PDF Quick Start

OfficeIMO.Pdf writes and reads PDF files directly in .NET. It has no native dependencies and does not need a browser, printer driver, or Office installation.

dotnet add package OfficeIMO.Pdf

Create a PDF

PdfDocument.Create takes a builder callback. Content flows down the page and breaks onto new pages automatically.

C#

using OfficeIMO;
using OfficeIMO.Pdf;

byte[] logo = File.ReadAllBytes("logo.png");

PdfDocument.Create(pdf => pdf.Content(content => content
        .H1("Service review")
        .AddParagraph("All scheduled checks passed. Two follow-ups remain open.")
        .AddTable(new[] {
            new[] { "Task", "Owner", "Due" },
            new[] { "Rotate certificates", "Platform", "4 Nov" },
            new[] { "Renew backup licence", "Operations", "12 Nov" } })
        .AddImage(logo, OfficeLength.Points(120), OfficeLength.Points(48), OfficeAlignment.Right)),
        new PdfCreateOptions { CreateOutlineFromHeadings = true })
    .Meta(title: "Service review", author: "Operations")
    .Save("Service-review.pdf");

CreateOutlineFromHeadings turns headings into bookmarks. For rich text inside a paragraph, use the callback overload:

using OfficeIMO.Pdf;

PdfDocument.Create(pdf => pdf.Content(content => content
        .AddParagraph(p => {
            p.AddText("Status: ");
            p.AddText("Healthy").SetBold();
        })))
    .Save("Status.pdf");

PowerShell

$services = @(
    [pscustomobject]@{ Name = 'Directory'; Status = 'Healthy'; Incidents = 0 }
    [pscustomobject]@{ Name = 'Mail'; Status = 'Watch'; Incidents = 2 }
)

New-OfficePdf -Path .\Service-review.pdf -CreateOutlineFromHeadings {
    PdfHeading 'Service review'
    PdfParagraph 'All scheduled checks passed. Two follow-ups remain open.'
    PdfTable -InputObject $services
}

CLI

Convert an existing document instead of composing one:

officeimo convert report.docx report.pdf
officeimo convert notes.md notes.pdf

Load a PDF and read it

C#

using OfficeIMO.Pdf;

PdfDocument pdf = PdfDocument.Load("Service-review.pdf");
Console.WriteLine($"{pdf.Pages.Count} page(s)");
Console.WriteLine(pdf.ExtractText());

PowerShell

Read-OfficeDocument -Path .\Service-review.pdf -As Text

CLI

officeimo read Service-review.pdf --format markdown

Next steps

• Merge, split, and select pages
• Extract text and tables
• Fill and flatten forms
• Redact content
• Encrypt and sign
• Convert to PDF/A
• Watermarks and stamps

Limits and reference

Limits: see the PDF package row in the compatibility matrix.

Reference: OfficeIMO.Pdf API