One solution for generating PDF files on the fly from ASP.NET web applications

Generating PDF files from ASP.NET web applications is a very common need, and periodically, I do get questions from developers how this need could be implemented. There are numerous PDF generation libraries out there, but many of them are commercial, so good and free libraries are always welcome.

Personally, I've used a library named PdfSharp in many of the web applications I've built for my clients. This library has worked well, and can work in Azure-hosted web applications, too. For Azure, you just need to use the WPF-compatible build of the library; otherwise, you will get font related errors.

In addition to PdfSharp, which is a low-level library, you can combine it with MigraDoc. MigraDoc works on top of PdfSharp, and is useful in situations where you need to create tables, page headers and footers, and so on.

I've used this combination in many projects, and it's working nicely. If you need a similar solution to your .NET or ASP.NET applications, give this combination a try. Both a free, open-source libraries.