation: iText for .NET allows you to create new PDF documents from scratch. You can add text, images, tables, and other elements to the document. It supports various fonts, colors, and formatting options to customize the appearance of the content.
  • PDF Manipulation: You can modify existing PDF documents by adding, removing, or modifying content. It enables you to manipulate pages, merge multiple PDF files, split a PDF into multiple documents, and extract specific elements from a PDF, such as text or images.
  • Form Filling: iText for .NET provides capabilities for filling out interactive PDF forms. You can programmatically populate form fields, checkboxes, and radio buttons with data.
  • Digital Signatures: The library supports adding digital signatures to PDF documents, allowing you to sign and certify files to ensure their authenticity and integrity.
  • Text Extraction: iText for .NET enables you to extract text from PDF documents, which can be useful for indexing, searching, or analyzing the content of PDF files.
  • Security and Encryption: You can encrypt PDF documents using password-based or certificate-based encryption to protect sensitive information and restrict access to the content.
  • PDF/A Support: iText for .NET supports the PDF/A standard, which is used for long-term archiving of electronic documents. It ensures that the generated PDF documents comply with specific requirements for preservation and future accessibility.

Installing iText for .NET

iText for .NET API can be installed using two methods.

  • Installation of iText from NuGET
  • Installation from iText Artifactory Server

Installing iText using NuGet Package Manager

Step 1: Open Visual Studio – Open Visual Studio and create a new project or open an existing project if you want to add iText API to the existing project.

Step 2: Open the Package Manager Console – To open the Package Manager Console, go to “Tools” > “NuGet Package Manager” > “Package Manager Console”.

Step 3: Install the iText Package – In the Package Manager Console, type the following command and press Enter:

 Install Package itext7

This will install the latest version of iText API and all its dependencies.

Installing iText from iText Artifactory Server

iText NuGet packages are also available on the iText Artifactory server. You can add it as a custom NuGet repository to Visual Studio using the following steps.

  1. In the NuGet Package Manager, go to the settings
  2. Add the following URL as a package source: https://repo.itextsupport.com/api/nuget/nuget. You can also browse the iText Artifactory server and download NuGet packages manually.

iText Resources

Upcoming iTextPdf C# Examples

At this point, your .NET console project should be ready to get started with the iText API for .NET for working with PDF documents. In our next articles, we’ll talk about:

So stay tuned.